<p>I want to build something. I dont want to be working in an industry that effectively leeches off other industries.</p>
<p>Wall</a> Street's Latest Campus Recruiting Crisis Sparked by Goldman Controversy - NYTimes.com</p>
<p>Interesting, It seems finance's loss is tech's gain.</p>
<p>Ohiobassmom…thanks for the link.</p>
<p>This is a positive development.</p>
<p>Not all of Wall Street is “leeching”, as the article put its.</p>
<p>Raising money to fund new technology companies, and evaluating which companies deserve funding, is indeed a useful function. </p>
<p>Taking over inefficient and poorly run companies, and making them efficient and productive, is a useful function.</p>
<p>Let us not throw the baby out with the bath water.</p>
<p>No, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater, but it’s time for the baby to go to kindergarten and learn how to play nice with others. As far as college grads, would you be “proud” to tell someone you’re going to work for a Wall Street player? I tend to agree with Greg Smith in the op-ed piece, I know I’d have a hard time looking someone in the eye if that were my job destiny post college right now.</p>
<p>D1 works on WS, and I am very proud of what she is doing. Her firm had a very successful recruiting season.</p>
<p>I suspect they’ll locate folks willing to do the work. I think they make enough dough that they can quit after ten years and do their “penance” like Mr.Smith if they want to.</p>
<p>I don’t think the article gives convincing evidence that what they claim is happening. Yes the proportion of people entering the finance field has decreased after 2008, but that’s probably because people perceive finance to have less opportunities than before, rather than for any altruistic reasons. And I don’t see the Occupy movement to have any effect on people. It’s incredibly easy for people to write it off as a bunch of whiny kids who are just upset that they couldn’t get a job in finance themselves (not that I agree). And of course, it’s always easy to find someone who’s uncomfortable with the fact that so many grads of top school go into finance, but that doesn’t represent any trend.</p>
<p>Based on what I’ve seen and heard, finance is still fairly big at top schools. I don’t have a source for this, but someone told me 25% of Harvard juniors applied to internships at Goldman Sachs. Also, the people I know that are applying for internships at companies like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citi Bank, etc., aren’t likely to enter the tech sector. Smaller prop shops and firms that focus mostly in algorithmic trading seem to be more likely to attract those who might otherwise work at a tech start-up or at a Google or a Facebook.</p>
<p>Is it a bad thing that some of the “best and brightest” are considering something other than working as hard as possible to make as much money as possible in incredibly competitive environments that often lead to unethical behavior in efforts to grab the brass ring? I don’t think so. As pointed out above, Wall St. does some good, and I don’t doubt that Oldfort’s child is a very good person and working hard and ethically for her money at her Wall St. firm, but not so long ago didn’t reckless speculation and dishonest practices required tax payers to bail out the financial sector? Has anything changed at all that might prevent the same sort of gambles for incredibly high stakes which reward adrenaline junkies seeking riches for the short term?</p>
<p>I hope that more of the best and the brightest are actually considering what might be best for the country and the world rather than the most lucrative possible career. If that is not the case, what a shame.</p>
<p>I think it’s good that top students are considering something other than Wall Street. There is nothing wrong with working on WS if that’s what you want to do. What it seemed like for awhile, though, was that working on WS was “the thing to do.” I like that there are some other things that are appealing.</p>
<p>My background in my early years was manufacturing, and I am hopeful that our country will experience a resurgence in manufacturing. If we can get some really bright, creative young people to think about manufacturing, maybe we can once again be innovators and creators (of more than just tech products).</p>