Monkey Business
by John Rolfe and Peter Troob
ISBN: 0446676950
The legend it is, I had quite high expectations of this book. I hoped I will get a new perspective of the analyst/associate life. It actually is a quite humorous take on the craziness of working for an investment bank. Instead of giving me answers and making things clear, all I got from this book is a “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”: Why do people that have experienced this job come back for it?
What this job is according to the book:
– Crazy hours of work[100/week?]. No weekends, zero social life;
– Being treated like s**t, sucking up to the same people that treat you like s**t;
– It’s a cookie cutter job in most of its parts; Not only repetitive but often meaningless and mindless;
Then there must be something of incredible magnitude that draws people in. I am probably the most anti-corporate, anti-job person that has come around and yet I felt like diving into this world too. I even went to few interviews to wet my feet. Here is my take on the answer of the riddle, but I would appreciate if anyone gives me a better point of view:
– Obviously the organic normal enjoyment of the work itself
– Good money. Sure, starting salary of $50,60,70 thousand out of college is hardly achievable by any other job.
– Promise for promotion and high class life.
– Feeling important. Feeling on top of things. Suits, shiny shoes, expensive dinners. Those are so powerful, I know I want them too.
– [waiting for more suggestions…]
I am probably missing something out, but it ought to be pointed by people that have experience in that field. Don’t be shy.
I can’t really say much more so here is the only thing I marked. It gives a pretty good overview of the tone and purpose of the book:
“When associates finally reach this realization, they no longer waste time during the pitches conjuring visions of greatness. The pitch becomes nothing more than a routine to be suffered through. Since associates have typically been working on the pitch for the entire previous night, their primary activity becomes a struggle to stay awake. Every associate has his own techniques. I used to stick my hands into my pockets and try to pull hairs out of my legs. Rolfe once considered attaching clothespins to his nuts.”
Yeah, it’s exactly those perks that make people want that job (money + cars/dinners/first class tickets/respect from friends, etc.). Banks offer them, because nobody would want to do the job otherwise. The same reason miners get paid more than construction workers – it takes about the same skills, but less people want to be miners.
It might also be an image thing. When you see a banker with a $2000 suit, you think that he’s having quite a laid-back life. You think he’s a person that works 9 to 5 and is on his second beer in the pub by 6. You wouldn’t think that occasionally he has to work 20 hours a day.
I would add – The psychological need of belonging to a group, and the fact that most of theese people don’t have the will nore the courage to do something else plus the fact that probably they come out of families which don’t know else…A different point of view might be that they might be thinking – “Ok, I will start with this job just to have me prepared for what is yet to come” ( what is written for me, what is in store, and what god is planning for me, etc.).