Red(blue)pilled by racist group
I interned at a boutique that systematically overlooks Black professionals, regardless of their abilities, and it has taken a serious toll on me mentally. I’m trying to stay anonymous, but essentially, this firm doesn’t staff POC, has a track record of shortchanging them on bonuses and reviews, and fosters an environment where senior staff indoctrinate white juniors with extreme rhetoric.
I know WSO leans heavily right, but I don’t know where else to talk about this. I was the kind of person who started recruiting early, securing multiple IB and PE internships, but now I’ve lost all motivation and feel completely apathetic. I don’t know what to do next. I’ve always been centrist and politically unaffiliated, but this experience has pushed me further and further left, and it’s eating me up inside.
Yeah that's crazy, I'd start recruiting on the side 100%
Second this - recruit elsewhere. After 10+ years in the same industry, three potentially relevant thoughts come to mind: (i) the only (limited) examples I can think of with similar though less extreme type issues are atrophying shops; (ii) people generally tend to land where they're supposed to / fit in among shops in the same industry but that may only happen over time / as you learn the industry landscape better; and (iii) if you can pick up on this / have done what sounds to be like legitimate channel-checking, then probably other firms in the space know. Imagine if you went to work for these people full-time and only discovered this after... I'd suggest to you that's a lot scarier than your current situation. You have the great informational edge of knowing this particular fact which you find meaningful; great, go look for work elsewhere. Now if you get into a situation where you have a full-time return offer from them and no other offers, that's a problem for future you (that for some reason, some of the other commentors on this post immediately want to jump to? IMO, no reason to deploy the 'Kids in War Torn Country X are starving, you should be thankful for your poop sandwich' if you still have time to see what else is on the menu besides poop sandwich) but I would suggest to you, coming from someone who started out at a toxic shop, that despite point (iii), if you go to lateral after a few years, you won't get tarred with the reputation.
^TL,DR: interview elsewhere; if they're your only offer, it's a personal question on whether you're willing to stomach this fact for ~2 years, then lateral.
Also, all of the above is an analysis focused on your individual interests, and you're pointing out a bigger-picture problem. I would suggest that unfortunately given your lack of seniority, the most impactful thing you can do vis a vis this firm is 'vote with your feet' - which conveniently dovetails with interviewing elsewhere. Cue someone else pointing out that these seats are so limited that someone else will just take your spot... true, but over the long-term, I've seen similar policies and/or toxic cultures just spit out all the best talent and keep the worst (because the remainers don't care about the issue, endorse it, or aren't good enough to have options to leave).
FACTS. couldn’t have said it better myself
Where can I apply
Have my seat, pm if you’d like introductions
Please PM name of firm. Not to dox, genuinely interested though
So name the bank? Or is this just a divisive propaganda post?
true, give us an indication of the bank and which office you're talking about so others can avoid or at least vouch for your experience
People on WSO suck - for a forum where DEI is hated on because it "impedes meritocracy", you would think the same energy would be applied to outright discriminatory practices. I'm really sorry to hear you are experiencing this.
Loaded statement is an understatement.
"Outright discriminatory"? Bro gave no evidence, no names, nothing. Just griping about his perceived injustice. Pardon me if that is not enough for us to go riot in the streets, burn the police district, and erect statues to his name.
I don't even know what to say to this comment because it is clear your brain is so rotted from WSO you're probably unreachable.
Nowhere did OP have a call to action, nowhere did he make a political statement, that is all you projecting. OP was simply talking about a tough time he is going through as junior facing discrimination in the workplace, and if you can't have compassion or at a minimum empathy for that you may need to go touch grass.
Because nobody ever makes shit up or chooses to interpret things through a racial lens.
You should definitely apply to Morgan Stanley where they do the exactly same thing but switch skin colors.
he wouldnt be bitching about it either, human nature ig 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
Yup. The amount of pro DEI bullshit at that firm is actually disgusting. It goes beyond sky sense of 'equality' and into racism.
.
KKKapital being racist? Surely not
Go work for a huge company. They will fire a White guy to hire a minority that isn't a drooler. Small firms are still meritocracies.
not saying racism is ok but when u start using soy boy buzzwords like systematically overlooking, etc it wouldn’t be a surprise if you weren’t the most liked guy at the office… fuck off bro, why does every firm have to “systematically” hire you because of the color of your skin? no one owes you or me or anybody shit. if anything you got lucky that you have a profile that these firms have been actively looking for in the last 10 years.
For clarity, “overlook” refers to how they treat people internally, getting hired here is one thing, having opportunities to succeed once inside is a whole other conversation. Opted to use “systemic” after conversations with group alum revealed it’s not just me nor current employees, and these are conversations I should have had prior to joining which is entirely my fault. No one’s asking for handouts and not quite sure where in my post I indicated that
I know what you meant by it bud, Im just saying that I think its bullshit. And yea you are asking for handouts, “This firm doesn’t hire POC” what does skin have to do with anything? Why are you not ok with a firm hiring mostly white people the same way white people would be fine with a mainly black firm? and both ways about the bitching btw, the difference is that when a white person bitches about it they get booed and you get a medal. Another thing is that you chose to go into this field (whenever I see these posts I ask myself why people without thick skin do this) of mostly white people, a firm probably started by white people, the clients being white people. So whats the surprise? If you are hungry and thick skinned enough you’ll succeed, even Kravis faced racism, part of life and your bs post isnt gonna change it. the difference is he and guys like hime were hungry and focused on the important shit, while you have been trained to think the world is against you, and when you start to believe that it becomes reality. At these high levels of competitiveness anything goes to get the edge, and a lot less today than how it was back in the day, your sooo protected and fortunate so be grateful you’re clearing 150k AND STOP BITCHING.
I highly doubt this.
del
just start recruiting. at the end of the day these firms and the industry are led by PEOPLE. and those people have all kinds of biases. don’t let it get you down. ignore the trolls / toxic anti-DEI commentary (those ppl are losers trust me - leadership and those at top firms - and i mean Tier 1 shops ppl on wso salivate about - are more open to diversity than they’d want you think - the job isn’t rocket science. low key after awhile ppl are bored. and it’s interesting and cool to have different kinds of ppl around
having diverse backgrounds is actually a HUGE leg up when you’re trying to compete to be #1 one at what you do and having talent/working hard is table stakes/a complete wash on the sell-side especially (ignore my title not in consulting)
but if you’re actually top talent, hungry, personable/well liked (this is so much more important than you’d might think/than you’ll ever read about on an online forum) you can go very far and do any job you want on the street (i have done it myself). i mean that with my whole heart - keep your head up
when things go left despite my best efforts and people start acting weird - i just brushen up my resume and grace someone else with my talent. FUK ‘EM
Damn that’s old school.
So you work at UBS?
yeah, at small boutiques where nobody wants to work, there is racism and sexism against black ppl and women.
at large companies where everybody wants to work (BB IB, Big 3 Consulting), there is racism and sexism against white ppl and men.
if I could choose, I'd prefer to be discriminated against by small boutiques and favored by top large companies, so don't worry about black ppl, they are doing alright.
wut?
what did you not get?
His view aligns with my view. Big companies DO discriminate against White people. Small companies, less so because they can't afford to discriminate.
I'm not sure how you can just assume there is discrimination against other races with no evidence but reject that there is also discrimination against White people as well? It's a pretty mainstream idea to favor minorities over White males in 2025 and you're being dishonest by implying otherwise.
So what kind of bias do white women fight against? They are the prime beneficiaries of DEI and take up almost ~50% of seats.
small boutiques don't have DEI. but yeah, big companies where people actually want to work favor ladies.
del
This is true but they will throw tomatoes because they have yet to learn.
When did nazi rhetoric make it from twitter to WSO?
Not going to say impossible, but highly unlikely. Name the shop or you’re full of shit.
You're not crazy. It's real and it happens not only with small boutiques but across larger banks as well. My old bank/group only promoted whites to associate. The "they weren't good enough" excuse doesn't hold up when the bank has access to top talent at any school in the country. There's plenty of qualified minorities who come in as analysts and work their ass off and never get promoted because the team was never intending on promoting them in the first place. The white, trust fund type of kids (men and women alike) were always promoted after two years while anyone who deviated from that profile had to do a third year and eventually got coached out.
I suspect it's the same with MBA associates. They'll hire at the junior levels to maintain good relationships with universities but it's always a specific type of person who gets promoted at some banks/groups. If you don't see anyone who doesn't look like you at the next level onwards, then lateral someplace with diversity.
Why don’t you name the group then? Unless this is just rage-bait fanfic, because any professional who has worked in the industry over the last 10-15yrs will tell you that not only does this sound unbelievable, but plenty of us have seen the exact opposite happen.
Remember, silence is violence. Don’t be complicit ;)
Upstream Oil & Gas
Name the shop, otherwise this is just some fake bs to get attention. When you name it, others can step forward and verify it which only adds credibility (otherwise it’s the opposite)
Unless its a small shop where he can easily be found especially considering hes saying there few black employees.
Are you dense?
So I'm not sure if what you're saying is accurate or not but I'm inclined to believe people unless there is evidence to the contrary. And yes, it is plausible that a small boutique could be subject to this kind of groupthink and collective bias in its staffing and promotion practices, and would be more likely to get away with outright discrimination against POCs due to the lack of an established HR department. So assuming you're truthfully representing the situation here, I would suggest recruiting for FT at BBs or established MMs. Assuming your boutique has any kind of name recognition and you were able to at least get exposure to one or two decent MM deals, you should have a solid enough resume to recruit for a larger bank, where you could be protected from this kind of discrimination and maybe even take advantage of a DEI program. You were just an SA after all, you're not by any means bound to that firm for life.
Then again, the fact that you chose to vent about this on WSO (which skews heavily white, male, and right wing) as opposed to the millions of other forums that would be far more sympathetic to you in this situation, or calling out the firm publicly on LinkedIn if you have a case (based on what you're saying here, I assume you would), doesn't really help, and might give people the further impression that you are in fact just trying to stir the pot here.
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