Emma Sinclair needs to extract her head before she suffocates

Ex-investment banker and "serial entrepreneur" Emma Sinclair writes indignantly in the Telegraph on the sexism perpetuated by the GS Elevator advice for summer interns:

I was an investment banker post university so I know what sort of stereotypes to expect and at times, they are funny.
[...]
Tip 8 says "As it relates to fellow interns, make no mistake about it - it's war: Let's be clear. It's impossible to compete with female interns. And it's not cool. So don't bother trying."

Tip 8 is actually true. Women are so painfully under-represented in front desk roles in banking that HR have decided that a) banks will hire female interns disproportionately in order to try to redress the numbers and b) said interns are essentially untouchable in peer assessments. They'll always end up out-scoring all but the top-end male interns, simply because no sane associate, VP or MD wants to be on record giving a female intern a bad score. The only exception is if the female intern in question does a Lucy Gao.

Ironically, this has precisely the opposite effect of that ostensibly desired by HR. Everyone rolls their eyes when a female intern turns up at their desk, precisely because they know that the principal factor in her hiring was her lack of Y chromosones. I invite you to consider how demeaning this is for the subset of female interns who are as able, if not more able, than their male counterparts. Incidentally, if you want to know why successful women in banking are some of the worst chauvinists, this is a major factor.

Emma is also not keen on Tip 12:

Ask the secretary for the travel schedules of the senior members of your group for the week ahead. She's dumb enough to think you are being proactive. But now you know when you can sleep in, hit the gym, or beat the traffic.

Emma takes umbrage, noting that her secretary was male. But Emma, darling, secretaries are almost universally female. They're a lot more organised than many bankers, but they're not generally as Machiavellian or plotting. A position as a secretary in an investment bank is well paid but generally not fulfilling since you have to deal with the obnoxious alpha++ personalities in detail and take the flak if anything goes wrong with their meetings or travel. The only real upside is the chance of meeting a hot MD or PMD who's not a total asshole and getting hitched. This is not a strategy with a high payoff rate for blokes.

I wonder why Emma didn't touch on Tip 9?

Don't be too good to do the coffee runs. It shows confidence. Just don't fuck it up. If you can't be trusted with coffee, how can you sell bonds or manage risk.

Yes, Emma, all interns do coffee runs, irrespective of gender. How egalitarian - why didn't you mention it? Did it undermine your narrative?

I'd love to know the details of Emma Sinclair's investment banking career. I suspect she flamed out in short order, and the fact that she could recognise Lloyd Blankfein's face indicates it may well have been at Goldman Sachs itself. It's fine to blame this on a sexist environment, and investment banking is still pretty sexist, but don't blame GS Elevator for giving interns advice that actually reflects the workplace.