Young Hopefuls Hit Hard by Credit Crunch

Interns give up dream of retiring at 35 with house in Hamptons

By Kate Rockwood, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 21, 2008 7:00 PM CDT

(Newser) – The sad eyes of interns watched Wall Street's precipitous drop all week. These "lackeys," who had worked all summer at investment firms, can no longer expect to retire at 35 with houses in the Hamptons and "a closetful of Brioni suits and Hermès ties," David Bledin writes in the Washington Post. Nor will they endure years of 90-hour weeks and suicidal impulses.

Bledin was once a financial analyst and hated it. But he still felt "enormous sympathy" when Lehman workers lugged "cardboard boxes out of their offices. They had slogged through the worst part of banking without seeing much of the upside." Still, those who last will be in a small talent pool when markets recover—and are destined to become "the black-card-carrying titans of tomorrow."

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Young investment bankers and analysts put in 90-hour weeks in the hopes of reaping big rewards later. But with Wall Street's stumbles, interns are nervously watching their job offers. (IndexStock)

Wall Street sign outside an entrance of the New York Stock Exchange. (Getty Images)

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They won't rise through the ranks the promised way — keep your head down, resist the urge to throw yourself out the window, and everything will work out just fine. - David Bledin, Washington Post

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Young Hopefuls Hit Hard by Credit Crunch