Monkeys,
Wanted to share with you this story that happened at my company. Happened on a different team than I'm in in, but in the same building. Kid starts out in the back office and networks like hell to finally land an IBD role one year after graduation at a different firm.
From what I understood, the kid seemed more than capable of performing the job. Apparently over the past 5 months while in the back office at his previous job, he was a terrible employee, more focused on landing his next job than on doing his work. Lived in a secondary city so would miss a ton of work to got to NYC to network/interview. Well it finally caught up to him and his boss felt as if there were other kids who would be happy with a $50k job to do simple work, so the kid got fired, but lucky for his it was within two weeks of him starting his IBD job. Seemed like he had the last laugh.
Kid moves to NYC and starts his IBD job and all seems well, makes a good introduction to everyone on the team. Here is where things go very south...
Literally within 30 minutes of the kid starting his job Monday morning he logs on to his computer and gets set up. The very first thing the kid does is edit his email signature to add his name, analyst position, IBD group, name of the firm, etc. standard stuff. Then he goes on to send an email to the boss who had fired him and who they were on bad terms with. The email was completely blank in the body of the email and had no subject. Just a blank message to his old boss that had fired him, with his email signature clearly visible that he had started a coveted IBD job within weeks of getting fired from his back office gig in his secondary city: think Philly/Baltimore/Raleigh/ Boston etc... Kind of a passive aggressive FU.
That Friday HR calls him and asks him to come to their office. They have the email printed out right on the desk and they say that is by no means the way they want their firm represented by someone who just started there. He tries every excuse on the book and even says it was an accident that he emailed the old boss. An MD not from his group is in the office and sees right through him and says "we know exactly what you were trying to do. Your service is no longer needed at this firm. Security will escort you out of the building."
I saw the kid balling his eyes out as he walked out.
This is all the information I have, and it is the talk of the office.
Mod Note (Andy): top 50 posts of 2017, this one ranks #22 (based on # of silver bananas)
God damn.. definitely a lesson to be learned here lmao
Classic. Never burn bridges or provoke people that have the ability to enact repercussions.
This had nothing to do with burning a bridge or an old employer / person that could impact them. He got fired for what he did at his new job with his passive/aggressive bragging.
This email was most likely brought to the attention of the firm by his old boss.
I'm calling BS here. First off how would a blank email set off any HR red flags- HR can read thousands of emails a day with much more questionable content and the first thing they call out is a BLANK email? Second, the kid could literally say he was sending his old boss his contact info and that is why the email was blank. It sounds incredible unlikely that a bank would fire a kid on a blank email on the assumption that he was rubbing it in his old bosses face without any concrete evidence.
His old boss probably sent it to his new boss, bankers do speak to each other you know. If you think this sounds "incredibly unlikely" then you're in for a treat when (and if) you start working in IB.
The world is extremely small – some people learn that fact the hard way.
Story seems possible at least. Firms definitely review email going to external recipients, especially competitors. Getting fired over it seems aggressive, but possible. Maybe the MD didn't like his bs excuses. Either way, if true, that sucks for him.
I'll admit the story sounds suspect due to the pure pettiness of it.
That said it is not unheard of to have a very granular monitoring system in place of all inbound/outbound emails and he very well may have violated some portion of his signed Acceptable Use Agreement. In the past I have deployed systems that would catch where folks would type 3's in place of E's and other variations of attempts to hide the intended content of the emails would and be stopped and routed to the applicable security team.
This story sounds suspect because of the sheer details.
The only person who would know all the details from start to finish (from not doing his job in his old job and alleged "we know exactly what you were trying to do. Your service is no longer needed at this firm. Security will escort you out of the building.") would be the guy who got fired - and I don't thinks he/she would tell that story.
People who may tell the story (his old boss, HR, security guard, new boss) would know the partial story, definitely not to the extent that is presented here.
Thus, I call this B.S.
Old Boss receives email, gets the idea.
The contact information for analyst's new employer is the ENTIRE email, right there, conveniently enough.
So the Old Boss calls or emails the phone number or email address that are RIGHT THERE--he doesn't even need to open up a new tab--and says "Hey, I just received this email. You know we fired him, right? Surely he told you that..." and proceeds to lay out the reasons the analyst got fired.
Is that so hard to piece together?
What the hell was he thinking, emailing the old boss from his new job, come on where is your common sense. He should of used his phone.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
Definitely borrowing this phrase for the future
R u matthew mcconaughey?
Bravo.
It's petty on both sides but I guess you get what you dish. He represented poor character and might do something shitty later.
Definitely wasn't smart. Especially, since the job was post-grad and the old boss will certainly be contacted as part of background checks for larger firms.
If you're going to do something like that, go all in passive aggressive. Send him an email thanking him profusely for teaching you so much and for supporting you in a way that made it possible to get to where you are, and say that if they ever need anything they should let you know.
^This right here is how you do it..although I would suggest not doing it all but some people can't stay away.
If only I could give you more bananas
This is amazing.
SB because this is gold.
Oh man I wish I would have thought of that when I moved a year ago from a jerky boss to a better company. That is awesome.
^ Amazing.
Lmao. Pure class move.
What an idiot.
lol
wow, if this is true. just wow.
On the extremely unlikely case that this actually happened, the most likely scenario is that the MD heard about him being fired/poor performance in his previous role.
how many times do we have to say "NEVER BURN BRIDGES"
what an idiot
what?
the backoffice MD won't have any business talking to MD in FO? What the fuck could he say? "HEY MAN YOUR NEW HIRE SENT A BLANK EMAIL TO ME, IM FUCKING OFFENDED"
if they fired him for this, probably wrongful termination suit (yes yes i know its employment at will and likely settle out of court if this actually happened)
tl;dr this didnt happen
If it happened the BO MD probably told the FO MD that the kid was a fuckoff that got fired.
They are two separate banks. You don't think the BO MD has contacts at the second bank or at least emailed HR?
Awesome story. Hope it's true, haha.
if he was fired, its because he lied about his situation with bank #1 (fired vs still employed, etc)
put yourself in the BO MD's shoes and try to get an ANALYST fired at another bank from a blank email
Well, you can't discount that the back office MD had friends at the this bank and also emailed HR, then this situation becomes far more difficult for the new MD to ignore. Very fair
And can guarantee at the MD level 90% of these guys aren't prestige whores thinking 'back office' and 'front office'; it's just old school respect to see someone who rose to a solid position and has insight on a kid you've hired for a very important job dealing with billions of dollars on the line
.
Now that you mention it...
EXACTLY. There's a reason why most firms will only verify employment dates and titles when other firms are doing reference checks. No way old MD sticks his nose in another firm's business, that's a lawsuit waiting to happen, and no way new firm acts on it, for the same reason.
Yeah, well he's a dbag.
Probably because hes in BO
thought of this douche when he said he fixed his signature to include the group he's in
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidobia
Damn, you just threw that David dude deep under the bus.
Haha wow I've actually stumbled on to that kid's LinkedIn before. GS TMT is super impressive and seems like he killed it while in Ross. The fact that he's a minority obviously helps, but that video is fucking cringeworthy on top of him writing in third person. Is there a backstory to this kid that caused you to share his LinkedIn? I don't know him and didn't know if there were stories about him.
Now that dude's just gonna get a boner from getting linkedin views. I regret clicking that link
Hey can you change your name/account. Every time I see you on here I just think, this is the guy who argued for days on WSO that efficient market hypothesis is true and I can't take anything you say seriously.
Guess Buffet, Klarman and Greg Alexander are just a bunch of lucky bumblefucks
Yep this fucker worked for me in BO. I told him ops is a stain you can never take off, motherfucker.
Username is God-tier
Which bank is this? Just curious, this won't give anyone away lol
think JPM/MS
I work at a non bulge bracket, yet still respectable European/Asian Bank. Along the lines of Soc Gen/Mizuho/BNP/ etc.
And the kid came from BB Ops, to our second tier international IBD.
None of those banks are respectable in any product? Maybe dumb balance sheet lending
Baltimore BO = Morgan Stanley
While burning bridges like that is stupid as hell, that shit is straight up slander/libel. I'd sue, guns blazing, punitive damages and all.
Damn guess he didn't get the last laugh
Guess he then went home and sent his old boss an email from his personal begging for his old job back.
If this didn't happen, great life lesson.
If it did happen, he is a wanker.
To be fair, there wasn't anything on Wall Street Oasis that told him not to do that particular thing
"First week analyst: I have a meeting with HR about sullying the firm's name with passive aggressive emails. How many times per minute can I blink in the meeting without getting fired??"
Between 6 and 12. 13 is the unlucky number.
This site wasn't designed to instruct people on how to apply common sense.
This site wasn't designed for mildly amusing comments to get more banana points than ones that actually contribute useful information, but alas, here we are :P
There is this thing called LIFE....it tends to come at you fast. Sheesh.
This story sounds like it should start "Dear Penthouse Forum, you wont believe what just happened." Sounds suspect.
Kid probably got fired for supporting Obozo, Cunton or that nutty ass old communist...
This is WSO, not the Breitbart comment section. I understand you think "Obozo" is a hilarious and original name, but there's really no need to bring it up in completely unrelated posts.
I hope the kid gets his own.
Fucking petty fuckers.
Why did it take until Friday?
But in all seriousness, a very important reminder on the importance of maintaining the semblance of humility. And to never put anything in writing unless otherwise entirely necessary...
Can EVERYONE here give me silver bananas for no reason? THANKS!
Here, have an SB on me and pay me lat-.....oops!!
Also while all fun to silently be entertained by office drama not involving you, this incident has put all us fellow analysts "on notice." No more funny stupid shit has been going on around the office and it has lowered morale and heightened insecurity a bit. And while I work for a non BB international bank and am just happy to be finally in the front office and making six figures, I know what we're not... Something that the higher ups may not be so aware of and might cause them to have "little guy syndrome" amongst other bankers at other firms, which may or may not have a negative affect on the junior guys, just a guess I'm saying. Although some of the associates have called this an isolated incident, it's caused some of us to act more straight edge. Do the more senior guys on this forum think that this should change the way we behave at work?
I'm junior but it's definitely a two way street.
So, here are the things I thought normally set off HR's email radar;
Not saying this didn't happen, but HR doesn't comb emails. They simply do not have the time. If this actually happened, it is likely the old boss forwarded the email to HR. But even then, HR would do an investigation (something that takes longer than the time period the story suggests) before pulling in the employee/management.
Or the fact that he did not disclose that he was fired.... I mean, WHY ISN'T ANYONE NOTICING THAT?!! The email was just fuel to the fire. The main cause of termination would be the omission. Now mostly this wouldn't have popped up as a biggie issue, but then the idiot decided to remind his old boss to snitch about him.
Never happened
Sad story if true, the poor kid just wanted a better job/opportunity and some loser screwed him over. I'd actually sue for defamation
The world is a small place. People should not do stupid stuff like that. What was the kid thinking? he wouldn't get caught?
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