(BEST INDICATORS OF CAREER SUCCESS EARLY ON) - Selection Process at Top Fraternity/Eating Club/Finals Club/Secret Society at My Hypertarget

At my hypertarget alma mater (WHYP+), one of the fraternities/eating clubs/finals clubs/secret societies I was in had an unofficial list of requirements for all new initiates to meet before they were accepted. This list was always meant to serve as a filter to see who was most likely to succeed later on in life, whether financially, politically or socially and thus boost our fraternity's reputation, placement and financial standing when they donate later in life.

The list (as best as I can remember from memory) is the following:

1. 6'2"/188cm+ 

2. 185lb/84kg+

3. 3.90 cGPA+

4. Acceptance in 2+ finance clubs (GPS/WITG/WUFC/WUPEVCC)

5. Previous internships/placements in finance, politics or law (PWM/Family Office)

6. Prestigious scholarship (undergrad equivalent of Fulbright/Rhodes)

7. Of esteemed stock (New England borderline gentry, or of the trans-Atlantic old guard)

8. From well-to-do families (Exeter/Andover/Deerfield/Eton/Westminster/Le Rosey)

What each of the requirements meant was that our fraternity was only looking for people that were invincible in all regards when it came to success in life, through a dashing combination of pedigree, charisma, talent, family connections and physical attractiveness. Height and weight standards were meant to dissuade those of less-than-imposing stature and musculature, while academic performance was meant to collect only the cream of the cream. The next four requirements were an implicit way to filter out those who would not succeed in life or fit our social environment. By now, you probably clued in that not only were we looking for tall, athletic, attractive males destined to ruthlessly succeed in high finance, but we were looking for a very specific sub-group, those of Protestant stock from Anglo regions in the Old World. In fact, we were specifically looking for former landed gentry, and had a list of families from the Old World with all the fluff that we wanted, from coats of arms to signet rings to outright knighthood and explicit peerage titles.

It should not have to be said that our placement was phenomenal, whatever the price may be. Our graduating class each year landed in all of the finance placements they wanted, from the cream of the cream to the middling Bulge Brackets for our weakest members. Placements typically ranged from PJT/CVP/LAZ/GS Classics/KKR/APO/BX/P72 on the higher end and Barclays/BofA/Citi/ROTH on the lowest end. Non-finance placements were typically scoffed upon, whether our esteemed gentlemen went to their family offices, into philanthropy, entrepreneurship, law school or the ivory towers of politics. 

This post is meant to serve as an inspiration as to what traits are utterly invincible in the face of adversity and can predict success as early on as second semester freshman year, and these are the traits you should strive to achieve.