Uncomfortable Talking About Working on Wall Street?

Anyone else feel uncomfortable when people ask you what you do for work? I feel as though IB and pretty much any job on Wall Street has been vilified so much in the mainstream that people outside of finance instantly judge you and think you're some evil psychopath who only cares about money. I will admit that I do care about money a lot, but I don't think that automatically makes me a bad person. When I tell people I'm doing IB, I can almost see people's facial expressions change and it seems like they're more cautious around me. I think this is largely due to the increasing wealth inequality in the US and both sides of the political aisle increasingly blaming "the Wall Street Elites" any chance they get. Anyone have similar experiences?

32 Comments
 

I'm sure Marie Antoinette felt very empowered when she said "Let them eat cake" but at the end of the day she was guillotined because of public opinion. I'm not socialist or even left-leaning, but historically when there is class divide the have-nots tend to revolt eventually.

 

Let’s be clear - you are not a “have” because you work on Wall Street. You are still an employee and likely cannot afford to miss more than a couple paychecks without your life falling apart. Despite being in a slightly upper echelon class than the poor - our wealth is abysmal to the the true “haves” these are the capital owners - these are the people who never have to work a single day in their life again and they will be rich from the assets that they own (either property or businesses or financial assets).

Don’t let capitalism fool you into thinking you can “work” and brute force you’re way out of being a “have not”. As long we have a boss, we are technically the have nots :)

 

You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth. I create nothing. I own. We make the rules, pal. The news, war, peace, famine, upheaval, the price per paper clip. We pick that rabbit out of the hat while everybody sits out there wondering how the hell we did it. Now you're not naive enough to think we're living in a democracy, are you buddy? It's the free market.

 

No one really gives that much of a shit what you do, just say "I work in finance and move on". The only people that will ask follow up questions likely also work in finance or are actually interested in the field. Dont overthink these things.

Are you talking to your guy friends? Odds are they dont give a shit at all and wont ask any follow up Qs.

Are you talking to a girl you're interested in? If you're talking about what you do for work you're already doing it wrong.

Talking to family? They should be supportive regardless and may actually be interested. If they judge you for your line of work that conversation should be saved for a different post. 

 
Intern in IB - Cov

people outside of finance instantly judge you and think you're some evil psychopath who only cares about money

Let me put your mind at rest OP. Nobody outside of finance thinks you’re an evil psychopath. If they think about you at all (which they don’t), they think about how you’re a cuck loser that thinks slaving away as an intern at a bank makes him some of kind of villain.

 

To the rest of the world, banking is just a job, like any other corporate job. People outside of the industry don’t really think about it. Aside from the occasional activist type (whom you probably don’t cross paths with), “I work in finance” doesn’t come off differently than “I work in marketing” or “I work for [insert F500 company here].”

Your job isn’t your identity, analyst 1s aren’t doing anything to the global economy one way or the other, and most people simply don’t care.

 

Who cares? Telling others what you do is a fact. The interpretation of this fact depends solely on them. Some may feel uncomfortable or assume you're bragging but that's because they suffer from interiority complex. Others will see you as a worthless human being without passions. Others will be impressed and would jump to suck your cock. Others will feel sorry for you. etc. etc.

You can't control how others will perceive you. Evading the "what you do" question it's just lack of sincerity. Just be sincere and let the others carry the burden of their prejudices, not you. 

incentives trumph ethics
 

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