Say Goodbye to Your Personal Life
Pros
Working with the absolute best and brightest. Goldman is known to recruit top talent and it shows. Lots of training provided. Asking questions is encouraged. Great benefits (401k matching, great health care/dental/vision), short commute times if you manage to avoid SLC rush hour traffic/ winter storms
Cons
As with most reviews, work life balance is abysmal, especially if you want to move up. Once you're given a blackberry, there is no excuse for not being available or responding to emails while you're not in the office. The monetary rewards can be amazing, but were not worth giving up my personal life and personal time, in my own opinion. Ideas for change are welcomed, but a very corporate culture can make it difficult to get things accomplished and changed. Managers can be very forgetful and have to be reminded of things everything. When they forget something, they blame you for not remembering for them. Credit to the individual is thrown out the window as everything is focused on how the team does, however coworkers will take credit for your work with your direct manager if you don't raise your hand say you did X task. Analyst pay is very low which quickly hurts morale. Compensation has taken a hit in the recent years, although the executives in New York have gotten compensation increases. Operations is heavily dependent on I.T., however the communication is very difficult and I.T. is so backed up, it can take months before they get to a request of yours. Perks have been reduced to the point where "Jeans Day" is the highlight of the quarter. The office is not client facing therefore business casual clothes is not always required. Let all Fridays be jeans day. Christmas, Halloween, etc, have all been cancelled at the office. Anyone who decorates their area that is festive with the season will get a stern talking to by the closest Managing Director. Its like they suck the little bit of fun you would think you're allowed to have out of the work place. One can take sick days as needed, however if you miss more than 1 day and you're not dying or in the hospital, your work starts to get distributed to other team members. This creates a stigma that you're not that sick and can still work from home. So although you're able to take sick days, it's looked down upon when you take more than 1 at a time for something that does not require hospitalization.
