Lincoln appears to have the best culture (if you're white) of any bank - employees really seem to get along and all seem to have similar interests and are genuinely nice to each other. Is this true or more of a facade? Are they secretly getting crushed with 2am nights and just putting on a happy face for recruiting? Or do they actually have a better WLB than similar banks and are the employees actually happy? Any insights would be appreciated. Thanks!
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So is the implication that Lincoln is now racist? Don’t really understand that dig or qualifier at all.
Most banks are filled with white people, that doesn’t make them racist lol. Most banks are doing everything they can to attract more diverse candidates, they’re just not having any luck due to other career interests (consulting, tech, entrepreneur) for these candidates.
I'm sorry - it was a poor choice of words and it didn't need to be included. If you still feel the need to attack a random stranger on the internet who has admitted his error then I don't know what to tell you.
If you think that was an attack then you’re going to have a rough time in banking, my guy.
He was black
As someone who actually works at Lincoln, I can comment on this.
First off, no idea what the hell the “white people” comment is all about. Second, yes, an intern did pass away a while back, but this was a big wake up call for the company and it has done a complete 180 to ensure something like that never happens again. HR keeps very detailed accounts of how often people are working and make sure no one is getting overworked. If they are it is flagged and reflects poorly on the MD/ rest of deal team which affects their end of year reviews. So long story short MDs do not want junior staff putting in excessive hours. I’ve pushed 90+ a couple times but generally land between 75-85. Lincoln IS NOT a sweatshop.
Now to actually answer the culture question, Lincoln does indeed have a pretty good culture from a banking perspective, pretty comparable to other banks such as Blair/Baird (at least from what I’ve heard from my friends there). As cliche as it is, senior bankers try to replicate a “no asshole policy” and hire juniors who reflect this. This is a big reason why interviewing at Lincoln is highly behavioral and emphasizes “why Lincoln” rather than being able to drill out technicals. Seniors try to be pretty cognizant of ensuring juniors have somewhat of a personal life, at least in terms of what’s possible for banking. For example, when working on cross-border engagements, my seniors understood my schedule and tried to work around it to ensure I wasn’t getting worked at ridiculous hours, and I know my peers can say the same. So overall I have little complaints about the culture and genuinely enjoy the people I work with and the projects I’m staffed on. Happy to answer any further questions.
I take it you're white?
Know several people there - they all love the culture. Great comradery among junior bankers, and senior bankers go out of their way to be friendly and build relationships with the juniors. Everyone there is genuinely nice and cares about you (ex. MD took an associate out to dinner after his gf broke up with him). Significant number of VP's and above joined as An or As and have stuck it out, in my mind that alone is a great testament to the culture there. Senior leadership is amazing and clearly knows what they are doing - starting to close some $1B+ deals, have added a ton of new MD's during COVID and are growing rapidly. Very scrappy culture, everyone is working hard to grow Lincoln's presence across the street, and they have been getting some pretty good recognition over the past couple years.