Goldman Sachs Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Goldman Sachs

Pros – - great teamwork -- no us and them
- great culture
- great opportunities to take significant levels of responsibility
- control over your own career

Cons – - long hours, though flexible
- complexity of organisation means that decision making can take longer than people often expect
- "getting" the culture is necessary for success

Advice to Senior Management – - continue to communicate, communicate communicate , and over-communicate
- otherwise great job in steering the ship through very difficult times

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Goldman Sachs

Pros – -Smart colleagues
-High caliber of work expected

Cons – -Sometime too competitive rather than collaborative.

Advice to Senior Management – Make the environment more team-oriented and don't just pay lip service to the collaborative atmosphere.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Goldman Sachs

Pros – Open environement, few boundaries between management layers

Cons – High expectations, can lead to long hours

Advice to Senior Management – Incease transparency on vision

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Goldman Sachs

Pros – Objective evaluation of individual efforts . . .
Hard working and smart people around you . . .
Good pay and benefits

Cons – People are less important in most teams than the goals which is not sustainable in long term ... . . .

Advice to Senior Management – Pay more attention to building people relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Goldman Sachs

Pros – Hard to find a better employer in SLC, UT. Great culture, exceptional benefits, excellent reputation.

Cons – Work in SLC is sometimes more operational/procedural, definitely not a terribly interesting longer term proposition.

Advice to Senior Management – NA

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Goldman Sachs

Pros – Only the best of the best survive, you will always need to be at the top of your game if you want to advance. Your destiny is in your own hands, no one will silence a top player, set goals and acheive, no room for "fakers". It like having a pro football carreer, you need to be in top shape physically and metally.

Cons – Life work balance is what you make it, however you need to be careful not to cross the line and appear to be taking advantage. If so, it will be noticed and you wont be in the right place at the right time. Very competative, can be a pro or con, depending on your drive.

Advice to Senior Management – Keep up the great work, you have a good thing here, just remember to look at all levels, there are some shining stars in the ranks, mentor, polish them and they will help you suceed.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Goldman Sachs

Pros – You are in control of your career - I think the phrase above comes from some HR brochure, but it's largely true at Goldman. Your promotions (and to a large extent your compensation) are based almost entirely on your performance, not some set schedule or years of experience. Those who have excellent performance are promoted rapidly and their compensation increases far beyond what an average salary might be in the this field. Those whose performance is poor or average are asked to leave the firm, so you are always left working with only the best people.

The technology organization is surprisingly agile and people can quickly move between projects as business priorities change. There is very little tolerance for wasteful work or projects that do not serve a clear business purpose. There are 3 general job roles people can perform in technology at GS based on their skills and interests, with a focus on business analysis at one and of the spectrum and focus on tech infrastructure at the other end. Putting people in these roles creates people who are highly skilled experts in a specific area and reduces the number of inefficient "jacks of all trades".

Cons – There are some day-to-day politics which reduce the efficiency of the organization, but to a much smaller extent than at other firms. Some people don't like the amount of work or the long hours, but I feel they might just be working for the wrong firm.

Advice to Senior Management – Work-life balance is overrated. Let people who want to work long hours work long hours. Let people who want to leave early leave early. We do it because we enjoy the work, and working harder and longer translates into better service for our clients and the firm. And there is nothing wrong with rewarding people who work harder vs. those who do not.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Goldman Sachs

Pros – Goldman Sachs is the best large financial firm in the world at which to build a career. Co-workers are intelligent, competent and driven. The atmosphere is designed to promote success, and from a career perspective the culture is more likely than any other large firm to get everything out of you that you are capable of. It is a place where your work can have a meaningful--sometimes extremely meaningful--impact on the world.

Cons – Not worth it if you aren't willing to make work a much larger part of your life than most people do, at least for the time that you are here. Strong culture of anxiety. Need to be constantly available via e-mail at any time, including on vacations.

Advice to Senior Management – Try to eliminate "wasted worry", or anxiety that does not serve business needs. Office politics and working hard for the sake of working hard can interfere with working hard for the sake of doing great work.

Current Employee – been working at Goldman Sachs

Pros – access to senior management, tons of mentorship and support

Cons – Lack of structure, long hours and challanging but a lot to learn and do every day

Advice to Senior Management – Keep up the good work

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Goldman Sachs

Pros – The benefits are good. They offer a couple choices for health insurance that are pretty good. The pay is ok to start but the potential to make a lot later on is present.

Cons – I'm 25 and I worry about sitting in the same desk until I'm 40. The open work spaces can be a bit depressing at times.

Advice to Senior Management – My manager is good and respects our whole team. I don't have much advice to management being that I just started.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend