Line of Work
By Sam Blake
March 27, 2006

A finance guy walks into a bar, looking to impress girls with his job. Ouch! It's a not-so-new take on an old standard.

In New York, bankers and bond traders are all a dime a dozen - not that they would ever bother with petty change themselves. En route to financial success, these numbers guys are often infused with a cocky arrogance about their work. Meanwhile, those of us on more pedestrian pay scales grit our teeth at the mention of bonuses that eclipse our salaries.

The alpha-males of the '80s canonized in movies like "Wall Street" gave way to the entrepreneurs of the '90s. In a city where image can be everything, it's hard to tell what job will help you get the girl - and which might completely hinder your quest.
Most guys aren't going to change jobs just to land the ladies - although, if anyone asks, this writing thing is just a side gig to my career as a race car driver. That said, many men have certainly experimented with the stories.

Eric Koppelson is a 25-year-old analyst for an international bank. He found out about the N.Y.C. dating-related job stigma in a very unlikely place: Murray Hill.

You might expect someone in the service industry to change his story in the Midtown Mecca of Long Island Daddy's Little Girl transplants - but a fine young numbers guy?
"As soon as we got our drinks, a girl came right up to me and said, 'I bet you're a banker,'" says Koppelson. Tired of being pigeonholed into a conversation he had too many times, he refuted the statement, but to no avail. "She wouldn't believe I wasn't a banker." Earlier in the week, Koppelson had met up with a friend who works at a nonprofit, helping women in impoverished parts of the world. "I still had his business card in my wallet, so I told her his back story and produced the card," says Koppelson.
"All of the sudden, she was serious and really interested in me, my work, anything."

"Guys lie or embellish [about their jobs] because a lot of them are out of work or in career transitions, as the age of the company man is gone," says Ian Kerner, author of several books including the upcoming "D.S.I. Date Scene Investigation: The Diagnostic Manual of Dating Disorders."

"It's a natural defense to try and prove someone wrong - but it's going to catch up to you. Especially in N.Y.C., where there's not even six degrees of separation."

"When it comes to careers, it's still about evolution. Men want to impress. When they lie, most of the time it's because they are embarrassed," says Kerner. "Rarely do they downplay their success or careers - but a finance-type may be an exception there."

Kerner says that a numbers guy may not want to be lumped in with the womanizing, strip-club- frequenting stereotype that can be associated with the job.

April Masini, founder of the Web site askapril.com and author of "Think and Date Like a Man," offers another possible explanation: "Some guys are afraid that women only want them for their paycheck."

So in addition to trying to offer a unique back story, Koppelson was being guarded about himself and his lucrative profession.

"When my friend came over, I introduced him to the girl and she asked him, 'What's a lawyer doing with a nonprofit guy? I thought you corporate types always ran together,'" says Koppelson. Unaware of his scheme, Koppelson's friend corporately outed him. "What do you mean?" he asked. "He's a banker." Despite this awkward moment, Koppelson was pleased to report that he ended up "making out with the girl anyway." So in the end, a finance guy hooked up with a p.r. girl in Murray Hill. I think I've heard that one before.