Is Nepotism Dead?
Is Nepotism dead? I don't know if it is just my conception, but I feel like 15 years ago if your dad played golf with a GS MD you could get an internship and a job from Penn State (no offense). Now, not so much... Pressure from IB clients has pushed HR to promote more merit based hiring- for better or worse. That isn't to say that networking is dead, but rather just that who your dad is matters less. (Getting along well with alums and developing a good, social, reputation in junior roles is still alive and well). Is this just my perception or is it actually true? I know a smart sociable girl who is at a semi-target (think Vandy, Georgetown, Tufts, USC) with a 3.7+ who's parent is a well connected CIO at a 10B+ HF/PE firm and started in IB- her dad has told her it still may be a stretch to get her a junior internship at a BB? Is that really true?
Love to know your thoughts.
lol no
Less blatant maybe..... dead? Not even close
Recruiting? Less blantant but alive and well. Make no mistake about it, nepotism still exists within the organization once you're working full-time as well.
Honestly people don't get this part. Nepotism plays a small part in promotions. It's not the kids of poor people running shit.
Not dead at all.
Lol no
My dad plays golf with a GS MD and I got rejected there so I agree with you. Won’t say that connections are dead necessarily, but definitely not what they used to be
Unless your dad is a client of that MD, there's literally very little reason for him to go out on a line to vouch for you. That md prolly plays golf with a bunch of people lol
Trying not to sound like too much of a pretentious fuck, he is a client (hedge fund manager). Was able to get deep in some other BB processes thanks to that, but GS dinged me almost immediately.
Can Your Dad Adopt Me? Mines out Getting Milk
Pretty much. It's been replaced by the evils of diversity recruiting.
facts
Here we go again with the salty white kids who sucked ass in interviews.
Truth. High finance is mostly white dudes and you still see manz complaining.
Ironic that diversity recruiting is often the only way white kids from non-targets will ever be able to network with alumni at top firms.
If you are a white kid at a non-target, diversity recruiting is one of the greatest things to ever happen for your chances.
A non target qualifies as diversity?
false. dad's friends reply more than alums
it is most definitely not dead. a lot more nuanced tho, they won't help you land an junior internship but I think there's a lot more 'help' in freshman and sophomore year
This 100%. My parents have connections and they were pretty useless come IB recruiting, even though lots are senior folks at BBs. On the other hand, was able to get two great internships my freshman/sophomore summer due to connections that really helped me during IB recruiting, but I think the days of “hey give my kid an internship at Goldman” are over
If nepotism was dead, Zachary Dell wouldn’t be an incoming Blackstone PE analyst straight out of USC
Be at the top of ur class at at semitarget and you have a slim chance At Blackstone. That guy isn’t the only one from usc this year
Or Chelsea Clinton getting hired by NBC for 600k a year with zero experience, and then sitting on the board of directors for IAC and Expedia group netting millions in payment fees over the last decade. People who really have nepotism to draw on do not go to IB to format powerpoint pages......there far more lucrative things they can do for less bitch work.
Also Hunter Biden
EPIC. WE'VE ALL SEEN THAT LINKEDIN PROFILE.
Bain's Managing Partner's daughters were also at Bain ...
It exists, its just...different now. Now if you are purple haired lesbian dance theory major that's undocumented and gender fluid AND your dad golfs with a Goldman MD.....I'd argue you don't even need to show up to superday to get an offer.
Diversity (only the "right" kinds, not KOREAN, CHINESE, JAPANESE, INDIAN or ARAB) mixed with Nepotism is a DEADLY combo right now in recruiting.
I’m a Native American female and my dad and mom are MS and GS MDs. I have a 4.0 from Harvard STEM and started multi-million dollar asset management company. Neither of them could get me an internship though :/. You’re better off going to a non-target and trying your luck.
man, just how bad must your interview skills be for this to happen...
How did people not recognize the sarcasm here? Big time woosh
I've seen that sort of thing happen on a semi-regular basis. One of two things usually happens: Kid turns out to be absolutely shit and leaves after a year or maybe two of getting the brand name on their resume, or kid turns out to be a fucking rockstar and everyone spends the next few years constantly cracking jokes about their dad/mom in front of them
Nah. If kid were semi-competent, he could have used dad’s contacts to get hired at another shop. Then he’d be just another spreadsheet monkey like all the other first-years. If he got promoted, it would be earned.
Going to work for dad straight out of school means dad couldn’t talk his contacts into giving his boy a job. Might as well have “loser” tattooed on son’s forehead.
This brings up a point that is often missed in this conversation - don't overlook the fact that legitimate finance and business leaders teach their kids how to do it from day one. That is more hands on training that anyone will receive at a BB.
My dad started teaching me about business (despite being farmers) as soon as I could talk. He took me every Saturday to his stockbroker's office, which happened to be across the street from the YMCA where I played basketball. He traded commodities and would talk to me about WSJ headlines...he wasn't a Wall Street guy, but he was very explicit in teaching my sister and me about how business works. I am already doing the same for my little kids, and they have no idea that's what it is about.
People talk about banks as great training grounds, and they are. But, let's not refuse to acknowledge that a parent cares way more about outcomes for their kids. They, in general, are training their kids for good outcomes as soon as they are toddlers.
Where did you get "pressure from IB clients"?
D.E. Shaw's son is at GS, that was very much nepotism. But unless it's to such a great extent as that, I guess nepotism has really faded out.
Can personally vouch that Shaw's son is a dumbass
Anecdotes?
Michael Hess at GS same deal
Lolololololol.
No. And it never will.
Blankfein’s daughter interned at GS for a summer or two. Odds are she’s sharp and could’ve interned everywhere but weird flex for sure
Hank Greenberg's grandkid works at a BB, heard there was some nepotism involved
Nope
Banking is a relationship game... it makes sense that there would be some nepotism (coming from an Indian at a semi-target). While it isn't necessarily fair, it serves the banks well when it comes to relationships and deals. It's not like you have to be gifted to work on a slide deck at two in the morning
alive as fuck homie
Building on a previous poster if your dad is a hedge fund manager does that help if you apply to prime brokerage division of his prime?
It's not just a matter of folks getting in the door through connections, and by extension keeping out those of greater ability and work ethic. The sons and daughters club also enjoys easier work, lower expectations, better treatment, and career advancement.
Eventually the chickens will come home to roost and organizations with much of this going on will fail. See Donald Trump and Jared Kushner vs. the novel coronavirus.
That last one is very much TBD
2021: It has very much been determined
Very very anecdotal and I don't know all the details: but the older sister of someone I know just got an internship at Goldman Sachs TMT while having a seemingly average resume from a non target. Her dad is a MD in TMT at another BB. I don't want to claim that this was definitely nepotism because I don't have any idea whether she was actually a star interviewee and networker but it's definitely a big coincidence. Also, even if nepotism doesn't work at a BB, it still allows you to get an internship at like a fund that your family member is senior at which therefore improves your resume a huge amount for recruiting.
Definitely alive, but the process has gotten more competitive with the sheer number of applicants. Even college admissions are more competitive than 15 years ago.
If someone at a sponsor emails their coverage md and refers an intern candidate it’s a guaranteed first round + couple md conversations u can cite in your interviews
nepotism is alive and well
nepotism is alive, but not like it used to be.
Not dead
No, it's very much alive.. just hidden.
Four examples:
2018: My flatmate was hired at a BB, her dad is an MD there she didn't even really need to apply/interview she just had two very informal chilled interviews then got the offer.
2019: Another friend was hired at a different BB because her uncle is a client of the BB. She again just had a casual couple of chill interviews that were basically talking about hobbies.
2020: My friend was hired at an EB because a family member was a client.
Me: I got an interview because of example 1, my flatmates dad being an MD at the BB helped get me an interview which I converted into an offer.
What type of school are you at where you have several friends who have very strong connections that can hand down BB/EB gigs?
HYP lmao it's common if you run in elite social circles at the school to have multiple friends whose parents are in IB or even more commonly PE
Interview questions range from:
How's your dad?
to
When do you want to start?
My team made an internship offer to the daughter of one of our clients.
She didn’t even want to do IBD but our client wanted their daughter to have it for her CV. We made her an internship offer and within a couple weeks she was complaining she was bored and wanted to do something else long term whenever we went for drinks. Nevertheless at the end of the internship we still offered her the FT role.. and.. she declined haha
Honestly maybe a win-win, she got the IB internship experience on her resume, and your team got to do the client a favor without having to actually bring her on to the team
Bank my friend works at that just hired COO’s son as an analyst and CEO’s daughter as an intern says no.
Do you believe that Hunter Biden really merited a board membership for a Ukrainian energy company?
Well, if the oil company needed high-level contacts in Washington in case Putin’s thugs came sniffing around, then, yeah, giving a board seat to the son of a former American Vice President would be a shrewd move.
Or are you going to argue that board seats should only go to men with good GPAs/SATs and oil and gas experience in Houston?
Jefferies healthcare ib... the worse. There’s a VP who’s the daughter of a large PE fund manager in Chicago, and a MD who’s the wife of a fund manager in NYC.
Not my group, but another group at my MM was only planning on taking 1 summer intern this year. Did recruiting, found their candidate, gave him an offer. 3 weeks before the internship starts, they get told they need to take this random dude as a second intern because his dad is CEO of a company that does a lot of work with the ECM group at the bank. Luckily only the original intern got a return offer, but still a retarded situation.
I mean if this guy knows any MD’s personally, he could just shoot them her email or no.
From my perception, very easy to do and simple but not sure about quid pro quo that is a tough line especially if you currently do business with them or something. Idk
Absolutely. Jared and Ivanka are in the White House on talent alone.
Dude.
They should make being President only based on merit, with GPA, SAT scores, extracurricular activities, and 2 teacher recommendations
Dude. You would be surprised how much exposure to extremely complex foreign policy you’re exposed to when you’re developing real estate in Manhattan... hehe nepotism is not dead indeed.
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