Career Advice

As the ramping up of recruiting season coincides with the holiday season, I'd like to provide a little gift to job seekers this week. To support the Twelve Days of Christmas, consider these Five Days of Advice. If you want to work on Wall Street the following may be useful. If you're trying to get me to help you in some way with that goal, they are essential.

On the First Day of Christmas, my advice to you: Don't lie.

A few years ago an overly eager but otherwise seemingly normal candidate pulled every trick, connection, and favor he could to get me to help him earn an offer as a summer associate. Really wanted to work in the public securities market. Said that my employer was his top choice. I helped him where I could and it turned out that another division of my bank made him an offer. He declined, taking an offer from a competitor to do work totally unrelated to public securities. Two lies in one. He called me mid-summer to say that things weren't going so well and he was afraid that he wouldn't get a full-time offer from the other bank (he didn't). The people in the other division at my bank weren't returning his calls for some reason apparently beyond his comprehension. He asked if I could help. I explained why his calls weren't being returned and why I couldn't help him. Fool me once, shame on you; try to fool me twice I kick you in the head. He's now homeless and sells unshelled pistachios in Tucson.