Story 82

i’ve had a few experiences in my nearly 10 yr career which i link to being a woman, nothing crazy but not ideal and i feel like ive had to jump hurdles and would probably be further if i was a guy. happy hearing what people think. ok lets go –

tier 1 us investment bank – summer intern – i was predominantly giving filing to do for 10 weeks, 8 floors away from the desk. Some men refused to spend any time with me on the desk to explain what they did. I said something to HR (back when i trusted hr!) and was the only one not to be offered the job. The final call with a different HR lady i had never spoken to and the (all male) team gave me champagne to top it off. Thanks !!

european investment bank (1 year intern) – i went in for a technical role in research and was given a PA job to do as well. in hindsight maybe the team had lost budget or something. i was so young (20) i just ran with it..printing, booking hotels, taxis, expenses you name it. at one point the men on the trading floor started asking me to get clients and do their printing. i politely refused.

european asset manager – i was asked to go on bloomberg a few times. A man in my team complained it was positive discrimination then head of the department got involved and effectively pulled me off. 6 months later my boss said I had performed poorly on tv (to which i asked why they hadnt said anything it at the time and to the contrary allowed me to go back on multiple times, with the most views that the company has ever had on social media..)

When asking for more pay after a year of good performance i got told i was causing trouble and should be careful what you ask for. when i applied for a promotion one year, they said this sorry this person needs “X” years experience (which was older than me) so i was told to stay put. Aside – A guy in my team used to laugh and say they would never put me in front of important clients as i looked young. Back to the story – I was being asked to cover for the role anyway so i took it up with HR and then given a sham interview by my boss who has already said i wouldn’t get it and swiftly rejected. Tried to move teams shortly after and was told i was too experienced (and then they told my boss i’d applied) so felt i had no choice to leave. HR did a deep dive into my exit interview comments to protect themselves making all sort of lies up. Externally i was nominated for women awards which felt a bit insulting given what was going on.

Head of the team sent quite a rude email to our (female) intern who called me crying. I said it was inappropriate but she didn’t want to report it as it would impact the chances of her getting a job. I took time out of my day to calm her down but thought it was unnecessary behaviour really.

Meeting a former Fed official for a meeting – he looked me up and down as we were in the lift and i felt nervous that meeting to really engage the way i normally would. He was about 30 years older than me..grrr.

HF – the ceo came over and said i think we should get “the girls” in to see the clients, was lucky my boss called him up straight away and used our correct job titles.

Observation – Do GS or any of the banks not see that there are zero women at the top? Done 40+ interviews for strat roles and met 1 woman along the way. I am in middle tier i would say and i cant see any women my age doing what im doing.

More broadly I have had a lot of rudeness but to be honest, when i speak to the guys, they all get it too. In my view corporates have become too powerful so treat you like rubbish in interviews and threaten you will law suits etc. I think as a woman its easy to feel intimidated but we can’t be.

Overall there are some doors that have opened because i am a woman, but sometimes we are seen to be non-threatening and undervalued (as underpaid!!) so a cheap hire. In some ways its benefitted me, but its always turned when i become threatening/ perform well.