DUmmies Discuss A Wall Street Career

[GOBUCKS]

NNN0LHI  (1000+ posts)      Sat Jan-01-11 01:45 PM
Original message
How does someone become a Wall Street executive?
Is their a training program or something? Do you have to be a CPA? Got to know someone?

How does Wall Street go about hiring its executives? Does anyone know?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x101779
DUmmy Nine Inch Nails is interested in invesment banking because he's heard they always have chairs at work. So, DUmmy Noley, when you have your interview with Morgan Stanley, be sure to question them on their affirmative action policy, their LGBT-friendly policies, don't forget to ask about tattoos and piercings, and random drug screenings, and, whatever you do, make sure to demand time and a half for anything over 40 hours.

DUmmy Crazy Dave knows all about this investment banking stuff. It's just like any other job that pays more than minimum:

Crazy Dave  (1000+ posts)      Sat Jan-01-11 01:53 PM
Response to Original message
1. I think you have to be born into it
The rich kid club kind of thing. They all look after their own.

 

bluestate10  (625 posts)     Sat Jan-01-11 02:35 PM
Response to Reply #1
16. Not true. I know three people that have gone to work there.
All were normal people that had skills that WS needed.

Freeper

DUmmy Warpy douses ice water on DUmmy Noley's budding Wall Street career:

Warpy  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-01-11 02:44 PM
Response to Reply #16
23. That applies to low level brokers but you don't break through the upper reaches of the corporate pyramid unless you've got the pedigree. That means upper middle class, country club, prep school, and the right university and B-school.

Some talented brokers have gone on to found their own companies and have managed to get rich quick, especially during the deregulated feeding frenzy of the last few decades. They founded their own companies because they realized they'd always be shut out of the most lucrative parts of the corporate structure.

You can always count on bitter, old, impoverished crones for the straight skinny on Wall Street banking.

HCE SuiGeneris  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-01-11 01:56 PM
Response to Original message
3. No scruples. No moral compass. A compunction to extort and dis-enfranchise anyone you know.
These are mandatory traits.

Democrat politician?

Nye Bevan  (1000+ posts)      Sat Jan-01-11 02:16 PM
Response to Original message
8. Let's take Sandy Weill (former CEO of Citigroup) as an example.
 
Weill was born in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York to two Polish-Jewish immigrants. In his younger years, he attended P.S. 200 in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. He also attended Peekskill Military Academy in Peekskill, New York, then enrolled at Cornell where he was active in the Air Force ROTC and the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity. Weill received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Cornell University in 1955.
....
Sandy Weill, shortly after graduating from Cornell University, got his first job on Wall Street in 1955 - as a runner for Bear Stearns. In 1956, Weill became a licensed broker at Bear Stearns. Rather than making phone calls or personal visits to solicit clients, Weill found he was far more comfortable sitting at his desk, poring through companies' financial statements and disclosures made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. For weeks his only client was his mother, Etta, until Joan persuaded an ex-boyfriend to open a brokerage account.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Weill

So he had fairly humble beginnings. A willingness to work hard, combined with some good luck, always helps.

Another Freeper.

no_hypocrisy  (1000+ posts)      Sat Jan-01-11 02:21 PM
Response to Original message
9. Your father either:
 a) makes a phonecall, or

b) makes you a VP after you've been thrown out of your prep school for the fourth time.

 

Cleita  (1000+ posts)        Sat Jan-01-11 02:37 PM
Response to Original message
19. Why would you want to?
It's like deliberately going into the darkness.

I think it's really hard to tell the difference between DUmmies Cleita and Warpy.
They're kind of like those creepy Olsen twins, except older, meaner, and uglier.

[NHSparky]

no_hypocrisy  (1000+ posts)      Sat Jan-01-11 02:21 PM
Response to Original message
9. Your father either:
 a) makes a phonecall, or

b) makes you a VP after you've been thrown out of your prep school for the fourth time.

Or you could be like Ted Kennedy, and have daddy stash you away in Germany for a couple of years to avoid combat in Korea, then he can buy you a Senate seat after you've been kicked out of Harvard TWICE for cheating.

Forgive them Lord, for they know not how stupid they are.

[ColonialMarine0431]

Mark Maker (4 posts)      Sat Jan-01-11 02:36 PM
Response to Original message
17. I know, lets ask Chelsea Clinton
 NEW YORK — Former first daughter Chelsea Clinton has joined Avenue Capital Group, a $12 billion hedge fund manager whose founder has contributed to many Democratic Party campaigns, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.
Avenue which focuses on distressed securities investing was co-founded by Marc Lasry. Morgan Stanley this week bought a minority stake in Avenue.


She seems to be putting that prerequisite Philosophy degree to excellent use.

DUmmies won't admit that there are more democrats than republicans on Wall Street.

Those big bad Wall Streeters gave more to The One than McCain,

Top Obama Contributors

Goldman Sachs  $994,795
Microsoft Corp  $833,617
Google Inc  $803,436
Citigroup Inc  $701,290
JPMorgan Chase & Co  $695,132
Time Warner  $590,084
Sidley Austin LLP  $588,598
National Amusements Inc  $551,683
UBS AG  $543,219
Wilmerhale Llp  $542,618
Skadden, Arps et al  $530,839
IBM Corp  $528,822
Morgan Stanley  $514,881
General Electric  $499,130
US Government  $494,820
Latham & Watkins  $493,835

[true_blood]

NNN0LHI  (1000+ posts)      Sat Jan-01-11 01:45 PM
Original message
How does someone become a Wall Street executive?
Is their a training program or something? Do you have to be a CPA? Got to know someone?
How does Wall Street go about hiring its executives? Does anyone know?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x101779
DUmmy Nine Inch Nails is interested in invesment banking because he's heard they always have chairs at work. So, DUmmy Noley, when you have your interview with Morgan Stanley, be sure to question them on their affirmative action policy, their LGBT-friendly policies, don't forget to ask about tattoos and piercings, and random drug screenings, and, whatever you do, make sure to demand time and a half for anything over 40 hours.

H5. Epic reply GOBUCKS! Very nice.

[NHSparky]

Well, to get your foot in the door and get your Series 7 license takes a couple of years after college, doing the grunt work, making the cold calls, shit like that. 

Investment bankers are typically MBA grads, and in many cases hold PhD's in Econ, etc.  They're responsible for millions if not tens of millions of dollars at a pop.  Their math and economics skills take YEARS to learn, understand, and polish.

They typically work 14-16 hour days, six or seven days a week.  The Gordon Gecko stereotype is just that--a stereotype, not to be taken seriously.  Do the seriously high-end type spend?  You bet.  Do all these folks make a career of it?  Hardly.  The stress is incredible, the burnout factor high, as is turnover.

Bottom line, DUmmies--it requires WORK.  Lots of it.  Stay on the couch and have another bong hit.

[jtyangel]

Well, to get your foot in the door and get your Series 7 license takes a couple of years after college, doing the grunt work, making the cold calls, shit like that. 

Investment bankers are typically MBA grads, and in many cases hold PhD's in Econ, etc.  They're responsible for millions if not tens of millions of dollars at a pop.  Their math and economics skills take YEARS to learn, understand, and polish.

They typically work 14-16 hour days, six or seven days a week.  The Gordon Gecko stereotype is just that--a stereotype, not to be taken seriously.  Do the seriously high-end type spend?  You bet.  Do all these folks make a career of it?  Hardly.  The stress is incredible, the burnout factor high, as is turnover.

Bottom line, DUmmies--it requires WORK.  Lots of it.  Stay on the couch and have another bong hit.

Absolutely!

I worked as a broker--series 7 licensed and all--and there are many of us who kinda grease the wheels of a big firm and need our license to do so. It's very fast-paced, even when you aren't a day trader--decisions are made quickly and at lightning speed because of the movement in the market. Brokers like I was who are salaried and do less selling functions typically can make anywhere from 30-60K a year. To get higher then that you have to move into project management and/or get a Series 8 to manage a group of brokers or start selling product or become a traditional trader which will bargain trades over 64ths for big clients. My ex did that for a number of years on the institutional side and is an investment analyst/project manager for his division now. We met at work. 

Most of the people I knew in it where highly ethical and just average people. The firm I worked for I enjoyed very much and treated us very well and, unlike their view, was highly ethical. Ethics is a large part of the 7, 63, and other exams. Same thing with accounting(which I'm in now). Just because some firms and individuals skirt their ethical boundaries and make it in the news big does not mean all the people do. They disgust me(DU) and I can remember some of their insinuations after 9/11 played out that it was no great loss the bankers and such that were lost. Our firm worked directly with many of those people who died at Cantor Fitzgerald and we had many brokers with us out west who were from the NY area. They can go f*ck themselves(DU)--many of the CF people were young folks just starting out and trying to gain some experience and knowledge with fixed income products to develop a career to be able to make a living for themselves. They were people like most Americans who showed up for work everyday, did their job, and got paid(sometimes well) to do it.

So many times the stereotypes on DU you can tell are no deeper then either a viewing of Wall Street or Deliverance. They are not as sophisticated or experienced as they would like to think they are. Dipshoots!

[Karin]

I can remember some of their insinuations after 9/11 played out that it was no great loss the bankers and such that were lost.

I still retain the ability to be shocked by that.  My God, that makes me sick. 

[Tantal]

NNN0LHI  (1000+ posts)      Sat Jan-01-11 01:45 PM
Original message
How does someone become a Wall Street executive?
Is their a training program or something? Do you have to be a CPA? Got to know someone?

You first have to know the difference between "their", "there", and "they're", DUmmie. Well, and there's the aforementioned drug-screening thing. So, in your case, it's "ding, fries are done. ding, fries are done." Worthless asshat.