Speaking Up for the Snake

According to Crimson surveys, more than a third of the Harvard College Classes of 2017, 2018, and 2019 entered the consulting or financial services sectors of the workforce post-graduation. Yet, the overwhelming narrative of these professions — “snake” professions as they’re called — remarks on the selfish, gross, capitalistic nature of consulting and finance.

Indeed, despite the fact that finance and insurance, for example, represented 7.4% of the US GDP in 2018, and contributed to both direct and indirect job creation in the United States according to International Trade Administration of the US Department of Commerce, individuals who enter into these industries are often deemed sell-outs who lack passion or a sense of duty to a bigger and greater cause. The irony, though, is that these jobs not only contribute positively to the economic growth of the country and the world, but they also represent accessible routes to financial security for aspirational students. Furthermore, they do often serve as a true passion for students — presenting problems worth solving for individuals and society alike.

At the beginning of every academic year, quite literally on the first day of classes now, consulting firms like McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and Boston Consulting Group rent out big ballrooms in the Charles Hotel to introduce themselves to students over soft drinks and firm handshakes. Even though it’s just the first day of the school year, they are already behind major financial services firms like Goldman Sachs who conduct the lion share of their application process almost an entire calendar year before the internship takes place, if not earlier.

Firms within consulting and finance have the luxury of conducting recruitment processes early on and promptly asking for the commitment of students to those internships because of how highly sought after they are. Yet, when students put on their finest Western business attire for these recruiting information sessions, and coffee chats, they either make light of their own genuine interests or are often mocked and ridiculed for their choice of career. No other career opportunities — from public service internships to similarly lucrative tech positions — receive the same kind of backlash and social ridicule that finance and consulting do.

Why are finance and consulting considered exceptionally selfish, worthless professions in the social narrative of the workforce? First and foremost, it seems that the foregone conclusion is that these two industries do not provide anything of value in and of themselves, and rather that they leech off of American capitalism and allow the rich to get richer without contributing to the rest of society.

However, not only do consulting firms provide their services and expertise for private firms, but they also often provide support — even at times, pro bono — to public service partners, as well. And, while they do sometimes charge non-profit organizations for the consulting work that is provided, those prices are at a market rate — one set by the intersection of supply given by consulting firms and the demand for that work from those very non-profit partners. How can one really argue that there is no value provided by consulting services when those very services are clearly valued at a certain rate by both the sellers and buyers of them?

The same logic applies to jobs in the financial services sector. While it may seem like the compensation given to 22-year-old investment bankers, or even more so the bonus they receive should they do a good job, is quite ridiculous and unnecessary — even with the astronomical living costs of New York City’s housing market — that is more a reckoning to be had with society and how it values financial services than the individual students who recruit for and benefit from those jobs themselves.

Many students are driven to these professions for the financial security they provide as an entry-level position. However, even if there are no apparent financial obligations, there is nothing inherently wrong with a student desiring financial security post-college. Even if the business problems clients present to management consultants or the stock options that investment bankers have to evaluate do not inherently interest every student, there is nothing less respectable about students pursuing these sectors if only for the financial security they provide for themselves and their families.

But, even more so, it is more than possible that these very components of consulting and finance do indeed interest students. It is not unfathomable to imagine that someone might actually want to do the research to understand which advertising contract would be most lucrative for a TV network — and the grunt work involved — for example, as done in consulting. In that case, what enables others to look down on a student who is recruiting for a job that is financially stable, legitimately interesting, and provides value to society?

I am not sure I entirely understand why the pursuit of snake professions is so scoffed at — but you can find me at the recruiting events next year trying to find out for myself.

Reshini Premaratne ’21 is a joint concentrator in Social Studies and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations in Currier House. Her column appears on alternate Mondays.