35 Comments
 

I was told I am a nice person which is useful in a client-facing scenario (ie consulting or lots of internal stakeholders). For core roles where you need to push things through, it might be useful to display a more direct or aggressive personality.

I noticed when people get more senior they typically "calm down" though; could be explained with the general nature of aging (ie hormone levels), having a family life or private life that provides serenity (kids, hobbies), more exposure to leadership training and conflict resolution or that managers have learned that cooperation could be more fruitful.

edit: When we are talking office politics I'd say it is more related to tactics and internal string-pulling/influencing rather than being unfriendly or cunning.

 
Best Response

Psycho: friendly and charming on the surface, but burning with rage and hatred inside

 

This is where I hope to be. I have lived up to the sincere hatred for all things inside but I can’t manage to be kind on the outside. Takes a lot.

 
Controversial

I'm nice to nice people. I'm an asshole to assholes. Life is too short and dignity matters too much to take sh!t from people who will be coal in a few million years. Everyone's sh!t stinks and farts.

I once remember being picked on by some guy in high school - I didn't even hesitate to point my finger at him and yell YOU SELL TOILETS FOR A LIVING. His family was in the sanitary ware business. But they did have that part of their business.

I grew up Cupertino Silicon Valley. My father used to work at IBM . I knew what the iPod was before 99.99% of people on planet. My family owns rental property which we lease to urologists .

I don't take sh!t from anyone. Period. The feeling of having verbally beheaded someone who deserved it is almost as good as the feeling of ejaculation.

The entire concept of be nice and all that softy feely sh!et presumes that other people are angels and they have good intentions and are flawless human beings who you can never ever be remotely wrong about. The reality is everyone has the ability to slip in behavior.

D.I.
 

Congrats! you are a solid golden asshole.

PS: I admire the iPod thing though

You killed the Greece spread goes up, spread goes down, from Wall Street they all play like a freak, Goldman Sachs 'o beat.
 
"FrkWhite" *I grew up Cupertino Silicon Valley. My father used to work at IBM . I knew what the iPod was before 99.99% of people on planet. My family owns rental property which we lease to urologists *.

How is this relevant to the question?

I don't know, but it could be more proof that I'm an asshole.

D.I.
 
"oligarch" My family owns rental property which we lease to urologists.

I hope this becomes the new metric for success in our little corner of the world.

"Layne, how's your bonus looking this year?" "Put it this way - I'll use it to buy rental property ... to lease to urologists." "Nice." [fist bump]

"Son, life is hard. But it's harder if you're stupid." - my dad
 
"notimefor"Are you objectively an asshole or a nice person? No need to sugar-coat.

I, like most people, am both.

"notimefor"Would you rather be a nice asshole or an asshole nice person?

This is idiotic.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

My personality changes based on who I deal with to accommodate the situation and to get what I want. Should read "48 Laws of Power". The first chapter would say that being nice is not nice at all. The first person who always die or get fired, cheated, taken advantage of - are the ones with consistent personality (predictability) rather than what we expect of either being nice or asshole at the polar opposite of a spectrum. Be like water my friend.

“You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend.”

 

Nice on the the surface and as a general rule but a fucking barbarian savage asshole underneath. The barbarian comes out when people behave a certain way and, make no mistake, he hath no mercy. I always remember the slightest insults (or nice gestures) and I always settle my accounts.

"I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. " -GG
 

Qui sint ab quia similique ullam. Veritatis quisquam sit ut ex.

Et harum quam nemo ratione. Quae velit est autem quibusdam et. Odit aut atque voluptatem voluptas iusto quibusdam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”