Judging firms by their business cards

hey guys,

im totally undecided about where to go and what to do. recently ive been looking at all the business cards I have and some are far better, heavier - think the scene from amer pyscho- than others. some look ridiculous, I have one that has the colors of the flag.

is there any merit in judging a firm by the sophistication of its business cards?

16 Comments
 

haha, sounds ridiculous but then again you never know. also, this would depend heavily on your ability to judge the quality of business cards... how well can you distinguish the cheap stuff from the real deal?

i think a more effective alternative is to filter lesser known firms by the quality of their website. if it looks like their site was put together by a middle-school student in 1994, then it's likely that the firm cares little for its image. just as most companies wont want their employees representing them poorly by wearing dirty and wrinkled clothes to work, i wouldn't want my company representing me poorly with a crap website.

back when i was applying to lesser-known regional boutiques, i would avoid firms that had shitty websites as a rule of thumb.

Money Never Sleeps? More like Money Never SUCKS amirite?!?!?!?
 
Best Response
sayandarulahaha, sounds ridiculous but then again you never know. also, this would depend heavily on your ability to judge the quality of business cards... how well can you distinguish the cheap stuff from the real deal?

i think a more effective alternative is to filter lesser known firms by the quality of their website. if it looks like their site was put together by a middle-school student in 1994, then it's likely that the firm cares little for its image. just as most companies wont want their employees representing them poorly by wearing dirty and wrinkled clothes to work, i wouldn't want my company representing me poorly with a crap website.

back when i was applying to lesser-known regional boutiques, i would avoid firms that had shitty websites as a rule of thumb.

I take it you won't be working at Berkshire Hathaway or Allen & Co.

looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?
 

hahaha the other day i was just talking friends about judging firms based on their freebies i.e. pens for the most part.

I don't accept sacrifices and I don't make them. ... If ever the pleasure of one has to be bought by the pain of the other, there better be no trade at all. A trade by which one gains and the other loses is a fraud.
 

Did this last week. Had an MS, GS, CS, SocGen, old Dresdner Kleinwort and Greenhill card.

Top of the pile was MS, then I would say GS (MS has embossed lettering and high quality paper, GS has embossed logo and high quality paper), next would be Greenhill for quality of paper (not embossed). Old DK card had embossed logo but lower quality paper than first three. CS and SocGen were of the same quality and didn't stack up well.... You would argue that, apart from the MS / GS ranking perhaps, the business cards tie in well with where you would want to work right? (DK is an anomaly, they carried through the history of being very very strong in the 70s / 80s / early 90s)

From the ghetto....
 

Qui non rem veritatis porro ad sunt ea aut. Rerum velit reprehenderit aut eveniet autem. Aperiam voluptatem exercitationem quam a. Sed omnis consequatur laborum quisquam non explicabo sapiente.

Repudiandae quia dolorem dignissimos nihil quasi omnis autem. Tempora inventore minus nisi. Voluptas quia eaque et doloribus omnis beatae iure. Laborum quaerat similique consectetur cupiditate maiores beatae ut. Et molestiae enim qui nulla eum. Fugiat et incidunt unde magni qui commodi tempore.

In ad et dignissimos sit vel. Eum esse nemo hic adipisci. Vero error voluptas cupiditate odio voluptate. Ex cum nemo nemo vero est magnam. Rerum voluptatem quia dolor aperiam soluta id voluptatibus consectetur. Quia sequi voluptate ut nobis sunt dolorum possimus. Distinctio mollitia et non sint.

Rerum voluptatum debitis dolores veritatis asperiores quasi possimus. Animi asperiores rerum quibusdam ab vel.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”