Reflections After a Period of Change

By Desi Duncker 

May 2010

Consortium alum Desi Duncker, Dartmouth College '05, shares his personal journey through the recession.

My Path

In the spring of 2008, I was getting worried. I was a senior associate in Goldman Sachs’ Financial Institutions Group within the Investment Banking Division.  I was tired of the banking lifestyle and had been trying to switch over to the private equity or hedge fund groups. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out as those groups froze hiring, and when my group started to cut back, I was one of the first to go. At that point, I took some time off and began to evaluate my options.  

I had an interest in working overseas, and had previously considered spending a year in Goldman’s London office, but hadn’t really explored it. I started working the phones, fully leveraging the networks at Goldman, Tuck School of Business, and Harvard University, where I received my undergraduate degree.  I wanted to work in an emerging market with a business-friendly climate, abundant capital, and no additional language requirements.  Therefore, I honed in on the Middle East and Dubai in particular.  

After the first few phone interviews, I realized that my story wasn’t credible given that I had no experience working or studying overseas and no ties to the Middle East. I decided to fly to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), stay for three weeks in October, and shuttle back and forth between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Although my interviews went well and I received one offer and a few follow-up interviews, the markets imploded. Dubai became especially hard hit given its reliance on short-term overseas debt financing This effectively ended my venture into the UAE.