After reading numerous job boards, networking and asking other financiers about what banks to join two things are realized. One, it is impossible to de-risk your choice in a bank, essentially asking for a perfectly hedged portfolio with nothing but upside. Two, there are certainly ways to mitigate risk… ie: stay away from companies currently changing their strategic initiatives. Here are some items to look for:
Work Hard Play Hard: This is about the worst thing you can hear during an interview, this means you’re joining a white collar sweat shop in East Asia that was built with concrete walls thicker than the unavoidable whale that will certainly be sitting next to you. It sounds cool to say out loud until you understand the implied meaning of “work hard play hard”. You only play hard if you have a limited amount of time to have fun, so you squeeze every ounce of fun out of that 2 hour window of opportunity (this assumes you can survive on 4 hours of sleep). Unless you’re into doing drugs for work, try to steer clear. Instead come off more high strung and intense about the job because these guys want someone who is willing to run through brick walls and put the blinders up to grind through the night and day. In our view, land the offer and leverage the fact that you got an offer from the bank to gain access elsewhere.
Bigger is Better: Sure name brand is huge, i.e. Morgan, Goldman, Bank of America etc. But really, one thing that goes missing from this equation is headcount and or size of the group. Sure you’re working at a bulge bracket, but what if you’re in the middle of Minneapolis with a team of 4? The smaller the office, the more likely a cost cut will simply say shut down this tiny office because fixed costs are not being leveraged. An alternative way to think about it, if you’re going to do banking for Media/Television companies it makes a lot more sense to be in Los Angeles than in Boston surrounded by Software guys. Finally there is also a tug of war here, if you’re in the headquarters you have a bit more help but this likely requires more hours because the trickle down of intensity starts at the CEO level rather than the “Head of XYZ” group level.
Interactions: This one is tough to figure out if you’re only in there for one in person interview, but try to read facial expressions if possible. It can be harder because most banks become extremely quiet when an interviewer comes in since they never want to give you the impression that the work environment is easy, this would give you a bad first impression especially since they want to set higher expectations if possible. Instead your best bet is to try and catch some interactions or more importantly look at how well or poorly dressed everyone is, the sloppier the better, unless of course it looks like everyone was there all night.
Character of Office: Do you see any photos, pictures or writing on the note boards? Anything that looks like it is part of a more fun interaction, not just photos of family and the next set of travel plans, is a good sign. If you see people making what seems to be inside jokes or taking simple bets on beers that can also be a good sign of a more positive internal culture.
Are They Attractive? This is extremely shallow yet true, join a group of more attractive people versus unattractive people. Attractive people generally have big social circles so your network will likely get bigger and they value time out of the office so they won’t be the ones checking up on the futures market at 7pm on a Saturday night. Think about attractive women you know, it is doubtful that any of them are unpopular. This is certainly a rare feat in Wall Street so attractive is relative to Street standards, if the higher ups aren’t overweight and baggy eyed that’s a good sign. This is unfortunately the last item to look for and likely wont steer your decision because there are times when you’ll see an in shape bank but the guys end up being extremely arrogant and impossible to work with, but at least you know they value some time off to avoid getting overweight.
Conclusion: Notice this article did not force rank banks like Vault Guide because that is not the best way to survive the Street. Again the goal for you is to survive 10 years at any bank, not survive a few years at a bulge bracket and continuously get laid off by large banks. Sure bulge is better than middle market, but if it’s a well known sweat shop and you have heard about the much better hours at a slightly less prestigious bank, it may make sense to choose the lower hours.
