Negative work experience
I'm curious what other people's opinions are on this: Is there any job that you can take which could be detrimental for future employment into finance - especially trying to get into more "prestigious" positions? I don't mean something that just won't help very much, but something that could actually make a hiring manager wince when they see you spent five years doing something about which they feel poorly.
I offer this question more from an entry level perspective - someone searching for a start to their career that doesn't have anything like ageism working against them.
I apologize for such a blanket statement, but the general consenus on advice that I've seen is that it doesn't matter what you do as long as you do something and that you do it well. I remember being an underclass pre-med student, we were told by med school admissions advisors as well as a few AdComs that being a nurse was not an ideal path to being a doctor. It would actually reflect poorly on applications and interviews when you try to get into medical school. Is there anything equivalent to that for any finance jobs?
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As long as you're able to put a positive spin on it, even if you've had the worst time in the world it can be helpful.
What is it that you're thinking of doing?
Working for Barney Frank's office.
working in politics may hurt you, particularly if its for a democaric campaign (since most bankers are conservative) or for an organization like the ACLU.
You gotta be kidding me right?
Working in politics would help you immensely. If you worked for a senator than some private equity firm would hire you just based off the relationship and connections you have with the senator and other people who "MAKE THE LAWS"
It doesnt matter republican or democrat. There are quite a few PE firms that are run by well known democrat campaign donors.
Also your statement that most bankers are conservative is way way way off the radar.
No one really understands anything the more and more I read this board.
Haha couldn't agree more...tons of Dems at the PE firm I used to work at
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Considering this is WSO, I'm gonna make a super wild guess and say you are either 1. someone looking for a job in banking 2. an analyst 3. an associate in IB or PE 4. someone who just likes to read finance blogs. I don't think this website is brimming with senior bankers. That being said, none of the four catagories presented includes people who are experts on either IB or PE considering the limited experience. You really don't know that much either. We're all just here to give adivce to the best of our abilities.
I did political work for a dem. It was one of the best points on my resume during interviews. Could hurt depending on who you're interviewing with, but people exaggerate the negatives. IMO, at least you will be a memorable interviewee.
Speaking from my experience and advice previously given to me. You never want to have your political affiliation on your resume (whether its democrat, republican or independent, don't care) because the person on the other side may not agree. People have all kinds of dumb reasons to ding you. Don't let the fact that you lobbied for a bill or a candidate that your interviewer happened to be against keep you from landing the job. If you have some great connection from working with some higher up law maker, then yes, use your network. However, the chances of you having the level of connection with that lawmaker that is going to be at the point where a PE firm will hire you because you have influence in the law maker's decision process is pretty unlikely. Let's be honest. I think politics being off your resume is a good idea for any industry, not just banking. Keep your personal opinions to yourself. Your resume should present you in a professional light, and show that you can do the job - not what party you support or what you have lobbied for.
unfortunately I dont think you understand how the world works.
People get jobs because the head of some company goes to their pentacostal church or because some guy who is an MD at a major IBank goes to the same reform synagogue as I do.
People also get jobs because of what political party they are affiliated with or because they are apart of the same finance club at harvard that the now CEO of X company use to go to.
You may think that talent or "skills" alone get you positions but this is actually quite rare.
The quicker you learn that networking is the #1 key to getting a "job" or "career" the quicker your life will change.
Also how do you think this guy landed his cushy job? He didnt even GO TO COLLEGE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Gottesman
make sure you read that all the way through.
Or what about these guys? I mean what special skill do they have besides they filled papers for the President for a few years?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/05/facebook-hires-forme…
"Gottesman was educated at St. Andrews Episcopal School and Stephen F. Austin High School, both in Austin, Texas; during this time he dated Jenna Bush when her father was Governor of Texas."
"In his role as a personal aide, Gottesman performed a wide range of duties, from dog-sitting the president's Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss Beazley, to carrying the president's speeches and giving him the two-minute warning before a speech begins. After his stint as an aide he enrolled in Harvard Business School, graduating in 2008. His admission to the school despite not having received an undergraduate degree was criticized by many media commentators."
"After the inauguration of President Barack Obama, Gottesman joined Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, as a Senior Associate."
Wow... just... wow
unfortunately I dont think you understand how the world works.
People get jobs because the head of some company goes to their pentacostal church or because some guy who is an MD at a major IBank goes to the same reform synagogue as I do.
People also get jobs because of what political party they are affiliated with or because they are apart of the same finance club at harvard that the now CEO of X company use to go to.
You may think that talent or "skills" alone get you positions but this is actually quite rare.
The quicker you learn that networking is the #1 key to getting a "job" or "career" the quicker your life will change.
Also how do you think this guy landed his cushy job? He didnt even GO TO COLLEGE
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blake_Gottesman
make sure you read that all the way through.
Or what about these guys? I mean what special skill do they have besides they filled papers for the President for a few years?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/05/facebook-hires-forme…]
You make it seem like most people are getting Wall Street gigs from networking. Networking does help (trust me, I'm at a BB now and a few of the analysts have such far off backgrounds, networking is the only way they got there). However, most people get there for their merits, not their network.Somehow I feel like the overwhelming majority of analyst on wall street didn't get their job because of someone at their church. The fact that most are from targets or semi-targets shows that most people get their jobs because of their perceived ability. However, if you actually read my post, you can clearly see that I said if it's in your advantage and will help your networking, use your political connections. By all means. Most people, though, do not have the type or depth of connection with someone in a political party where that person will vouch for you and get you a job. In that case, having political association on your resume may actually harm you if the person reviewing your resume does not hold the same political beliefs as you.To he or she, you are just another person, excessively replaceable. If they don't like what you believe, they will just put your resume to the side and keep going.
Again, to summarize in case you don't understand / can't read : if your political connection can get you a job, yes network. But that's usually not the case for 99.9% of people. Any political experience that most people have will not be working under the president, or even a powerful senator who knows your name and doesn't just view you as a coffee boy. Therefore, these people will not be your reference, much less pull strings to get you a job (in which case, your resume would not be relevant since they would make sure you get the job regardlesss). If not, don't put your politics on your resume because the person on the other end may disagree with you and ding you for it.
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For political stuff, you can always spin it as, "I've worked for a number of political parties, and I'm still forming my political beliefs". When the interviewer states how conservative, liberal, or whatever hokey thing they are, just sympathize and let them talk...then agree with them on some kind of key issue. They want to know that you are on "their" team: which is really the point of all this, yes?
Yes, you want them to think you are on "their" team. But if you can avoid a whole discussion on why you may not be on their team / bs-ing or reaching to find a key issue to agree with in the first place, I would say do that. Try to make your interview as smooth as possible without unnecessary stress. And that's assuming your political experience isn't something so radical that the person may ding you without even giving you the interview (i.e idk if this exists at all, buy let's say you work for the "gay rights party of America", and put that on your resume. a religious and/or conservative analyst or associate is shifting through resume's and sees that. he will likely put your resume in the "no" section and keep going, even if you would have otherwise been great. when they ask why, of couse he's not gonna say "b/c i hate this guy's political beliefs", he's gonna be like "not enough experience, doesn't seem to have interest in finance, etc, any other excuse." no one can call him out on it. i mean, what are they gonna do, read his mind to figure out the real reason? politics on a resume is a general no, as it can often times harm you.
fyi, i did some campaigning sophmore summer, and when i was applying, a senior MD that was a school alumni told me to take it off and gave me the same advice i'm writing now.
GJones_08, I don't think you are looking at this very objectively. No one is going to put PROUD DEMOCRAT on their resume and even if you were a lobbyist for a bill that someone didn't like, are you telling me that you can't apply that to an industry specific IB department? If you were a Congressional intern anytime within the last few years you can spin the fuck out of your experience pretty fucking good. The soft skills you can gain in that environment are probably way more important than whatever bullshit industry shit you will get trained on anyway. Dealing with egotistical politicians = perfect for client-facing work or dealing with IB abuse.
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