Polly's press & media appearances
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Rediscover your Passion - Go It Alone
Finansmiljøet i London - et Jobbhelvete
Fear and Loathing in the Heart of the city
My Glittering City Career Turned into Golden Handcuffs
Do Women Really Get a Raw Deal in the City?
My High Flying City Job was not worth a Life of Misery
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It was a rite of passage for anyone joining and hoping to get on 30th August 2006 by Chris Blackhurst MY REACTION on reading Polly Courtney's account of the hell that was her life in the City was to nod in recognition. I, too, went to Cambridge. I, too, joined a City firm - in my case, one of its most aggressive legal practices. I, too, worked long hours as an articled clerk, often well into the night, frequently researching something that was mindnumbingly tedious or notetaking at meetings that went on for ever (and seemed to be spun out by my bosses) or just proofreading documents that must have consumed a forest's worth of paper. Yes, people cracked up. Yes, the atmosphere oozed testosterone. Occasionally there was a social event - but if some of the partners actually bothered to turn up, the evening would be marred by the trainees jockeying for position, eager to impress. The contrast between the glamour of the recruitment brochures, what we'd been told at our "milk-round" interviews and the reality of working in the organisation was stark. But I wasn't shocked, hurt or infuriated. We knew what to expect. We were also aware it wouldn't last for ever - that this was a rite of passage for anyone joining and hoping to get on. All the partners now earning fortunes had been treated the same way.
We were also being extremely well paid, relative to the rest of society, and the potential rewards were colossal. And however bad it got, it wasn't work - we were cosseted in a smart City office, not in a noisy, stinking factory or down a coal mine or on a North Sea trawler. OK, there was a bit of banter and mickey-taking but generally, everybody was polite and courteous. We dressed smartly, we rode in taxis everywhere, and if we were invited to meet clients away from the building chances are it would be at one of the capital's best restaurants. What was quickly impressed upon us was that we were a team. We may have been to the best universities and thought we were God's gift, but the collective was more important than any individual. We were being moulded into a conforming, disciplined unit. We dressed the same, talked the same, thought the same. There was no place for those who were different. Those who didn't shape up were quietly spoken to and in some cases, not seen again. Just as the Army puts recruits through their paces so the City subjects graduates to its own form of assault course. As with the military there are instances of bullying and sexism - but they're the minority, not the rule. That's not to excuse them, but judging by the well-publicised legal cases brought in recent years you could be forgiven for supposing the City is one huge bear-pit. It's not - there are other industries where the working environment for juniors and women is as bad or worse, but we don't hear about them because the victims are not so articulate and confident, not so able or willing to seek redress. The truth is that too many City entrants forget two basic facts: how lucky they are; and, no matter how clever you are, you don't simply become a master or mistress of the universe - you have to earn it. |
Polly's TV & Radio appearances
From Engineer to Investment Banker to Novelist
Berliner Zeitung Magazin, 2007
I Know the Pressure Matthew was Under
I Sold My Soul to the City - then Wanted it Back
Banker Novel Shows it's not all Success in the City
Taste of High Life in City can Seduce Interns
City Woman who quit City over Sexism admits Lapdancing
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