Life seems like some sort of screwed up see-saw where you never know if you'll hit the regular balance or your playmate will jump off at the bottom and send you bone-jarringly crashing to the ground. Or if you will jump off and crash the person on the other end of the see-saw. Sometimes I have such an urge just to let others fall, particularly bankers that have been continual pains to me despite giving them every effort in the past. There are some that come across as generally untrustworthy, or more often there's a veneer of civility with an undertone of contempt for my skills and others' skills who they see as simple support staff, despite the fact that without our support they would crash and burn when it counted. We're known as support staff for a very good reason.
Of course being in the background can allow me to observe many things that I think happens in every industry, but for whatever reason banking seems to exacerbate every tendency, good or bad. For those in it just for 1-3 years, making big bonuses and looking forward to the windfall that comes from putting in 100 hour weeks and getting rewarded for it, and they are generally decent human beings. They pay their dues and move on, usually to a decent job elsewhere riding the name of LIB but retaining humanity. Some hang on a bit longer, but in the end can't reconcile having no outside life with the desire for more, which I completely understand.
There are the ones who are looking to springboard as soon as possible to private equity or hedge funds, who have perfected that veneer I mentioned and are looking for quick scores, immediate notoriety by pushing harder than others, and expecting no one to see through it. These are the ones that glibly glide through the bank pretending to care about the work, but you know someday they will likely fit well into the private company shark tank and take no prisoners.
Then there are the careers. They start on the bottom of the totem, put in the time, schmooze and flatter those who are their bosses and bosses' bosses and know where they're headed. They are generally decent people after the first few years' initiation into VP+ and realize what can be gained by treating even us lowly peons well since we can grease the skids from being around longer than most of the bankers, but don't necessarily look down on us. Sometimes. There's some invisible barrier they cross from mid-boss to top boss where they forget your name or are so removed from the work we put in that they don't recognize our contributions anymore. Exceptions do exist, but they prove the rule.
And then there are the ones I feel for the most. Those who enter thinking they can handle it, but end up woefully unprepared for the abuse from the upper level bosses, the 100 hour weeks sleeping under their desks or anywhere they can find some quiet space to pass out for a few hours, and the unrelenting demand for face time in the bullpen. Honestly, they weren't suited for the environment, but being told that this is the golden path to riches and/or fame they took the chance anyway. Usually in 6 months to 2 years (at the maximum) they leave under various circumstances. Some have actually gone to work for nonprofits to get away from the guilt over working in banking which in many cases is working on screwing the average investor and corporation as much as possible while maximizing our profits. Some I will never know what happened to them, but I wish them well in my mind.
It's an odd vantage I have into this microcosm of the real world, particularly since I've been there since 2006, through the crisis and the aftermath, observing, sometimes agonizing, but sticking with it because there really are opportunities here I couldn't get elsewhere despite my low pay grade. I guess that's why I stay. I've seen literally hundreds of bankers come and go, know the types to a degree, and still marvel at how the industry works so dysfunctionally from a human perspective and yet continues to thrive. Would I perpetuate it if I had the chance to eradicate it from the world? Not in a million years. But am I in for the long term? Most likely now that I have developed my skills and know the landscape, I suppose it's in for a penny, in for, well, 2 ounces since they can't afford a pound for me. In the meantime, I will watch and try to focus on those bankers who still have the ability to see me as a talented human, not a commodity.
Of course being in the background can allow me to observe many things that I think happens in every industry, but for whatever reason banking seems to exacerbate every tendency, good or bad. For those in it just for 1-3 years, making big bonuses and looking forward to the windfall that comes from putting in 100 hour weeks and getting rewarded for it, and they are generally decent human beings. They pay their dues and move on, usually to a decent job elsewhere riding the name of LIB but retaining humanity. Some hang on a bit longer, but in the end can't reconcile having no outside life with the desire for more, which I completely understand.
There are the ones who are looking to springboard as soon as possible to private equity or hedge funds, who have perfected that veneer I mentioned and are looking for quick scores, immediate notoriety by pushing harder than others, and expecting no one to see through it. These are the ones that glibly glide through the bank pretending to care about the work, but you know someday they will likely fit well into the private company shark tank and take no prisoners.
Then there are the careers. They start on the bottom of the totem, put in the time, schmooze and flatter those who are their bosses and bosses' bosses and know where they're headed. They are generally decent people after the first few years' initiation into VP+ and realize what can be gained by treating even us lowly peons well since we can grease the skids from being around longer than most of the bankers, but don't necessarily look down on us. Sometimes. There's some invisible barrier they cross from mid-boss to top boss where they forget your name or are so removed from the work we put in that they don't recognize our contributions anymore. Exceptions do exist, but they prove the rule.
And then there are the ones I feel for the most. Those who enter thinking they can handle it, but end up woefully unprepared for the abuse from the upper level bosses, the 100 hour weeks sleeping under their desks or anywhere they can find some quiet space to pass out for a few hours, and the unrelenting demand for face time in the bullpen. Honestly, they weren't suited for the environment, but being told that this is the golden path to riches and/or fame they took the chance anyway. Usually in 6 months to 2 years (at the maximum) they leave under various circumstances. Some have actually gone to work for nonprofits to get away from the guilt over working in banking which in many cases is working on screwing the average investor and corporation as much as possible while maximizing our profits. Some I will never know what happened to them, but I wish them well in my mind.
It's an odd vantage I have into this microcosm of the real world, particularly since I've been there since 2006, through the crisis and the aftermath, observing, sometimes agonizing, but sticking with it because there really are opportunities here I couldn't get elsewhere despite my low pay grade. I guess that's why I stay. I've seen literally hundreds of bankers come and go, know the types to a degree, and still marvel at how the industry works so dysfunctionally from a human perspective and yet continues to thrive. Would I perpetuate it if I had the chance to eradicate it from the world? Not in a million years. But am I in for the long term? Most likely now that I have developed my skills and know the landscape, I suppose it's in for a penny, in for, well, 2 ounces since they can't afford a pound for me. In the meantime, I will watch and try to focus on those bankers who still have the ability to see me as a talented human, not a commodity.
posted by AnonymousX at 10:02 PM
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