- A college student shared his experience working as an intern in the investment banking industry.
- He claimed that he had lost 10 pounds, and was now afraid to get up from his desk.
- He said it opened his eyes and made him aware of the ‘abusive’ and demanding culture in the finance industry.
Each year, thousands of hopeful college students compete for the chance to work at an investment bank. These jobs can be exhausting and often long hours. It can be worth it for the huge bonuses and luxurious lifestyles (i.e., putting together multi-billion-dollar deals in bespoke suit)
Insider spoke with an intern who lost his dream of working on Wall Street after spending the summer 2022 at a Chicago-based midsize bank. He was offered big money to come back full-time, but the experience left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Wall Street’s culture — even without the screaming and yelling of yore — is just too “abusive,” he said.
An analyst shared a story about how he saw a full-time analyst in his team being reamed out on email by a managing director for making a mistake that wasn’t his fault. The analyst was simply following orders, as it turned out later. The analyst was disciplined over email, with the whole deal team copied. However, the managing Director never apologized, the intern stated.
“It was almost as if he was above reproach,” said the intern.
Out of fear, the intern complained that he was being kept chained to his computer. For example, he recalled going to the gym at 8 p.m. on one night, when a manager directed him to email him to get started on something. He agreed and planned to start working on it once he had finished his workout. His apartment was upstairs.
The MD called him back about 25 minutes later, asking “What’s the status on this?”. The intern replied. “He didn’t seem happy to be kept waiting.”
The intern became obsessed with checking his phone every five seconds to make sure nothing was missing. “The need for me to be available was so great that when my roommates asked me to go on walks in Chicago, I would either say no or refuse. To be able to run back to do something, I believed I needed my apartment to be physically close to me.
He lost 10 lbs that summer partly because he couldn’t get up from his computer to eat. He couldn’t get enough sleep, he stated.
His junior analysts were conscious that they were being mistreated even though they did not do much about it. “Across the board the analysts are aware that it is wrong. Many of them just want to scream, “Fuck this!”
The intern stated that she thought of the word “abusive” when she said it. “Viscerally, I’d say that word sounds harsh, but when I think about it … it sounds right. Abusive.”
Insider reporter Reed Alexander asked him to tell his story under the condition that he keep it anonymous, in fear of losing his career aspirations. Insider has verified his identity as well as his work history.
