Golden Handcuffs: The Observer interviews investment banking survivor turned writer Polly Courtney

We meant to post this yesterday, but time just got away from us.  On Sunday, The Observer featured an interview with Polly Courtney, who's coming out with the novel "Golden Handcuffs" in November, about two recent college graduates who find themselves "working with, for, and against each other" at competing investment banking firms in London. "It is about ambition, resilience and shattered dreams, and what it means to sell your soul to the City."

And it's something that she's said to have experienced first hand as both an intern and in a full time job with a banking firm.  In the interview, Ms. Courtney talks about being courted, as well as the perks and high pay that she received  --  but which ultimately came at the expense of being hugely overworked, subjected to unpredictable hours, sexism (including comments about how/why she got her job and never feeling properly invited to "lads night out") and nasty backstabbing.  It wasn't worth it to her.  So the disillusioned banker chucked it to write her upcoming book.

By way of curiousity, we found that Ms. Courtney has a website where we notice that she has some interesting thoughts on the Helen Green court decision vs Deutsche Bank. (aka woman who was awarded £800,000 after having been bullied by female employees.). (More below).

from My high-flying City job was not worth a life of misery' - The Observer

My first taste of banking was in the summer of 2001. I was paid £7,000 for an eight-week internship at an investment bank, along with 30 other undergraduates. Not bad, at the age of 21.

Twice a week, the company laid on events - wine-tasting, pub crawls, cocktail evenings at the Tower of London - that made us think we were working for the best firm in town. I wasn't keeping horrendously long hours - 13 or 14 hours a day was the norm - but others around me were always still sitting at their desks when I left every night. That should have been a warning sign.....

One night I left at 11pm and went home to bed. Just after 1am I woke to the sound of my front doorbell ringing. I had not heard my mobile - although it was supposed to be always in earshot - and they wanted me back in the office. Eventually, they had sent a taxi driver round to wake me up. I was hauled back to the office and worked through the next day, leaving near midnight. During my internship I saw one employee who would slip out in the evening and snort cocaine to pep himself up.

At the bank there was an ongoing competition to prove you worked harder than anyone else, possibly through fear of redundancy. You could play tricks, such as leaving your jacket on the back of your chair and adjusting your computer while you went to the gym, returning with a wad of papers to give the impression you had been at a meeting. Some even sent company-wide emails at 2am to show how late they had worked.

There were bonus points for anyone who could get one over another employee. I learnt this the hard way when I saw an anonymous comment on my appraisal form, which read: 'She seems to feel the need to off-load her work on people because can't cope.' I assumed that this was from a colleague whom I had once asked for help....

I was used to male-dominated environments. I'd been to an all-boys secondary school and worked in engineering. I'd always given as good as I'd got, but it was hard not to take personally comments such as 'When does your work experience end?', 'You must have slept your way into university' or 'Sorry Polly - we would invite you along, but we're planning to pull tonight.' I was even told by colleagues that the only reason I got the job was because of my legs. It was a delicate balance, trying to prove my worth without over-proving it. There are lots of fragile egos in the City, so being too bold can do you more harm than good.....

From Ms. Courtney's website...

Ms. Courtney notes a letter to The Times dated August 8 that she's not happy about the Helen Green £800,000 win against Deutsche Bank:

From PollyCourtney.com

Sir, Helen Green’s £800,000 win against Deutsche Bank ("£800,000 payout for bullied City secretary", Aug 2) is yet another kick in the teeth for women trying to make it in the City.

The antics to which Green was subjected (shouts of “you stink”, raspberry-blowing, staring) is what most of us term “harmless office banter”. Her two-year struggle may have left her better off, but it has lumbered the rest of us with the additional task of proving to City employers that we’re not just gold-digging cry-babies.

For any other Greens out there, let me offer some advice: when they plant a whoopee cushion under your chair, when they comment on your breasts, when they turn your monitor upside down, don’t run into the ladies’ and cry. Deal with it.