Book Review: Young Money

     A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading a fantastic book by Kevin Roose, a writer for the New York Times.  Young Money: Inside the Hidden World of Wall Street's Post-Crash Recruits is an absolutely phenomenal book- especially for someone who is interested in going into finance in the future.
     Young Money follows the lives of young, new college graduates who have entered the world of Wall Street.  Roose convinces eight new hires to give him the skinny on their new jobs- an unheard of insight into the happenings on the Street.  The participants work at Sachs, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and JPMorgan Chase; their college educations range from semi-selective schools to the Ivy League.
     The participants become involved in a program called "Training the Street" where they begin their two year stint as an employee of their respective bank.  You may expect the training program to teach them how to trade, judge the market, relate current events to fluctuating prices; instead, the trainees are taught how to make complex Excel sheets.  For two years, the participants are expected to make Excel sheets, which can be used in a presentation for a client (the clients rarely ever look at the Excel sheets, and they usually end up in the trash).  This process is grueling, and the trainees consistently work 110 hours each week.  I will refrain from divulging too much, but one could only imagine the effects such work would take on an individual...  As the two year job comes to a close, the participants have to decide whether or not they want to make a career at his or her bank, or move on to another job.
     Young Money provides a seemingly realistic view on life on Wall Street.  Since this book focuses on post-crash hires, readers can compare the new Wall Street to the view of Wall Street made popular today by Jordan Belfort.  However, it is still a fun read, often hilarious at times (Especially the section covering the fraternity induction ceremony of Wall Street's most powerful names).  Without a doubt, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in working on Wall Street!