The great no-life-after-banking delusion: a survey
Joris Luyendijk, the Dutch non-fiction author, who's been cataloguing the voices of bankers and related professionals for the Guardian, has spoken to a new financial services professional: the author of the ibanker blog (whose work we have featured in the past).
Among other things, he informs Joris that:
1. Banking is actually an anti-social profession ("My first line manager probably said hello to me less than five times my first six months on the job. The person who sat between us was always late so it's not like there was a barrier. It was just business. We were there to make money, not friends.")
2. If you want to get paid, look like you like money. ("My senior banker also said if I wanted to get paid real money, I needed to look like I wanted real money. If I wore a cheap watch they'd think I'd be happy with a 100-dollar bonus.")
3. Anyone can be a corporate financier. ("It's different for quants, who need to be very strong in maths, but most of investment banking anyone can do – with enough practice and stamina."
4. Most people in banking are of above-average intelligence. ("The sector attracts talent from all over the world. You want to learn about commodities, Middle East politics, tax loopholes, shipping … you pick up the phone and you get PhD-level knowledge on the end of the line.")
5. People in banking find it impossible to conceive of a life outside banking. ("Sometimes I bump into former colleagues at Canary Wharf. They treat me almost like a patient, saying: 'Are you all right?' They think life after banking is no life at all. When you're immersed in that world you can't imagine life on the outside. It creates a fear of the outside and consequently obedient soldiers.
"Time is money but, more importantly, it is life. That's what bankers need to ask themselves when they're sacrificing the best years of their lives. If they truly love the job, it's fine. But I assure you they are a small minority.")
Given point 5, it seems important to clarify a few things. Please indicate your sentiments using the binary options in the boxes below.
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