Normally, a college student whose resume makes it to dozens of Wall Street firms would see their interest as great news.
Not so for Aleksey Vayner, a student at Yale University whose resume and motivational video have been forwarded by email to firms all over Wall Street, accompanied by messages like "What NOT to do when looking for a banking job... (Yalies, go figure)."
Vayner, a self-described "CEO and professional athlete," submitted a cover letter and resume to UBS AG (UBS), describing his "insatiable appetite for peak performance." By Friday afternoon, both the cover letter and resume - which includes a link to the video, titled "Impossible is Nothing" - had circulated among employees at Lehman Brothers (LEH), Goldman Sachs (GS), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM), Credit Suisse Group (CS) and Wachovia Corp. (WB), to name a few.
Toward the bottom of his resume - after more than a page of experience, including founding his own non-profit and working at an eponymous investment-management firm - a category called "leadership" includes a reference to a 1,650-pound leg press, along with the video link.
Now posted on YouTube, the video showcases Vayner lifting weights, ballroom dancing, playing tennis, skiing and ultimately, breaking a tower of bricks with his hand. All the while, he discusses his philosophy of success: "If you're going to work, work. If you're going to train, train. If you're going to dance, then DANCE, but do it with PASSION."
