Société Générale Reviews

Current Employee – been working at Société Générale

Pros – At times of recession, as we just had, SG did not lay off nearly as many people as other financial institutions. As such, it's a great place for a stable income and job security

Cons – The price you pay for job stability is reflected in your paycheck. Also job stability implies that people should be let go are not, adding to you having to pull "deadweight". Couple that with a huge bureaucracy and you have one hard place to work

Advice to Senior Management – Respect talent. Pay your performers. Cut the deadest of the deadweight. Don't assume a French person can do the job better just because he/she is French

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Société Générale

Pros – Good life / work balance.
Good place to learn and open to employees to do a lot of trainings.
Good vacation and sick days policy

Cons – Salary is fair but little bit lower than the market
Bonuses are really smalls
Promotions looks "stochastics"
Few opportunities for career advancement

Advice to Senior Management – The career opportunities and promotions does not looks fair done within SG. And bonuses are really small compared to the market

Current Employee – been working at Société Générale

Pros – Manager nice, and people are great. Everyone gets along. Benefits are good, not the worst hour, get out around 5:30 or 6, depending on the day.

Cons – Absolutely no career path. Higher Management blocks you if you want to move internally or develop your career. Only way to advance is to leave the company and come back in a higher position. They have just capped the salary threshold, which is bad news, because they do not judge on quality of work, but on politics.

Advice to Senior Management – Listen to employees more. Do more cross training. Communicate changes. Promote within and judge on quality of work, not face time. Stop the politics.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Société Générale

Pros – Lots of flexibility and independence given to employees (mostly due to the managers being totally hands off ...see Cons).
Talented Analysts and Developers (lots of smart employees at that level)

Cons – It is not unusual for management positions to be given to persons who have no real experience or banking knowledge...solely on the basis of their being French. You wind up with the analysts doing all of the work, managers getting the credit for doing nothing except gathering status. Maybe.

Employees given lip service about professional development. Performance reviews more for paperwork than actual study.

Advice to Senior Management – Try to foster an environment where all employees feel as if they are part of the team- even if they are not French.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Société Générale

Pros – good support teams - clear separation between the different entities

Cons – no career evolution except if you masterize power point - mexican army of managers

Advice to Senior Management – "fighting back" is a bunch of password policies and lead to a general suspicion of every employee, it is a disaster for team spirit and atmosphere and causes a lot of frustration

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Société Générale

Pros – Good benefits. In general, people are nice and many have been there for a long time. . Very multicultural work force. Location in NY is very convenient. Smaller bank in US which allows employees to be bigger fish in a small pond.

Cons – It is a 2 tiered bank- the french employees are treated differently than the rest and cannot be fired, which is not very good for morale. Although the workforce is diverse, the upper levels of the company are full of white French males who all happened to go to the same schools. Hard work is not recognized and the amount of red tape is unreal. Pay is far below that of other banks.

Advice to Senior Management – Utilize the talent pools in local markets instead of importing managers from overseas. It would be cheaper than moving someone's entire family over and setting them up in NYC and a local person is more likely to actually understand the market and have contacts. There are many talented people based in NYC, many of whom are out of work, and you should be taking advantage of that.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Société Générale

Pros – Opportunity to learn is still there - if you have time.

Cons – Middle Management lacking in professionalism and competence. Sometimes severely. Ridiculous share of decisions are made on purely political basis. That against the background of complete lack of focus or planning at these middle layers. Clear preference for quick and dirty solutions to meet arbitrary deadlines and "manage up" as opposed to professional ways of doing things. Employee morale is not anywhere near the top of the priority list. Not sure if it is on the list at all. Clear division between French and Non-French employees is not helping either - "French Connection" actually does have special meaning. Even if you admire and respect French culture.

Advice to Senior Management – Increase Infrastructure spending - consider that as Investment.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Société Générale

Pros – Strong name in Europe, not so Strong in the U.S.

Cons – Low compensation, people who don't have enough drive to work in a bulge bracket and settle for a more laid back life.

Advice to Senior Management – BE more in touch with you new hires if you plan on keeping them for long.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at Société Générale full-time

Pros – I worked in the dealing room. People are straight and direct, efficient and fast paced. You would like it if you do not have much ego.

Cons – Promotion usually goes to French speaker. People tend to be Maths geeks, actually the company do not need so many mathematicians. People lack soft skills.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Société Générale full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Salary is in par with industry standards
Good work conditions
Employee friendly

Cons – No Growth for experienced
Few managers are very biased

Advice to Senior Management – Create more opportunities for individual growth