The Project

This past year has seen the financial sector brought into the limelight of the public eye. Investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and RBS have become as familiar as Tesco to the public.

After attending a few career presentations by the investment banks in university, I became attracted to the Investment Banking industry, and so the dream began. A few interviews later, I found myself attending a spring programme designed for first year university students, at one of the well known investment banks in London.

As I was led up the lift towards the area where interns would be situated, I was mesmerised by what I saw on the trading floor: six or more screens per employee, state of the art equipment, and, surprisingly, no screaming and shouting.

However, after a few days of mind draining presentations and various desk rotations, the romanticism ended when I realised the high calibre of people working here, and just how hard one had to work to survive. A trader will typically get in between 6am and 7am, and leave around 6pm to 8pm. Even worse are those in M&A, where 9am to 1am is a typical day and working weekends is expected.

In due course, I learnt that university education was nowhere near enough preparation for a role like this, and mostly enjoyed the humbling effect of the experience. Every smart ass who thought he knew everything was quickly put in his place after entering the building.

After honing my skills in corporate ass licking, I landed a summer internship at another reputable bank in Africa.

Upon starting this summer internship, I quickly noticed stark differences between the way things worked here and in their London counterpart. The constantly evolving economy presented plenty of money-making opportunities, meaning there was less pressure to perform here: getting a good bonus required a moderate level of competency and the ability to ride the wave of economical progression. The corporate illusion that lures hundreds of university grads to the streets of London was definitely more easily attainable here, provided one successfully journeyed through the arduous task of getting the first foot in the door.

People were more worried about the government officials stealing billions of public funds for their personal use, and hardly cared what private companies were paying their employees. The MP expenses scandal besieging the UK almost seemed like a joke compared to what some of the politicians here got away with in the past. Bankers here were free to live a scrutiny-free life, unlike their London equivalents, who were suspicious of news reporters, milkmen, and even their friends hawking over their every moves. The markets here may not be as developed as London, but there was a lot of money to be made, and these guys weren’t shy of doing just that. It was a perfect experience and an amazing life for any banker, if not for the two hour queues in traffic which had become an accepted cost of the bewildering evolution in the economy.

Regardless of where I was, the bank employees were familiar. They were all the high-achieving, somewhat self-assured, and meek types who frequent the top university campuses. Now I was one of them, and I relished it; they had sold their souls to the devil, and I eagerly awaited my turn in the long queue to the pearly gates of hell.

ANON