University graduates hoping to get a job an investment banker London could be disappointed if they wear brown shoes to their job interview. A new report highlights how the investment banking industry the UK follows centuries-old, unwritten rules how bankers should conduct themselves. The study was undertaken the British government's Social Mobility Commission. Researchers looked how the industry selected people in job interviews. They found that the industry was governed "relatively opaque" codes conduct. They wrote: "For men, the wearing brown shoes a business suit is generally considered unacceptable…within investment banking."
The survey suggested that people working class backgrounds had to change their behaviour to fit with bankers who were from middle and upper classes. One newly-appointed banker said: "I felt like my accent was a bit of place, so I changed it." The study also said the industry discriminated those who did not go to elite universities. The Commission's chairman said: "Bright, working-class kids are being systematically locked of top jobs investment banking because they did not attend a small handful elite universities." He added: "It is shocking…that some investment bank managers still judge candidates whether they wear brown shoes a suit, rather than their skills and potential."
