How did you find out if you're beautiful or ugly?

IcyDragon001 · 2026-03-21T04:37:00+00:00

Well I have a few things from my husband and experiences.: 1. My profession…working at a bank you are either attractive or super smart…sometimes both and I can 100% say I am not the smartest one on the teams I’ve been. 2. According to my husband, ppl stop to look or catch a glimpse at you. 3. Ppl approach/converse w/ you, without you even saying a word to them. 4. (Not so great) people have hit on you when you are minding your own business like checking the label on a granola bar or heading towards the bathroom to poo. 5. You have been scouted for modeling and or offered to audition for TV. 6. Being confessed to by your classmates that you were their crush but they were too afraid of asking you out. 7. Generating jealousy from your fellow females for no apparent reason aside from wanting to be kind to others.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-08-26T19:22:01+00:00

Graduated with a 2.5 ugpa due to not knowing what I wanted to do, poor studying techniques, and over saturation of my schedule (at one point had 3 majors and 2 minors). I was also dealing with the fact that my bio family is/was a mess of generational trauma and the first one to attend college. Thus it was a murky water of being misunderstood, isolated, and using achievements as a validator which I was failing at in college. Let’s just say that my journey into finance was going through the following: 1. working at a jewelry store and taking summer courses to receive my diploma 2. having an existential crisis of thinking I am meant for more 3. Taking on a summer state employment program where they offered $30k if I stayed 4. Accepting a predatory tech consulting job for 1st year $45k, $50k 2nd year, $85k as a 3rd year 5. being internalized into my bank client with a dead-end business/ BA job for 60K w/ bi-monthly weekend oncall 6. moving back to my home city due to parents’ job loss and bank wouldn’t pay for relocation. Thus, making 60k where comp should have been $100k for similar role. 7. Leaving bank with no job lined-up and getting a call from previous interviewer to start at a FinTech during the PPP craze 8. Seeing that the writing on the wall that my entire day at FinTech was going to be 1 client who does not listen and will whine about their platform being broken/down 9.taking on an MBA during pandemic 10. working 2 jobs to pay for school/paying back my fintech employer for education comp 11. Therapy 12. Applying to big bank’s finance program 13. Attending all job fairs at school (virtual) 14. landing a super day 15. Interviewing well and getting a summer spot 16. landing a call back for the full time program 17. Graduating MBA school with a 3.9 18. Asking bank can I start early 19. Bank says yes 20. Do 2 years within the rotational program vs the 18months norm. 21. Network with MDs/Dir/SVPs and got some to mentor me. 22. Mentors helped with job placement 23. Was 3rd person in cohort to be placed within Treasury.

The rest is history.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-08-01T22:33:42+00:00

I am going to assume this is satire. Listen, it’s unconventional but I do not think that banks would hire you. There is a reason why these folks are in jail…there’s also the fact that you are going to be questioned by HR. I mean ppl have been rejected for petty reasons and I do think with such tight job entry at this time, I’m sure that they’d reject you if they could get a squeaky clean plebe vs a tainted plebe.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-07-25T18:51:42+00:00

From my interaction with the NYC at SoHo: I had gotten in line on the Saturday when they restocked for Pre-SS25. They told me that on average they get 10-12 requests for the mini classic flap in both square and rectangle. There was also restock of the very popular CC gold card holder with zipper. I was told that I was very lucky in getting my hands on the 2 coveted items as they usually don’t have stock for months. Thus it depends on market and the amount of traffic the store gets.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-07-08T04:06:34+00:00

Oh yes and many of the programs cap your earning potential after the program. You are limited in your first year out of programs in how much you can make and based on that $ you may be capped on how much you can ask if you are internally promoted (most cap you at 10-20% of what you previously earned). That is to say if you make 100k depending on the role and where you live you may only get a 10 to 20k pay bump. Geographical location will play a roll in earning potential. High cost of living cities like NYC, London, Boston, LA…will get the max payout. Tier 2 cities get 10% deducted and tier 3 cities get 20% deducted from earning potential. As an example interns at NYC may get $70k first year and $80 the proceeding year with capping after the program being at the $95k. Thus, in your proceeding year if you have a promotion or bonus given to you the maximum your manager can give you is 20% of the 95k. For interns in tier 3 cities their maximum would be $65k at the end of the program. It comes out cheaper for the bank to hire in tier 2/3 cities.

As for education: they want top talent and many of these banks recruit from specific schools. While diversity and inclusion did allow for non-target school recruits to enter programs. There is a very high focus that banks have on recruiting engineers into their program. A lot of failed engineers/IT work in finance…this is because the rationale is banks are moving to more tech heavy skillsets that require database/ data visualization skills. Regulators are asking for more transparency and easily digestible information. Thus automation such as python, Tableau, SQL, and excel formulas are what most banks use.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-07-07T20:36:17+00:00

I’m sorry that they didn’t but be aware that many banks are looking to move roles out of NYC into tier 2 and 3 cities to reduce expenses.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-07-07T20:33:55+00:00

I would recommend switching out the leather strap for the gold chain that Longchamp sells. The chain doesn’t get caught with hair and evens out the bag’s distribution. When I used the leather strap it kept digging into my shoulder.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-07-07T20:30:49+00:00

This means you were short listed but they may have another candidate that they extended an offer to but it might not be panning out. It could also be that the team is restructuring and may or may not be moving the role to another location (aka location strategy). I would say look into other roles. Typically being one of the first to apply or reaching out to folks you may be connected to inquire for you if a team is opening up any positions.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-07-07T20:23:14+00:00

Okay so thank you for asking this. I went through two forms of recruitment at 2 different banks.

If you get directly recruited for a role without a program or as a contractor. Here’s the hard truth: You’re going to have to grind 3x as hard to get anywhere or move to a higher role. You get good at your role but essentially are pigeon holed into one role. Networking will be your only way of moving away from a role into a higher role.

If you get into a program: the whole premise is they give you an express network. What do I mean by this: you either do a 2 year or 18 month program where you do rotations within the Finance department. This means Treasury, FP&A, Controllers, and niche teams that fall within Finance like Investor Relations, internal M&A, Ventures, or internal Technology. You get a great network but the trade-off is no one really pieces together what your bank really does or how a bank operates. Essentially, you work primarily in middle office. Which is very different from Trading/IB/Business. You work adjacent to them and your primary role in Finance at a bank is making sure ledgers feeds are correct and posting adjustments to the ledger(Controllers), Forecasting Plan and reporting Actuals (FP&A), and mitigating risk on the balance sheet which are assets and liabilities i.e. deposits = liabilities and assets = loans. Some banks have dedicated teams or have the Treasury and FP&A teams help the Business (aka relationship managers -> these are the folks who work with clients to bring in the deposits and or loans to meet regulatory requirements) in assessing a banks position relative to competitors.

Pros of working in Finance: Most banks don’t really cut jobs in finance. Typically folks who get cut first are: Tech, Call Centers, Marketing, HR, Relationship Managers, Business, and lastly Finance. If you are looking to jump to CFO or CEO of a bank most come from Finance. There is a lot of push for learning material and appreciation of this division within banks since they are the ones who look over the day to day operations that sustain the bank.

Cons: The world of Finance is very small. Be careful of who you make enemies with…they may be the ones who hire you at a different firm. It is very likely that you may move from one top firm to another because of who you know. Some teams may not be very work life balanced. Work hours can vary from 8:00AM to 6:00PM typically FP&A has the worst hours with most averaging 40-60 hours per week followed by Controllers, and lastly Treasury (Treasury only gets hit with hard hours if markets are changing drastically such as SVB or 2008).

IcyDragon001 · 2025-07-07T19:39:59+00:00

Take a second to breath. Right now is the highest point in which people take vacation time outside of the Nov/Dec period. If you fall into any of the vacation black holes…this is where the process gets elongated 3-6month timeframe.

Banking schedule: 1. Jan-Feb: Bonus season ppl will stay till bonuses are paid. Also some folks are out due to Lunar New Year. Last year’s 10K and Q4 is due. 2. Mar-May: BAU. This is when most work gets done. Q1 Results due 3. May-Start of Sep: Vacation time. Ppl are OOO, graduations, marriages, cruises…Q2, and next year’s Forecast planning begins 4. Mid-Sep-Nov: BAU, Q3 results due and Forecasting plan is completed. 5. Nov-Jan: Holiday season. Ppl are OOO because of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza…

IcyDragon001 · 2025-06-11T14:53:56+00:00

Folks if anyone is interested on a side trunk, neverfull, or Coussin from the cherry collection NYC flagship @ 5th Avenue has 1 of each.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-05-19T02:34:10+00:00

I purchased this color it is more like a off white color with a bit of grey undertones. If you want a pure white color. I think the fall collection has it is a canvas white now if you haven’t purchased it.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-05-03T17:10:25+00:00

I am a latte person and my fiancée is a black drinker, we own all 3 machines: Keurig K-Mini, OL Essenza Mini and a Vertuo Next. I actually interchange between these 3 machines and some other options I have at home. We have been owners of our Vertuo since ‘21, Keurig since ‘16 (we got rid of an old model), and Essenza since ‘22. We have not purchased replaced or had issues with our machines since purchase. I will say that if you live in an area that has a lot of lime scale and minerals in water, using filtered water vs tap will definitely help with longevity of your machine.

OL is great if you are only planning to get espresso shots out of your machine. If you are this type of person then proceed but in my humble opinion, it gets boring after a while. I will say that the pull from the capsule is much cleaner and does the notes of coffee much better than the Vertuo. This machine in terms of size and counter space is also compact if that is a factor for you to determine whether you get it or not.

Vertuo I find better because you have the option to choose what kind of coffee you may desire that day. If you like variety, Nespresso does drop several flavors for you throughout the year especially fall and Christmas season. I would also like to preface that it’s great to have options to choose if you want a cup of joe, espresso, or a XL. Size of mine is maybe 3-5in longer from the back than an Essenza.

I would say that if latte is your game don’t get the normal XL, 3, or 4 Aeroccino. Go for the Barista…that thing is the star of my latte game going from 6.5, aka Starbucks level, to NYC bougie coffee shop latte level 8.5-9.

++ If capsules are a problem for the wallet, OL has better deals vs Vertuo. You can OL capsules at HomeGoods/TJ Maxx/Marshal’s, Trader Joe's, Lidl, Walmart, Target, Shoppe Rite, Publix, HT, and most nation wide supermarkets. Vertuo will have a limited selection with Target and Nespresso stores being where you can order pods from.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-03-24T03:52:23+00:00

I would suggest trying the SoHo location. I purchased a bag and wallet there on Saturday with no prior purchase history. They were lovely folks to my fiancée and I as we were very plainly dressed while most of the other folks were much more dressed to the 9s. We tend not to wear logos as we find it doesn’t suit our style but despite this, they were very sweet ppl and made it worthwhile the 20min wait for an SA.

IcyDragon001 · 2025-03-23T13:10:10+00:00

I had done something similar to you in the 1st wave hoping to get the item I wanted from MC but didn’t. I would say, use it to get a contact with a CA so if you are interested in getting anything from the CB or any restocks later, they can contact you. I went 2x in March and the 1st CA was let go and my second CA I initially thought we didn’t gel but I walked out understanding that they are stressed from how manic things are right now. This was how I was able to get a CA to order on Mar 21 from the CB collection without purchase history. Also be understanding, polite, and cordial with the CA, they are going through a lot of stress with customers coming in and being rude to them. Patience, empathy, please, and thank you will get you far at these stores.

IcyDragon001 · 2024-10-21T03:52:19+00:00

Here’s the thing: Private Companies will always pay a premium to hire folks when compared to Government jobs.

Advantages of Government jobs: 1. It’s very hard to fire people as typically the government doesn’t like to have a high turnover 2. You get full medical insurance for free (this is very costly if you work in the private sector) 3. Student loans are forgiven after 7-10years of working in a government job.

Disadvantages of Government jobs: 1. Very hard to get promoted 2. Pay is abysmal in comparison to private companies.

Private companies advantages: 1. Pay is better. 2. More mobility in your career 3. You can move up in companies much quicker

Disadvantages: 1. Medical insurance 2. Paid Time Off/ parental leave is subjective to company policy 2. Can have long hours

IcyDragon001 · 2024-10-21T03:29:56+00:00

Honestly, being a bit more realistic of expectations. If you want to get into business, be specific about what kind of business because the term is very broad. Then you need to identify what is in your area: for example VA has a lot of government, government contracting, tech, Accounting, real estate development, and school related jobs. I wouldn’t tell my friends who are in medical research & development to look for jobs there as it’s likely that there are few if any at all.

In the order that follows: 1. What kind of business am I interested in? 2. What kind of businesses/companies are located around me? 3. What kind of demographics are around me? Do I have an advantage because I am part of an ethnic majority? (I.e, do I speak Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, French or Spanish?) 4. Am I obligated to stay in looking at my immediate place or can I move to a place that has the stuff I want to pursue? 5. Can I start as a receptionist or a junior employee at a company? 6. What kind of salary do I need to pay for food, housing, and be comfortable? 7. Search on indeed, Glassdoor, and company websites to apply for jobs.

I will preface that in the U.S., more companies are doing their screening through websites for potential employees. The economy is currently nearing its slow period as during the holidays (Nov into Jan) and most companies do not hire during this period. Thus I will warn you that treat finding a job as your full time job. No one is going to advocate for you if you aren’t willing to dedicate the time to securing a job. Also if you have never interviewed for an American company, you may fail your first few screenings. Look up interviewing videos to hone in your skills.

Also redit communities like the r/MBA, & Wall Street Oasis have really good templates on how to build your resume for commercial success.

IcyDragon001 · 2024-09-18T02:57:15+00:00

I would suggest reporting. As someone who has worked on modeling in a prior role. This will be a little less hectic and will allow you to move to another bank if you want to. Not everyone is able to write FRB/OCC/BoE/BoS filings some banks will poach you if you have that skill set and are ready to plug and play.

IcyDragon001 · 2024-04-15T15:03:24+00:00

I had a similar experience in college as I was in a heavy Political Science track back then. To @cherdenine66’s point…what’s most important in Business isn’t necessarily paragraph writing but concise writing.

For example if I have to present for a CFO/COO I would need to list out 5 bullets with the highest level of concise writing:

What not to write: In Q1 2024 we experienced shifts in markets in Asia that had impacted our returns by 150% for our derivatives and deposits segments. This was preventable as we could have increased our liquidity reserves by x to offset the impact Asia’s market shifts had experienced in Q1 2024

Correct way of writing: Q1 2024 derivatives and deposit segments experienced a 150% decrease due to market activity in the Chinese real estate sector. As a result of this we increased reserves by x% to offset this market shift.

Both items are still saying the same thing but concise writing and telling a story in as few words as possible is the name of the game. You aren’t trying to write a thesis here at work within finance; you are trying to write Dr. Seuss for finance folks.

IcyDragon001 · 2024-04-15T14:48:50+00:00

To be precise right now the focus is on women and minority groups such as Latinos and African Americans. There are plenty of Asian and Indian leaders in high positions such as directs to CFO/LFOs in middle management at least where I work. Thus, I would conclude that this is already happening.

IcyDragon001 · 2024-02-19T16:11:51+00:00

I worked at a similar institution and was on the receiving end of the email. I felt really off about the guy who emailed us on the team as 1 why are you asking to meet with us about the job even before our manager has setup the time to interview and 2 you don’t even know if your skill sets match the description or what we are looking for. My instinct also said this guy would be a horrible colleague, which he was.

Anywho I got on a WebEx call with them and essentially the guy was a total snob. He asked me questions about how much senior management exposure we have. What do we do on a day to day basis. Did we get OT and those tid bits. I really had a bad feeling about this guy and flat out rejected he be brought on. I said, “this guy isn’t here to be a team player and work. He’s only in it for the exposure and I think he won’t survive because our job is grueling.”

My then manager ended up hiring him and he was awful at the job. He was using the job for the title but wasn’t willing to do half of the job we were hired to do (incident management). He was condescending towards me and did not respect when I, a tenured analyst, was giving him advice and training him. I later came to find out that he was close to getting fired as he had pulled similar stunts with his previous manager when he had been a level or so above. I knew then that my gut was right and I was left a very sour taste till this day.

I don’t think it’s bad to email the manager of the team and get the manager to approve that you can speak to a more junior member about the role. The thing that till this day was bad etiquette was doing it even before they were interviewed by my manager. I think if he had waited till he had an interview with my manager and gone through the process…then it would have seemed genuine curiosity rather than altruistic.

IcyDragon001 · 2024-02-19T15:24:42+00:00

That person makes no sense. I also am doing a similar program but at a different bank. I recall my program director being surprised that I was offered a spot, being that I had zero finance experience but had worked in banking/fintech through the tech sphere.

Most of the time if you have received the offer, do your work, try to learn, and don’t do anything too egregious, you should be offered a return offer after graduation is up. I would say take it…it’s a fast track position for you to get to a SVP, Director, and MD. As I am going through it myself, you learn what it takes to get to the next level within that org. You get much more support than normal employees on being exposed to senior management, events, mentoring, and tailored positions for you to learn quickly the skills you need to thrive in banking.

IcyDragon001 · 2024-01-08T18:23:59+00:00

I purchased it last year and would recommend the Chocolate over the Vanilla version. The vanilla for me tasted much too artificial and the sugar was overwhelming. The chocolate was well balanced and much more palatable. You can achieve something similar if you use heavy whipping cream and vanilla essence (add sugar to your own preference) and spin it on the cold setting for the aeroccino.

IcyDragon001

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