It’s one thing (though still obnoxious) to be a brash, backstabbing alpha male when you’re out on the town with business associates. It’s another for a job applicant to be so dimwitted as to put that same arrogant attitude into an e-mail and assume it’s not going to be forwarded around, and probably end up on the smartphone screen of the very people you’re insulting.

Thus the lesson being learned by one young college chap trying to secure post-graduation employment with the Charlotte-based firm of Bank of America.

In e-mails screengrabbed on Business Insider, the gent sends of an electronic epistle (e-pistle?) to a Bank of America Merrily Lynch (BAML) recruiter with whom he’d presumably discussed the refined art of beer pong earlier in the week.

Reads the e-mail:
“Last night at Kips chilling with you was a good time and a great start to the week lol! I went to the Wells Fargo IB info session tonight and they were all a bunch of boners, the experience didn’t compare…. hope to talk to you again soon bro!”

Yes, not only did someone who wants to be an investment banker at one of the world’s largest financial institutions put “lol!” into the e-mail, he referred to Wells Fargo recruiters as “boners.”

Another version of this e-mail, presumably sent to another BAML recruiter, changes that insult to the less awkward but still juvenile “doofuses.”

Thing is, investment bankers — and recruiters for these banks — know each other. And while smack-talking is certainly par for the course in certain circles, you kind of need to earn your stripes before you can start referring to people you don’t know as boners and doofuses (doofi?).

Thus, the e-mail was forwarded, and eventually ended up in the inbox of a Wells Fargo recruiter who tersely noted “I don’t think this kid should get an offer.”

It finally got all the way back to one of the Wells people at that event, who admitted, “I’m apparently the dufus. I apologize to you all.”

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.