omega:
I thought that would be the case. It does kind of piss me off though that I'm not going to be able to wear the watch anymore when I have a job.

Wear it all you want when you have a job. Very few people will notice, fewer will care, and virtually no one will mind. I still shoot the shit with an analyst in one of our industry groups who struck up a conversation with me about his watch and mine, during the group placement process a few years ago.

The fact that you feel some reservation about wearing it to your interviews probably means you should leave it behind. Small potential upside, probably slightly higher potential downside, with by far the most likely outcome being no impact whatsoever, except that it may make you self-conscious about it while you should be focused on the interview. If you want to play it safe, then, the right thing to do is to leave it behind.

Once you get the job, put it back on.

 
Best Response

I wore a custom tailored Brioni suit, hermes tie, platinum cuff-links, John Lobb custom made shoes (ostrich, no plain old leather for me), with a Patek-Philippe on my wrist. I didn't actually answer a single question, I just sat with a disgusted look on my face.

Needless to say, I got an offer.

 

In my last group there was a kid who came in and had a rolex he would rock (it was his father's). Kid also wore a three-piece suit to work one day and got shit for it just about every day thereafter. I thought he was close to suicide at a few points. Besides the gear, he was a total dousche.

Bottom line is - the flashy stuff will only magnify your behavior. If you're a cool dude (then again, who thinks they suck?), then it won't be a big deal. If you get ragged on a lot by people who won't go to the bar with you - then it'll cause problems for you in the long run.

(It also depends on the shop - the smaller the shop, the more likely it is to get noticed / talked about)

 

No one really cares what watch you wear. In fact, almost no one will be looking or even know. Wearing a rolex at age 20 does not scream "style." Most 20 year olds do not earn enough on their own to buy an expensive watch. So, to me, this signifies that you either come from a wealthy family (which doesn't really hurt or help you) or that you don't know how to properly manage money.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

with compbanker. having a nice watch may have been the result of a nice gift for graduation, birthday, whatever. I would wear it and not care so much about what other people think. if it suits you and your personality, then it's fine. but it's stupid to try and pretend to be something you're not. in this industry, it is very obvious who is trying too hard to 'fit in' with the people, and also very obvious which kids' fams have money. Not that it's a bad thing at all since a lot of the industry is still pretty nepotistic.

 

I understand that presentation and appearance are extremely important in banking but why does it seem that almost all bankers derive so much of their self-worth from the watch, suit, and shoes that they wear. If you wanna wear something just fucking wear it. Who cares what anyone else thinks...

Wear your Rolex to the interview; don't be influenced by the perspectives of others.

 
bmwhype:
would my Bolex suffice at an interview?

Haha this is a lot more intriguing question. What would you do as an interviewer if the candidate was clearly wearing a fake Rolex or Breitling or something of the sort?

 

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