Investment Banking is the only place where discrimination still truly exists

I see bankers take one look at a school and immediately dismiss students - in fact, they require that they take at least ~5-10 students from target schools, regardless of their credentials.

And you know when they ask for your university when you apply at a bank? It's used to weed out the non-target students.

Frankly its sick, and worse than any of this fake racism stuff that people claim nowadays.

It hardly matters how good you are, it just matters what stamp you've got on your jacket. I hope you've got the right one.

Going to a target school is usually not a reflection of what kind of a person you are or how hard you work. It's a reflection of the home you grew up in. It's a reflection of what class your parents grew up in. Were they smart enough to hire tutors? Did they understand how important the SAT was and did they get you prep? Did they make sure you applied to the best schools? Did they prepare you for a career?

The best students across universities are generally the same. I understand that people are trying to maintain the reputation of the industry (you wouldn't want to work with GS if any kid could get in, would you?), but this is disgusting. At least make it somewhat merit-based.

Christ, these people make me sick.

But not as sick as the people want to break in make me. The whole reason banks do this is because everyone, including you, is chasing prestige.

People care more about what they're called and what bank you work at than the work they are actually doing. I know half of you won't work for certain banks just because of their name. The other half just want to be investment bankers so they can see people's eyes light up.

Their first thought isn't, "who will teach me the most", it's "what will other people think?". It's not just across banking, it's across everything you do.

You create your own hell, and now you live in it. If you want things to change, it starts with you.

Make all your decisions for the right reasons. Ignore what other people think. Work because you enjoy the results you produce. Trust yourself.

Only then will you be happy.

77 Comments
 

I know you're a troll but if people at non-targets have critical thinking skills as bad as yours then I see why banks wouldn't hire them.

Also, it's funny you use Goldman Sachs as an example because from what I've seen they're more open to hiring good talent regardless of your school

 

Firstly, banks want to quickly weed through candidates - good school = prob smart and good networking/connections (important in business) Secondly, "fit" is very important. Ik some older college grads who wanted to break into certain tech companies but they didn't fit the "culture". So it's not just wall st. The culture in IB is largely driven by prestige - the nature of winning clients and deals and having polished bankers. Thirdly, when u have a sought-after job with many applicants, the employer has the power to be picky. I have a friend who is trying to become a tv/movie actor and there are literally hundreds of people applying to one role in a cast. Every applicant has the ability to play and act in the role but my friend (and every actor) gets discriminated for the way his eyebrows look, ears look, voice sounds, etc. In IB recruiting, many candidates are capable of doing the job but little things such as that extra ivy league polish can separate 2 candidates. btw i'm not trying to justify it

 

Why did this get monkey shit when it's true? Can the mods please start banning these kids and their alt accounts? AndyLouis they don't add anything of value to any discussion and just stand around yelling "woe is me!" to each other.

 

Respectfully, I have to disagree with the OPs post. I'll give any candidate the benefit of the doubt in an interview. If you have a solid resume, regardless of which school it came from (sometimes even GPA) I'll give you a call. Despite my open mindedness, I've noticed (though not an absolute trend) the majority of "target students" I interview for entry level positions I find to be of a different caliber (ie. more detail oriented, knowledgable of IB, and professional) than comparable graduates from non-target institutions.

To state the obvious, the reason WHY these institutions are considered "target schools," is because big banks GENERALLY find the caliber of students that graduate from these institutions are a better fit for banking. ...Also partially because banks don't have the time to search for the "diamonds in the rough" or "sob stories" at non-target institutions across the nation.

I also hate the, "Oh well it's based off of some made up prestige!" excuse. "Target Institutions" are almost always changing... they're not exactly the same institutions decade over decade. Back in the 80's banks never recruited from USC because it was a shit school, on the flip side I heard that UC Riverside had a killer accounting department in the 80's and sent graduates to WallStreet.

It's wherever the best students are coming from, and over the past 20 years it's been a select 10-15 institutions across the states.

"A man can convince anyone he's somebody else, but never himself."

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