Sadly, many individuals stay in banking for neither of these reasons. Some just get sucked in. They get used to being driven home in sleek black cars with leather seats and expensing dinners to the firm every day. They can't imagine life any other way. (Forget about that foundation. Billionaires set those up. ) I used to think these individuals were just very risk-averse people who weren't entrepreneurial enough to take a risk and try and make money without saying "Yes, sir" every day. But with big banks merging left and right these days and entire groups getting cut with the flick of a CEO's pen, landing a job at a bank won't guarantee you anything but a lot of work.
Oh yeah, the work. As one of my fellow summer analysts put it, "any sixth-grader could do this job." While that was a bit of an exaggeration, it is eerily close to the truth. And that's more than you can say for those full-page ads.
Hoon-Jung Kim '01 is a social studies concentrator in Leverett House. Her column will appear on alternate Mondays.