"Hidden Rules" of Wall Street Investment Bank Dress

In the increasingly "relaxed" American workplace, there are still three industries that insist on resisting the trend of casual clothes-law, banking and government. Working in an investment bank, you can't wear flip-flops, suspenders, fancy suits, watches that are more expensive than the boss's, and no sweat stains under your arms-these are the "hidden rules" of investment bank practitioners.

Besides, you must dress formally, like most old-school bankers, with a suit and tie and a delicate face. The reason is simple: they spend most of their time interacting with customers, which requires a certain sense of formality. Over the years, this has evolved into a custom.

Don't wear brown shoes! Because according to the research done by the British Social Mobility Committee a few years ago, some senior managers think it is unacceptable for men to wear brown shoes with business suits, because it does not conform to the traditional image of a seasoned banker. Some job seekers in investment banks may even be eliminated in the interview because they wear shoes of the wrong color.

1

Pay attention to each other.

Of course, each investment bank has slightly different requirements for clothing.

Goldman Sachs has always been called a "white shoe investment bank" and must wear formal clothes. In 20 17, an article published by eFinancialCareers, a financial recruitment website, quoted insiders of Goldman Sachs as saying that if you go to Goldman Sachs for an interview, it is best to wear a dark gray suit and a white shirt. Female interviewers should wear high heels, round neck shirts and long and neat hair.

"In most cases, the dress code of Goldman Sachs is' appropriate'." An executive director of Goldman Sachs said, "This is the standard city uniform-shirts and trousers, and a suit jacket and tie will be added when appropriate, depending on your qualifications and expectations for qualifications."

Another Goldman Sachs employee said that in Goldman Sachs, the dress should be "simple and elegant" and avoid clothes that are too conspicuous.

An employee in the M&A department of Goldman Sachs said that male employees should wear ties, shoes without belt buckles and suits without patterns. For female employees, 90% of adults wear dresses and high heels. Many people wear expensive shoes, such as brand Louboutin.

However, the dress code of Goldman Sachs is different in different branches and business departments. A senior employee of Goldman Sachs in London said that there are many business and leisure activities in the investment banking department (IBD) of Goldman Sachs. "Senior vice presidents and below will only wear suits when attending meetings."

In San Francisco, it is "standard" to wear jeans to the meeting. In London, employees usually wear dark suits and shirts.

Goldman Sachs partners are another suit. "Partners always wear suits, even when they go to smoke. It can always be seen at a glance. "

At Deutsche Bank, such as the current station, you should wear a white shirt and a fashionable suit. If you are vice president or above, you should wear a tie regardless of the meeting or not.

Investment bankers in Societe Generale are dressed casually, without big names and high-end decorations, and may need to put away their best bags.

2

Culture is quietly adjusted.

However, the times are changing, and the corporate culture of investment banks is also quietly adjusting.

Since 20 17, Goldman Sachs began to relax the dress code for technical departments and other new digital salespeople. Employees in the technical department of the company can judge whether they need to wear formal clothes, such as hooded tops, jeans and sports shoes. However, men are still not allowed to wear shorts to work. Now, the investment bank intends to extend this measure to the whole company.

On March 5th, Goldman Sachs sent an updated message to employees: Relax, guys!

According to an internal notice issued by Goldman Sachs to about 36,000 employees, due to the relaxed workplace environment, "it is time to promote a looser dress code throughout the company".

Is this written by David, CEO of Goldman Sachs? David Solomon, financial officer Steven? Stephen M. Schell and John the Operating Officer? Waldron * * * announced that it would relax the dress code for employees and no longer need to wear a suit and tie to work.

Although the new circular does not specify the types of clothes employees can wear, at least flip-flops, suspenders and light-colored suits are excluded. And obviously, well-dressed Goldman Sachs bankers will not take off their shoes worth $700 because of the new notice.

As mentioned in the above notice, employees should know what clothes are suitable and what clothes are not suitable. The notice also reminds employees to wear clothes "in the way customers expect".

So, what to wear without a suit?

We can learn from the regulations of JPMorgan Chase three years ago.

In 20 16, JPMorgan Chase introduced the new dress code in detail in an internal notice to all employees: sports shoes, flip-flops, sweatpants, tights, yoga pants, hats, headscarves, halter tops or any other "distracting, wrapped, exposed or unusually loose or low-cut clothes" are not allowed, and jeans are not considered as business leisure.

Then what should I wear? Correct answer: POLO shirt, casual pants, cropped pants and dress shoes.

three

Attract the younger generation

Reuters pointed out that at Goldman Sachs, more than 75% of employees are millennials (generally referring to those born in the 1980s and 1990s) or Generation Z (those born in the mid-1990s and after 2000).

Washington post previously reported that "Millennials" are particularly eager to work for a company that embodies their values, and a loose dress code can just meet their requirements.

In fact, in order to attract young people, Goldman Sachs has long thought of many ways. In 20 16, Goldman Sachs put a job advertisement on Spotify, the music streaming media, for the first time, and constantly stressed that it would be infinite to join Goldman Sachs. At that time, 72% of Spotify users were "millennials".

At the beginning of 20 17, Goldman Sachs also brought a major renovation to its asset management department. All the partitions in the office were removed, and all 500 asset managers were concentrated on the first floor. This form of joint office has also been accused of trying to attract "millennials".

Blankfein, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, even boasted that "we are a technology company". This is not unreasonable. After all, David, the current CEO of Goldman Sachs? David Solomon is a part-time electronic dance DJ whose stage name is "DJ D-Sol". With this hobby, he got closer to the management of Spotify, a music streaming giant, and finally succeeded in winning the consulting industry listed by Spotify, making Spotify the largest technology company directly listed in the United States in an alternative way in 20 18.

In the podcast, David? Solomon once said that for an organization like Goldman Sachs, the lifestyle of company leaders is very important if it wants to attract young people to work with them. Because when they look at the life of executives, they will think, "Do I want that life?"

In recent years, Wall Street financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs have been competing with hedge funds and Silicon Valley technology companies for high-end talents. Compared with Wall Street banks, Silicon Valley companies and hedge funds can often provide top software developers with more comfortable working environment and flexible working hours.

Therefore, the dress code of investment banks is not as strict as before. Except for JPMorgan Chase who changed her dress code three years ago, its CEO Jamie Dimon was often photographed without a tie.

Michael, CEO of Citigroup? When Michael Corbat attended the global conference of milken Institute last year, he didn't wear a tie for the first time. He also wore sneakers from startup Allbirds. Jamie Forese, president of Citigroup and CEO of banking institutional customer group, is famous for wearing a sports vest in the office.

And in order to win the IPO underwriting rights of yoga clothing brand Lululemon, David? Solomon also walked to the negotiating table wearing the brand's sports jacket and long sweatpants.

As more and more female executives appear on Wall Street, women's dress code has gradually become blurred. It is worth noting that the change of dress culture of investment banks occurred when they were at a low tide.

UBS predicts that in the first quarter of 20 19, the fixed income, currency and commodity trading income of investment banks will decrease by 1 1% compared with the same period of last year. Analysts predict that the decline in stock market transactions will reach 8%. Analysts at UBS said, "The beginning of this year was very difficult for investment banks, and the transaction volume of asset classes, products and geographical spaces was very small."