Goldman Sachs Reviews in New York City, NY Area

Pros

Great brand name for your resume
Extremely intelligent people in all areas
Fantastic place to learn the business and build your network

Cons

Nebulous politics and lots of egotism
Sometimes feedback is ridiculous: not really meant to fortify you but rather break you into the cultural mold
Hours are brutal
You or your feelings have no value

Advice to Senior Management

Better take care to eliminate some of that headline risk. The firm is starting to lose its luster, so it's harder to justify treating your people poorly for the sake of reputation.

Pros

- Well managed
- Can do attitude all around you
- Bonus is a big part of your compensation and depends on yours and company's performance
- Smart people and great team work

Cons

- Overwork and poor work-life balance
- Too siloed that can hinder your professional growth

Advice to Senior Management

- Better work life balance

Pros

Smart People
Good Name on Resume
Opportunity to make a difference very early in career
Great starting compensation
Dynamic working environment

Cons

No work like balance
Culture of working more hours than necessary
Anyone can be laid off, even a top performer
Focus is constantly changing, can make it difficult to get a read on management priorities
Firm is under great regulatory scrutiny

Advice to Senior Management

Layoffs and hiring need to be more consistent and fair. If there is a chance of layoffs in the near future than don't hire.

In general, priorities need to be communicated from the top down so that people don't waste time on less important tasks.

People should be encouraged to work smarter and not just longer.

Pros

smart people, good benefits, good brand name

Cons

no work life balance, tough working environment for moms.

Pros

Organization with deep pockets
Competitive salary and benefits
Smart people
'Do good' initiatives benefit the disadvantaged, but are clearly self serving as well

Cons

Super political; need to always watch your back
Recent influx of 'outsiders' a huge contrast to dedicated long-term employees
Many 'managers' who only manage upward, not even sideways and certainly not downward
360 review process is a sham and political tool
Large established organization better at marketing itself than delivering what it promises

Advice to Senior Management

Reputation allure is enticing to those interested in mining 'gold' but GS is living off its past.

Pros

*Very knowledgeble, professional, respectful employess and management, very positive environment
*Ability to work from home when necessary and work-place flexibility - a must if you have a family
*Good pay, in line with the market rate for similar roles. However, the media reports about several hundred thousand of compensation per employess are bloated. The numbers are severely skewed by taking into account a few higher-paying executives.
* Tecnologies used are more up to date than in other large financial firms/investment banks (but I'm speaking about my dept only)
*Ability to propose/share your own ideas (to certain extent, since I was a consultant)
* The company *does* care about its reputation
* I didn't not have any full-time perks as I was a consultant and still, I was very, very happy with the job.
* In general, it was a very, very positive experience and I'd love to go back there either as a consultant or full-time if the company starts hiring back

Cons

One word: layoffs. There is good communication between management and employees about the possibility of upcoming layoffs, but this is still stressful for everyone, both employees and management. I guess it is stressfull for the company itself since they need to show the investors that they are cutting costs and cannot keep the good employees they would have otherwise have tried to keep.

Advice to Senior Management

Let consultants use the gym (since you have to pay for it anyway!). When you sit at work all day long, and commute while sitting, it's not a luxury to exercise, it's a MUST. There are no public gyms in the vicinity of the office. I have developed back pain at some point because I was sitting at work all day long. Also, the inability to use the gym made me feel like a second-class employee (I was a consultant, but my duties were not really different from anyone else on the team).

Pros

Colleagues are motivated, can be relied on to go the extra mile.
Smart people.
Gold standard office environment, benefits, available training and so forth.

Cons

It's large, you have to work to find the right team to work within.

Pros

The prestigious name is a great reason.

Cons

They work you like a dog and then throw you away.

Advice to Senior Management

More competence at senior levels would be nice.

Pros

- Compensation
- Responsibility given to each employee
- Great training
- Perks (free dinner after 8 PM, free car after 10 PM)
- Prestige of having the firm on your resume

Cons

- The hours - even in the Operations division (where I interned), there is virtually no work/life balance
- Too much time is spent focused on tiny details that don't matter very much or at all
- Too much time spent in meetings which have nothing to do with your job
- HCM doesn't do things when they promise they will
- As is the case with any job, some managers (like the one I had) can be quite difficult to deal with

Advice to Senior Management

Promote a better work/life balance and revamp some aspects of the firm's culture. Also, provide better training to managers so they can be more effective.

Pros

Hard working and smart people around

Cons

Long work hours and too much stress

Advice to Senior Management

reduce work hours by more autoation