In October, Tracy Postert was unemployed, with a Ph.D. in biomedical science, specializing in pharmacology. It sounds like a fairly impressive and employable set of credentials (especially to English-majoring Intel Noreen), and so it comes as little surprise to us that when Postert publicly advertised said qualifications, she was quickly snapped up by an employer. Except she didn’t post her resume to LinkedIn. Instead, she wrote, “Ph.D. Biomedical Scientist seeking full time employment/ Ask me for my resume” on a sign she brought to Zuccotti Park. She also toted a sign that read “Ronald Reagan sucked balls,” but we’re assuming that’s not the one that got Postert some attention from John Thomas Financial Brokerage, which did indeed ask Postert for her résumé, and has just hired her as a junior analyst.
Here’s the thing about John Thomas, though: The last time the firm was in the news, it was because of its CEO’s involvement with something called “Restore Wall Street,” which sought to shine up Wall Street’s popular reputation in the wake of the financial crisis. (What kind of culture did he want to restore? At one of his previous employers, there was a high-profile sexual harassment lawsuit in which the regular apperance of lesbians strippers on the trading floor was the least outre part of the accusations.) We definitely can’t fault Poster for taking the gig — it’s rough out there! — but it’s pretty hard to not think that the hire is a Machiavellian feint in support of that “Restoring Wall Street” goal. Especially since the firm is only paying Postert a bit more than minimum wage.
