Wall Street Financial Truth

Chapter 29 What Chinese Can Get on Wall Street (5)
Although I don't know exactly what the two arrested engineers did, it is conceivable that they followed Madoff's orders. When Madoff was in full swing, could they go against the boss's will?

10. Wall Street elites have more swear words and less hair

There are more than 30 people on Wall Street, basically all of them are "elites".In the past, it was very difficult for Chinese to enter Wall Street. Wall Street employees generally earn at least three to four times the income of other ordinary companies, which is especially attractive to young people.

Wall Street is like a battlefield. The stock exchange is quite typical. Every day it opens and closes, and everyone calls inside.I worked at the New York Stock Exchange for eight months, and this scene happened every day. At first, I was excited and then excited, but then I was very upset.

Wall Street is a jungle, you need to change yourself from a rabbit to a sheep, and then from a sheep to a wolf, or else you will be eaten by others.Therefore, everyone will unconsciously become particularly vicious, and I am an example.

Because of enough, I moved back to Toronto from Wall Street a few years ago. Many friends saw me recently and said that my face is different from when I was on Wall Street. Like a wolf, with fierce eyes.

I don't think it's that scary, but it's just born from your heart. On the one hand, you have to guard against others, and on the other hand, you have to turn yourself into a wolf.

No matter how good-looking people are, no matter if they are graduates from Harvard University, Yale University, or even professors from Harvard University, their speech is very educated.The strange thing is that once you enter Wall Street, you start swearing and using the dirtiest words.You can also see such scenes in Wall Street movies.

This is a very interesting phenomenon. I curse people as soon as I open my mouth. When I first entered Wall Street, I did nothing wrong. The boss said that word to me as soon as I opened my mouth, and then said other things.I noticed later that this is their habitual mantra.

After leaving Wall Street, well, there will be no such words.Maybe this is the so-called atmosphere. When you get there, you have to transform yourself into that kind of person, otherwise you can't survive.

As a trader, as a fund manager, as a salesman, the so-called front line of Wall Street is like a roaring lion from morning till night.

On Wall Street, if the boss suddenly treats you kindly one day, he will ask you to pack up and leave.Don't worry when he scolds you, it means everything is normal.So on Wall Street, you are not afraid of others scolding you, but you are afraid of him being kind to you.

I figured it out, he's going to talk nicely to you, then you have to go, that's it.

I had an experience myself. One day the boss suddenly seemed to be a different person, like a Bodhisattva. He called me and asked me if I was free now, and asked if I could come to his office.The boss has never said anything like this before. He always said 'Come here', which is very fierce. If you move a little slower, he will start cursing immediately.That day, I was very politely invited into the office, and then told me, I'm sorry, because the company's business is not good, and there are going to be layoffs, it's not your personal problem.

Being laid off on Wall Street is a very normal thing.

The elites on Wall Street are very dedicated. At that time, I worked an average of 10-12 hours a day. Americans generally work on a "[-]-to-[-]" system, eight hours a day, with an hour break at noon.The norm on Wall Street is the "eight in the morning and six in the evening" system. Sometimes it is not uncommon to work on projects for [-] hours a day.

On Wall Street, in addition to profane words, another discovery is that the amount of hair is inversely proportional to work stress.

Sixteen or seventeen years ago, I broke into Bankers Trust, one of the top five investment banks on Wall Street.One day, I walked into the elevator and saw my colleague Richard, with a pleasant face, I greeted him naturally and greeted him.Unexpectedly, this Richard looked at me with a puzzled expression: I'm fine, but do I know you?I was surprised that he would ask such a question, we have been working together for a week, and we did not see each other when we looked up, why did we turn our faces and deny anyone when we left the office?But looking more carefully, it wasn't that he turned his back on me and didn't recognize me, but that I recognized the wrong person myself.I hastened to apologize to him, it turned out that he looked too much like my colleague Richard.Not only are they similar in stature, but also in face shape, and the most similar thing is their hairstyles, which are all bald at the top, and the density becomes thicker as they go down.For people with this type of hairstyle, we privately call them "Mediterranean".Speaking of which, this is also the price paid for entering Wall Street.

After being "ugly" once, I began to pay attention to the colleagues around me, and found that there are quite a lot of people who have lost their heads.All over Wall Street, bald heads have become a spectacle.The amount of hair is inversely proportional to the level of grade and work pressure.The most extreme bald head is the former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange Richard Grasso (Richard Grasso). He has a special personality, a special publicity, and quite a star posture. Back then, his "limelight" was several times that of Hollywood stars. Woolen cloth!Because the opening and closing of the Wall Street Stock Exchange is broadcast on TV every day, his exposure rate is actually higher than that of the stars.

The most enviable trader in the investment bank, the annual red envelopes are easily millions of dollars, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions are sometimes heard.And they are almost all bald.Trading is a stressful job that requires comprehensive market knowledge, financial tools and psychological intuition.With the stock market changing rapidly, traders are always on edge.More importantly, trading requires traders to have an intuition, insight into the market, politics and macroeconomics, and to make accurate judgments most of the time.Many people still have to do global arbitrage trading, have to track the stock markets of other countries, and can only sleep three or four hours a day.Can their hair not fall out for many years?And when the hair is scarce and it is time to rely on "local support for the central government", it is simply shaved, and it is cooler like a star.

It can be described as "a golden hair", and this is the beautiful scenery of Wall Street...

It is due to the many swear words, fierce words, more work and less hair, so the income of Wall Streeters is several times higher than that of ordinary company employees, but the pay is also two or three times, or even more, because capitalists are not philanthropists after all!

11. Sadly, the Chinese do not hold together on Wall Street
Beginning in the early 20s, with Wall Street computers and derivative securitization, a large number of "high-quality and low-cost" Chinese students entered the world that was originally dominated by white people-Wall Street, engaged in the research and development of computer software and derivative securities models , It was also widely reported in the New York Times that year.Gradually, Indians, who are good at computers and mathematics, and Soviets, mainly Russians, followed suit.Within a few years, Chinese, Indians, and Soviets formed three major groups on Wall Street, accounting for 90% of the total number of people on Wall Street.But the difference is that Indians and Soviets are good at fighting in groups, while the Chinese tend to fight alone and do not form groups.

In the past two or three years, Wall Street has been bloody and devastated.Nearly every bank has become a "president" - cutting jobs all the time.About thirty of my friends and acquaintances lost their jobs.In the past, it only took two or three months to find a new job, and the salary was often rising.Now that layoffs are rolling in, but few companies are hiring, there are too many monks, and finding a job on Wall Street is almost impossible.So far, among the thirty or so people, only seven or eight friends have been lucky enough to find new positions, but their salaries have been greatly reduced; another five friends have found jobs in other cities and moved out of New York; Some of my Chinese friends have returned to Toronto, and there are a few returnees from China; a few older ones have simply retired, and the rest are still searching hard.

A few days ago, one of my friends called me and talked about the recent situation of job hunting.He said desperately that every time the first round of interviews felt good, but the second round of interviews was always rejected. The reason was that he was neither Indian nor Soviet!

As soon as he said it, I understood immediately.The first round of interviews on Wall Street is usually made by the HR department or the future immediate boss. Most of these executives or project managers are white, and they only look at whether the candidates meet the requirements and are pleasing to the eye.In the second round of interviews, it is the turn of the technical supervisor or the technical backbone of the department to ask questions.When the Chinese apply for the job, the white people can easily pass the test, but if they are Indians or Soviets in the second round, they will "reckon to death" and tell the manager that this person is not suitable. Then naturally out.There is a Wall Street software company that is even more outrageous. When my friend went to the second interview, he saw a Russian and a Ukrainian. They told him bluntly, you don’t know Russian.Our software here is written in Russian, you can't read it.

Other friends also encountered similar situations.

Indians are not reconciled to just being ordinary technical or business employees, and their eyes will be firmly fixed on the management.On Wall Street, once an Indian technical business master enters a department, he will recruit two or three assistants, who are also Indians; novices will make their debut after one or two years, and then bring in new people.So, like building a human ladder, they gradually climbed upwards. In the end, the one who got in first became a department manager, or even a higher position, and then mastered the employment rights of the entire department.Before long, more and more Indians were among his subordinates, and employees of other ethnicities were gradually squeezed out of the industry.So when we Chinese are looking for a job for an interview, as long as we see an Indian, we will mutter in our hearts: "There must be no chance, and the Indian will never give up if they don't beat you to death." Because they must keep This position comes to settle down for your compatriots.

Now, Indians can be seen in almost every room on Wall Street, and some company cafeterias have even begun to serve Indian meals.No wonder there is such a saying circulating on the street. The first half of the sentence is: "An Indian became the leader, and in the second year his subordinates were all Indians." The second half of the sentence is related to us Chinese: "A Chinese became the leader. Son, in the second year he will be surrounded by himself." Although these words are not pleasant, they are not an exaggeration at all.Let me tell you a story about myself jumping ship to find a job.

Many years ago, Citigroup's investment bank, Salomon Smith Bamey, was recruiting people. At that time, Citigroup was in full swing. I thought the opportunity was very good, so I applied immediately and got an interview opportunity soon.The headhunter who arranged for my interview was named Han Wu, and we only talked briefly on the phone for a few minutes.Headhunters make at least one hundred and eighty phone calls a day, and write emails to arrange the time, place, and name of the two parties to meet.I had already gone to bed that night. Han Wu came to the phone with a very friendly tone. He said that he knew that I was Chinese from the name on my resume, and told him that I was Vietnamese. He introduced to me in detail: "I The boss looked at your resume and felt that you are a very promising candidate. Your previous experience meets their standards. And the group you are going to, the boss is also Chinese, Dr. Su, and the technical level is quite high , was promoted last year. You have similar backgrounds, you are all from China..."

That day, I went to Citigroup with the same desire as Han Wu. The first round of interviews was in the form of "Panel Interview", that is, I interviewed several people at the same time. There were three team members in total, one American, one Indian, and There is a Chinese named Sam.Since there was an old beauty present, the Indian was more "polite". After this round of talks, both parties felt very good. Han Wu became more interested, and immediately arranged a second interview. Meet the team leader, that is, the Dr. Su.The night before I went to see Dr. Su, Han Wu called again before I went to bed. I curiously asked him if he was still busy in the company. He replied yes, not busy.We chatted comfortingly with each other for half an hour, and he said, "I heard from Dr. Su that other headhunters sent him an old beauty. We think you still have the best hope, and your strength is stronger than that old beauty." I am also full of confidence. I am familiar with the business field at Citigroup, and the technology I use is my strong point.

The second time I went to Citigroup and arrived 15 minutes earlier, I sat impatiently in the reception room, stretched out my head to look around, and saw the previous team member named Sam, who happened to come to the door to make coffee.Seeing the familiar faces with the same root and species, I naturally showed enthusiasm, and just took a step to get close to him.Strange, I didn't expect him to run away in a panic when he saw me as if he had seen a ghost, it was simply inexplicable!However, the team leader of Dr. Su was fine, he exuded bookishness, just like I imagined, we had a good talk.

That night I was waiting for a call from Han Wu. I estimated that he would arrange a third interview with the department manager of Citigroup, but the call did not come as scheduled.I was eating lunch at noon the next day, when the phone rang, I spit out a mouthful of food that I hadn’t swallowed yet, and hurried to answer it, it was Han Wu!He opened his mouth and asked: "I really don't understand you Chinese, it's so strange. You are the most suitable for that position, but Dr. Su said you are not suitable. The Chinese are suspected of being in a group. My boss was furious after hearing this. What is the reason? A good business was lost."

I was disappointed and unable to answer his question.Working in groups is a good thing, why do Chinese people have a guilty conscience?If we Chinese don't help our own people outside, especially if we don't "huddle together to keep warm" in the current difficult time, who else can we expect to help you?
The large layoffs on Wall Street this time have caused a large loss of Chinese people. The computer software system and derivative securities models that once dominated the three-point world will soon become the territory of Indians and Russians.

(End of this chapter)