Sunday, February 12, 2012

Just Because You Go To A University, You're Not Automatically God's Gift To The World

Lots of education, even more hubris, not a lot of common sense?
As summer analyst recruiting season continues and superdays near, Wall Street has been having a laugh with one New York University applicant who, to say the least, took a surprisingly dogged approach with his cover letter.

He wrote:

"I am unequivocally the most unflaggingly hard worker I know, and I love self-improvement. I have always felt that my time should be spent wisely, so I continuously challenge myself ... I decided to redouble my effort by placing out of two classes, taking two honors classes, and holding two part-time jobs. That semester I achieved a 3.93, and in the same time I managed to bench double my bodyweight and do 35 pull-ups."

Since Thursday, February 2, when a Bank of America Merrill Lynch director forwarded the cover letter out to his entire team, offering drinks "to the first analyst to concisely summarize everything that is wrong with" the note, it has passed through more than a dozen firms.
"You'd be lucky to get me" isn't usually the best sales pitch, especially in this economy.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:26 PM

    The mystery is how he could have interned at Merrill Lynch (the previous summer probably) and not have known that this was going to go over poorly.

    Was he that out-of-touch with the corporate culture at the large NY banks?

    -Mark Roulo

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  2. Anonymous2:30 PM

    Despite his poor approach, 35 pull-ups is damn impressive.

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  3. As someone who never did more than a third of that (palm out, not the easier palm in), I concur. But still.

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