Wall Street Financial Truth

Chapter 30 What Chinese Can Get on Wall Street (6)
12. Wall Street's Glass Ceiling

Among the Wall Street elites with the background of Chinese students, there are naturally many people of insight, and they also pay attention to the spirit of teamwork.Like my old boss, Green, a former VP of a major investment bank, has long been aware of this.When I entered that investment bank, Green played a key role, and it was because he tried his best to recommend it to our big boss that it was finally decided.

VP, the abbreviation of Vice President, is "Vice President". It sounds awesome, but on Wall Street, it is only the highest level of middle-level titles.

Green is the champion of science in the college entrance examination of a certain province in China, a bachelor and master of physics from Tsinghua University, and a Ph.D. .

In view of his super technical level and business ability, every time the department recruits new people, the general manager of the department, Richard, will let him check.When I went for an interview that day, the first person I saw was Eric, a white man, and the second person I saw was Green.As soon as I saw a person with an Asian face approaching, I secretly prayed that he would not be Chinese.Because in the past, I went to interviews with large and small companies, as long as I was a white person, I could always pass the interview.And it's basically useless when you meet Indians and Chinese.When Green confirmed that I was Chinese, he asked me the most difficult question and said to me: "Don't try to find the answer, as long as you have the right idea to solve the problem." Fortunately, I got the answer right, and even luckier , Green is an ambitious Chinese.He said: "Chinese people are no worse than other ethnic groups in terms of intelligence and academic qualifications. What we lack is the spirit of sticking together. Don't worry, I will guarantee you in front of the department manager."

I am not the only compatriot selected by Green to join the company.

Green is the most ambitious Chinese I have ever met on Wall Street.He made no secret of his attempt to climb the ranks, and worked hard to train himself, hoping that one day he would be able to sit in the position of a senior executive, hold effective human rights, and enable his compatriots of his own nation to enjoy equal treatment.In order to achieve this goal, he spends a lot of money like Chen Chong, $150 an hour, asks professionals to correct his English accent, goes to school to learn how to write official documents, and often goes to Toastmaster (a global non-profit club, through Simulation exercises and instant feedback, training communication skills, training the way of speaking in different situations), and also got a certificate of completion from the New York University Finance Professional Development Course.In my opinion, with his ability and academic qualifications, he is no worse than people of other ethnicities as an executive.

Later, Green was promoted to be the team leader and invited me to join his team.It didn't take long for my colleagues to discover that his brain reacted extremely quickly and he did things cleanly. He deserved to be the top scorer in the college entrance examination.And in all aspects, from finance to computers to models, he has macro capabilities, which is impeccable.In fact, he had been on Wall Street for more than ten years at that time. If he was a white man, his ability would normally be at the level of MD ("Managing Director", the lowest level among the top Wall Street executives).

For the next three years, at the end of each year, our department will report the names of Green's promotion candidates, and Richard strongly recommends them.It is a pity that his promotion path is blocked at the top of the company every time.Once a company meeting was held, Green boldly asked the CEO of the company: "Is the promotion in our company only based on the surname, not on the ability?"

Until last year, Green was VP.One day last month, the HR manager of the company talked to him and told him that the company had a vacancy for managing director in Hong Kong, and he fully met the requirements, as long as he reported for duty, he could take up the post.

Green said without hesitation, I will go!I wish him an early realization of his dream in his new position!
In fact, what happened to Green, like a drop of water can see an ocean, is just the epitome of our group of senior Chinese employees on Wall Street (I am no exception), it can be said that it is better to go back...

The situation of Green, the number one student in the college entrance examination, reminds me of another old boss, Wei Kang.Wei Kang can be said to be the originator of ECN development. He was an employee of Instinet, the first company in the United States to do ECN (Electronic Communication Network) under Reuters. He joined the development team of Instinet ECN more than 20 years ago and became The backbone has completed the design and development of the most critical part.Today's ECN is based on the specifications they determined at the time.I worked under him for a year and a half, and learned a lot of skills that I couldn't learn in school.

Kang Wei holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University and a master's degree in finance from New York University.He immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong with his parents when he was less than two years old. He never learned Chinese in elementary school, middle school, or university. He married a wife who is Singaporean and English is her mother tongue. Wei Kang’s self-identity should have no problems at all, of course American.But every time I attend a large party and meet a person with a high nose and blue eyes, I always ask him in the chat: "Where are you from?" If the venue of the party is not in New York, he will say: "I'm from New York." Such an answer is obviously not satisfying to the other party, so he adds another question in doubt: "Really?" If the party is in New York, he answers: "I'm a local." ? But where are you originally from? '("Really? I asked where did you come from?") In fact, Wei Kang knew what they meant by asking this question, but he just didn't want to satisfy these people, so he said: "I am an American. From the United States." Although he answered like this on the mouth, he was puzzled in his heart.Why do "they" keep asking this question?If you ask where the "earliest" came from, everyone is not an American. The United States should be dominated by Indians, but where are the Indians today?

From then on, until one day in 2000, Wei Kang finally took a one-month long vacation and took the whole family on a journey of root-seeking.They first went to Guangdong, and then went to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Hangzhou and Yunnan, covering half of China.As soon as he returned to New York, he voluntarily learned Chinese at $30 an hour.Thinking of not being able to read shop signs or understand Chinese in China, I feel ashamed of the face of the descendants of the Yellow Emperor.Now someone asks "Where are you from?" He will say loudly: "I come from China. I am Chinese!" He told me that Chinese civilization is 5000 years earlier than that of the United States, and earlier than that of Europe For thousands of years, as a descendant of the Chinese, I am very proud!I'm glad he found a sense of belonging.

After the September 9th incident, our office at the World Trade Center was destroyed, and we moved to work in New Jersey for half a year.At that time, our company rented a few small cars, and let several colleagues who live in similar homes take the same car to go to work.Wei Kang and I lived relatively close together, so we formed a group.At that time, he was learning Chinese, so he caught the opportunity, so we chatted along the way, and I taught him to recite simple Tang poems and speak Mandarin.He was surprised that my Chinese was so "pure" and he was very envious.He said: "Your Chinese is better than my Chinese teacher. If I knew I would learn from you, I would pay you 11 dollars per hour." I laughed and said, "We are both Chinese, so learn from me for free."

After all, there is Chinese blood in his body. His Chinese level has improved rapidly. Although he can't read and write yet, his general oral English is fine, but it sounds very American. People who don't see him just listen to him. It's fun to be foreign.

Regrettably, after the 9 incident, BRUT ECN business declined all the way, and was acquired by NASDAQ a year and a half later. My department was overwhelmed, and even Weikang was not spared.In 11, together with a dozen people from Instinet, he was poached by BRUT ECN and jumped over. Under his auspices, BRUT developed its own unique and most efficient trading platform, making BRUT one of the top five ECNs in a few years. .Only he knows the hard work and toil in the process.And the last idiom story I told him turned out to be "Flying birds are exhausted, good bows are hidden", how ironic life is!

Later, according to him, he came back from vacation to find a job and it was very difficult. The environment on Wall Street itself was not good. After working as a senior executive for several years, he was unfamiliar with specific technologies. It is not easy, and for his "Chinese face", the possibility is even smaller.I have been to many investment banks for interviews, but they all gave up because the position was not suitable.

It seems that on Wall Street, the ceiling of the Chinese has always been limited, how unfair this is.

13. How to find a new job after losing your job
From the end of 2011 to the beginning of 2012, the unemployment rate in the United States has climbed to the highest point in 25 years. It seems that the tiger’s face has changed. People are frightened by the unemployment rate reported by the media. layoffs."With the economic situation deteriorating sharply, economists predict that the unemployment rate will reach 10% next year.This is the fastest increase in unemployment since the 20s.

The unemployment rate of college graduates also hit a record of 4.1%, which was tracked by the US government in 1992.At this rate of unemployment, today, about one-third of Americans will be unemployed or working part-time at some point.

What if you are unlucky enough to lose your job?Should we give up on ourselves and wait for the relief from the government, or face the reality and actively think of ways to start over?I hope the following short stories can bring inspiration and hope to those who are unfortunately unemployed.

My old colleague Robert Snow in a securities firm in New York, who used to sell financial products, lost his job during the financial crisis.Robert is soberly aware that this job search is not like the past, because many of his friends have lost their jobs and are struggling to find new jobs without any progress; if they want to continue to return to the "game", they must Every skill I have mastered in my career has been brought into full play.

Due to his long-term sales work, Robert has developed the habit of doing things in an orderly manner.After losing his job, Robert did not feel sorry for himself. He immediately went to the stationery store and bought a hard-cover notebook.He vowed to record all his daily activities in a notebook, including who he called, what he said, what exercise he did, and how he felt.Even what to eat every day, make detailed records.

In order to keep his fighting spirit high, every morning at nine o'clock, Robert must call his friends who have lost their jobs, say hello to each other, and discuss how to spend the day.And on Saturday morning, Robert contacted his neighbors in the community, the former chief operating officer and former chief financial officer who had recently lost his job.They gathered in a cafe near their home, exchanged interview experience and experience, and taught each other interview tips.

Unlike some people who send out resumes explosively as soon as they lose their jobs, Robert arranges a long list of names in his notebook, like his sales plan-15 old colleagues who are still in leadership positions.Then he sat down and wrote them an email.Among them is an old colleague, Robert has not contacted for several years, the old colleague works in an online product sales company.Robert wrote: I am looking forward to the new job.A few minutes later, the reply came, and there was only one simple sentence: call me.

Anyone in sales knows that meeting potential buyers is only the first step. The key is to understand what they need?What makes you different, why do people have to invite you?So Robert collected all the information of this Internet company, including the report of the CEO's interview.He analyzed, organized and summarized the information, and recorded it in a PowerPoint presentation in detail, just like doing homework, planning how to get this job?And how to complete the sales task in the first 30 days, [-] days or [-] days.

All the hard work was worth it, and during the interview, Robert's performance was perfect.The last round of interviews was also Robert’s seventh interview. When he talked about how to bring in former clients, the manager who interviewed him went to the blackboard and wrote some ideas. Robert stood up and picked up a pen, standing shoulder to shoulder with the manager. Back and forth on the blackboard discussing strategy together.

Unbelievably, after two and a half months of unemployment, Robert got a new contract.What he did was to call his friends regularly, exchange experience in finding a job with neighbors, collect research information, seven rounds of interviews, and an inspiration on the blackboard.And, of course, his food diary.

It is undeniable that the reality of unemployment today is cruel, especially in the financial industry in New York. Among the many friends I know, as far as I know, one out of every four is unemployed, and the average has been unemployed for more than half a year. It has even been as long as ten months.Having lost my job twice myself, I know exactly what it feels like to be unemployed.In the current situation, if you want to find another job, the network is important, but you must also have a creative way of thinking. It seems that relying on traditional methods alone is not effective. You must go to the market to explore hidden opportunities.

Like my friend David, he went to church to do volunteer work after losing his job. According to him, God is doing the work. Over the years, because of too busy work and too many chores on weekends, he has become estranged from God.In the church, he not only found peace of mind, but also found a new job through the church's "employment network support group". Unbelievably, the new job has higher income than the original job and has more development prospects .David said with emotion, God is really "working"!

Another great way to find a job is to join a local professional association.A friend of my wife's in Toronto, Susan, who worked in the advertising department of a radio station, felt that her job was on the verge of losing her job, so she joined a local professional association while continuing to work and forcing herself to participate in various activities organized by the association.Three months have passed, when "the moment finally came"—unemployed, Susan called out loudly at an association event, "Who wants me?" Just sat on the new desk.

Although "the boat goes straight to the bridge", but in the face of severe unemployment, if we are good at using ingenuity, we can resolve the crisis in time, wouldn't it be better?
(End of this chapter)