Young Money

Jobs are about money, right? You're exhorted to “follow your dreams” or “do what you love,” but ultimately rent has to be paid and pizza eaten (and delivery persons paid), so ... I do a thing for you, you give me money. It's communication and interaction at its most base level, a pure financial transaction. Obviously, if you can find a way to tie meaningful employment with your inner peace and contentment, so much the better. And sure, once the cashflow establishes a certain level of stasis [eating Ramen because you want to, not because you have to], you can start to consider a lateral move for more fulfilling work, but there'a almost always a financial floor below which you dare not go.

So it's as difficult as ever to read about Ivy League graduates griping about the torturous hours they endure in the introduction to their [self-selected] professions as bankers, money-changers and Masters of the Universe. We learn all about how they have to work a lot — on the weekends, late nights, early mornings, pretty much any time electricity is available on the island of Manhattan. They don't like it! [ Duh. ] But they (for the most part) continue to do it! [ Also duh. ] That's the incentive provided by a minimum $60K salary + $20K bonus if they're thought to be bad at their job.

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The author details the lives of eight high-potential college grads throughout their first years on Wall Street. With the promise of big salaries and plenty of prestige, these promising Ivy League-caliber souls sacrifice almost everything in the name of money.

I majored in economics, and many of my former classmates entered the financial industry in mid-2007. Some of them lost there jobs in 2008. With my proximity, I didn't find any of the stories too surprising. In my world, the work-so-hard-that-you-jeopardize-your-health lifestyle of bankers is not some big secret. None of these 22-year-olds are going into in blindly. And yet they continue to do so - Wall Street firms recruit anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of every graduating class from the most selective universities away from other would-be careers.

The author seems to be making a plea for the brightest students of today to dismiss Wall Street from their lists of career options; instead, he wants them to become doctors, become scientists, and entrepreneurs... anything else that changes the world in a better way.