¡ó¡óÐÂÓïË¿(www.xys.org)(xys.dxiong.com)(xys10.dyndns.org)(xys.3322.org)¡ó¡ó more comments on wall street titles Reading the comments about VP titles on wall street, I want to share some views with you. I worked for Chase Manhattan Bank ( Now J P Morgan Chase. )'s Chase trading group (92-96), Lehman Brother ( 96-98 ), Salomon Smith Barney (98 - 00), and New York Stock Exchange ( 00 ) for the past ten years. Currently I am working for AIM funds ( a mutual fund company. ) My views here only reflect the corporate ladder in those companies only. Normally in a wall street firm, title goes from Analyst -> Associate -> VP -> senior VP -> Director -> Managing Director. Some firms have extra tiers in between, for ex, Salomon Smith Barney had titles like AVP (assistant VP) between Associate and VP, 1st VP between VP and senior VP. AIM have senior associate title after associate. You got the idea. They are similar but not identical. However, Managing Director is a very high ranking officer in the firm, usually could not be achieved at 35 as it claimed in one of the articles. MD usually is the head of a department, manages a muti-million dollar budget. Very few Chinese on wall street achieved that title. Also a PhD from a top school usually don't give you much advantage over others in terms of promotion. however, a MBA from top B-school usually is required to enter the door. I totally agree the two other articles' correction about PhD degree's value on wall street. Most of the PhDs are working in the department like technical analysis and risk management modeling. As for the value of a VP title, It is definitely not the direct Chinese translation means. The counterpart of the Chinese meaning VP should be executive vice president. if the company don't have a senior VP layer, a lot of people will stuck in the VP title for their whole wall street career. I saw a VP work for another VP's case numerous times. How much you get paid is key indicator how valuable you are in the company on wall street. A VP could make base $120K a year , also could make base $240K a year. a $120K VP position maybe relatively easy to get, but a $240K VP certainly has much more responsibilities and manages people. Salary is a much better indicator. If the officials in China could ask those so-called wall street elites show their pay stabs, it is very easy to tell. And there will be no jokes like someone claimed to be in the executive committee of Merrill Lynch, a VP from Morgan Stanley acting like she is the executive vice president of the firm. A Chinese internet startup ( netbig ?) 's founder claimed he was the youngest senior VP at Prudential Security before he came back to China. I don't know which wall street firm's HR will care to know who is the youngest VP or senior VP in the firm and how that info could be gained. Just some of my thoughts, Regards. -A Chinese on wall street ¡ó¡óÐÂÓïË¿(www.xys.org)(xys.dxiong.com)(xys10.dyndns.org)(xys.3322.org)¡ó¡ó