I'm a first-gen student at a top target and I can't stand the amount of nepotism I see. It pisses me off that I have to put in 10x more effort to find opportunities while my classmates have parents getting them top internships like nothing. I understand that working this hard teaches me to hustle but it's so frustrating to see my classmates breeze through while I'm working my ass off just to have a chance.
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Yes
first gen is diversity at GS
First gen college student at a target here. Participated in GS diversity events for it from March until July.
Got one of their "special diversity" superdays through it. In my superday, there were mostly kids who were non-diversity/definitely not first gen college students/all of the kids went to prep schools. They gave out offers to like 1 or 2 people out of 30-40 - kids who had offers already and were at typical supertarget schools. Know how many people they gave offers to in their first round of normal recruiting? TONS. Probably closer to 30-40% of people. Read the 2021 GS superday thread to confirm.
I wasn't even considered for the normal round because I had one of their superdays already. I honestly would've had a better chance if I had never done their diversity process. GS might count first gen as diversity but they definitely don't give a crap about it past the events.
Sup
Let me get this straight. You, a diversity candidate from a top-target, want to complain about bias in IBD recruiting? Talk about glass houses...
I'm not diversity buddy
I'm not your buddy guy
Wait this is important to address because it seems like everyone is under the impression that first-gen = diversity. This is not the case at the vast majority of firms out there. I wish it was but diversity only includes Black and Latinx
and women and lgbt and sometimes veterans
Stop being an idiot and just say Latino. People in Latin America will think you're some sort of pussboi if you say that there.
Lmao exactly
Yes because they hire 2 black kids the whole fucking system isn’t tilted against them?
Stop worrying about the things you can't control or else you'll never make it...
The point about them being your classmates is that you can reach out and bridge some of the gap between you and the privilege they have. You shouldn’t take it as an affront, and rather it would be a lot smarter to look at it positively and recognize the opportunity. They don’t have to be your best friends, as you keep the relationship as classmates in context, but it is an opportunity and should be taken advantage of as that is supposed to be part of the experience.
This generation is so sensitive about everything. AA doesn’t have to offend anyone as much as the kids who get in through legacy don’t have to either, nor anyone else. People are too busy trying to protect their itty bitty sense of pride instead of being big and proud enough to withstand what’s thrown at them. Be happy about the opportunity, make the best of it, and stfu.
It's really hard to "reach out" beyond superficial friendships.
If it's like anything like the UK, them typpa circle people tend to stick together in the long term and are very cliquey.
"First-gen at top target". Come on. I have no doubt you're a smart person and have worked very hard to get to where you are. But I'm sorry, there are thousands of kids who would kill to be in your shoes and you're complaining about students with connections getting jobs? The industry of finance has always been about who you know and always will be, it's the name of the game whether you think it's fair or not. Good luck to you in your process and just keep in mind the position you are in currently to land a job is at your fingertips. Keep up the hustle because it's respect
fair point, things could be a lot worse for me. This post was more of a rant than anything. It's not something I am passionate about but rather something that has frustrated me the past couple of days
I feel ya, OP. Lots of non diverse kids end up applying and getting in through diversity events.
So I am first generation from a shit poor family at a semi-target who isn't diversity. Yes it is harder for me, a lot harder but what drives me on is the desire to make a better life for myself and my family. If I do make it and if I do have kids, I know I will do everything in my power to give those kids the best start in life possible. When I see my friends parents swooping in to give them a boost it pisses me off but I know in 30 years time I will be that parent. You can't stop people loving and helping their kids there are greater injustices in the world.
This. Work hard so that you can lift your next generation up the same way your classmates’ parents do today. That’s just being a good parent and wanting the best for your kids.
it may not when your kids are the benefactors
Also first gen at a top target. Unfortunately, we don't get to pick our parents nor the circumstances that we're born into. However, we can try to make the best of what we do have, which, given that you're at a top target, is A LOT, even without super rich parents and family connections. Looking back at my college experience, my "target" opened so many doors that my high school / younger self did not even know existed and would have never foreseen. Life is certainly unfair, and yes it'd be nice to instantly have jobs/opportunities lined up because of who your father is, but please don't overlook the fact that you're in an amazing position too.
Do not fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others!! It only fuels resentment and insecurity, and you'll never win. Be grateful and enjoy the grind.
Mate, I grew up poor too and, frankly, if you're gonna vent on anyone then blame your (our) parents, or grandparents, or ancestry or whatever. Part of why we hustle so hard is so that our kids can have bright futures ahead of them; our older generation didn't do that. Maybe there were extreme circumstances for them bla bla, but at some point back in time, humans were equal, and our ancestors blew it. Don't take it out on the rich kids, they didn't choose their parents either.
Edit: I didn't say you have to blame someone, just saying if you did want to...
Lol at the MS. People need to stop acting like victims and feeling entitled to equality. You chose a career in finance, of all things, where all is fair as long as you can execute.
>are just as hard
Diversity is the engine that drives this country. We are an immigrant nation! The first generation works their fingers to the bone making things, the next generation goes to college and innovates new ideas, the third generation... snowboards and takes improv classes. - Jack Donaghy
Mate, you’re very tense. Nail some tail to the cross and release that tension.
“Those who knock nepotism obviously never tried it”
God, you're a whiny bitch. There are so many people like you that would be more than happy to put their head down and grind. I was a first-gen student too, but did I complain when my friends got their jobs and I didn't? No, I shut the fuck up and worked my ass off. You should be thanking the stars you're at a target.
You’re at a target school. You’ll be fine. Just keep networking and land a job - complaining about this isn’t going to get you anywhere.
Stick to the non-legacy crowd, it’s bigger than you think. For now, leverage any relationship you can any way you can because YES you are changing your legacy and that’s a hard thing to do. Once you start working, of course be cool with everyone but realize you are going to do much better by associating with people who earned their way in on merit alone, you will respect them more and they will teach you more.
Once you’re actually in industry for a while it all evens out. People stop caring where you went to school, who your dad is, what sport you played as a kid, they REALLY don’t care what your grades were.....people just care what you will do for them, that’s what they pay you on.
boo hoo. woe is me
hahah, I’ve got a friend who got a guaranteed summer analyst spot at a BB without communicating a word directly to any person involved in that bank. similar thing is about to happen to another friend with a smaller bank.
WSO: diversity is absolutely disgusting. People should be hired based off of merit only.
Also WSO: haha loser, nepotism is just the way things are. It’s always been like this, merit has nothing to do with getting hired. Stop crying about things you can’t change, big baby.
Yea those two statements are not contrary lol
Welcome to the real world dude. Shits never gonna change and you're never going to get away from it
OP, I would have agreed with you being a first-gen student a while back but you attend a top target.
Only 3% of 17-18 years old U.S. high school graduates who go to college even attend a selective university that admits fewer than half of their applicants (i.e. have an acceptance rate of 50% or lower).
You're already privledged by virtue of the university you attend. There's no doubt nepotism might exist in some forms at targets but recognize you've already "skipped the line". You're ahead of 97% of U.S. high school graduates (i.e. almost certainly attending non-targets) who are going or currently attending college.
Nepotism is a form of meritocracy. The thinking goes if you are extremely good at what you do such that you have earned respect from powerful people in your network, your offspring should benefit. In that sense, if you are competing against a nepotism hire, you are really competing against their parents.
Even though I grew up rich, I still realize that I didn't achieve any of the things my dad did. I am still happy to have benefited from it though. Companies, especially banks, take advantage of nepotism because we still live in a relationship driven world.
Nepotism sucks, but the higher you climb the less of an issue it becomes.
I've seen ppl w/ rich parents end up at great UGs, great BBs and then great MBAs....and after that??? Epic fails at cushy jobs. If you're that 35+ something spoiled rich kid w/ a CV of continued failures for the past 5 years, what's next? Even your rich parents aren't going to help.
What kind of mind blowing failures at cushy jobs have you seen so many times?
1) Buyside analyst at a large long only - saw this a few times 2) Corp dev at a F100 3) Asset allocation
What the actual fuck.
There is no point in complaining in this life. It only puts you in a negative mindset, which lowers your ability to compete.
It is what it is. I'm not saying this to be tough love. It's just honest. There will always always be stuff like this in life. You do you.
This
LOL. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be complaining if you had connections yourself.
You're probably a big fan of the estate tax then too huh?
Absolutely agree OP. Now that I do some recruiting from my firm, I get extremely frustrated the amount of resumes that get forwarded from MDs about their friends' kids
We often give them a first round interview. No networking or pre-screens etc. Sometimes they are late in the process too and it doesnt matter
Curious to know how many even make it to superdays and convert.
I get OP
Whilst sometimes you'd recognise that because you face unsimilar hurdles, it's hard not to compare your achievements against theirs and not feel behind on some way or inadequate or even unacomplished.
A lil solace is looking at how far you made it, you're in a better position than a lot of disadvantaged kids, but you are still the top candidate at the bottom of the ladder, and when you look up the ladder is going through a whole glass ceiling that's a lil bit unattainable.
As for diversity and social mobility initiatives, they're jokes, kids who really don't need those programs tend to saturate it because a) they know about it and b) they have the entry grades for them. It rarely reaches out to the intended audience .
Get better parents next time
Just so I understand the lingo, does "first gen" imply that you were born elsewhere and moved to the U.S. and can be any nationality? Like you could theoretically be a white guy from the UK or does it typically refer to someone probably from Asia?
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