Operations Placement Review

You get out what you put in. You will a variety of different opportunities at your disposal during your internship which help to provide a more well rounded placement. It is hard work and can sometimes feel like its becoming too much, but you do have a fantastic support framework around you with your manager, buddies and mentors. You will find that Goldmans will push you to be your best and it will make you a better person as a result.

I found that after a while my peers just came to see me as another member of the team and not as an intern. I was entrusted with confidential information which very few people have access to. I was given the opportunity to run with some pretty interesting projects which I could make my own. Your also integral to your team and people will rely on you to do your job and you cannot expect someone to just bail you out. Also you find that as you spend so much time with these people that they do often becoming your friends outside of work as well.

I was without doubt supported by managers early on in my time here when I was still adjusting to joining the company. It did all come as a bit of a shock to the system but you soon just get used to it. Your managers are normal people and understand going straight from Uni into somewhere like GS is a big change and are always there to help you with any worries you have.

I did a rotation during my placement and so I worked in 2 entirely different teams within Operations. In my first team I was definitely overworked and was incredibly busy which was a challenge and I often found myself working 60 hour weeks (please note most teams in ops aren't as bad as this). In my 2nd team there was much more of a work life balance and I would say I had the perfect balance between work and life. You also find no matter what team your in that you will have periods where you are very busy and other times when its dead so do have to just accept that and when you have the opportunity to leave early that you take it.

Huge. I worked on the private side so I had access to very sensitive data which very few people had access to view. You are treated as any other employee and there is very little difference between you and a normal full time analyst. You also find that as there is quite a bit of attrition at GS that you can sometimes find that you become one of the most experienced people in your role after a year and you become integral to the team.

I think a lot of my friends who didn't go on a placement didn't actually enjoy there final year of university as it is just such a big step up. But I know that for me going back to uni for one more year before joining the real world will be a delight and I cant wait. You will find that GS will push you so that you become the best person you can be and that's due the nature of the people you work around. Everyone is incredibly driven and very bright and I personally found that brought me up and made me perform better.

Calm, there was a lot of senior people in my office and people tend to take advantage of the empty offices scattered around to have meetings and such. The people are all hardworking people though and will demand a lot from you, but as I have already pointed out that they are normal people and if things are becoming too much you are able to approach them and just have a chat to vent your worries / issues.

Reasonably well organised. I felt that HCM who are in charge of the placement programme could of done more outside of work to promote a greater sense of community between the interns. There was no leaving due which I found very disappointing considering the amount of work that we put in as a class. There were sessions still put on thought to promote this engagement between interns and they did check in with us every couple of months to see how we were getting on. Overall though it was pretty well organised but definitely room to improve.

Not particularly, I enquired about further qualifications like ACCA/ACA and was rebuffed and told that no financial support would be provided to interns/analysts in this regard. They would provide a maximum of 5 days off study leave though. They do take a lot of time though in terms of reviews to see how your progressing as a person and looking at your strengths and assessing where you can still improve. This I found to be very beneficial as I could get some real feedback from the people who worked with me day in day out.

Not great. There is a lot of cost cutting going on within Ops and many jobs are being outsourced to places like Warsaw and Bangalore. In addition the first team I joined when I came to GS has now actually been outsourced to India. I also think that Ops in GS is very specific and you don't learn a huge amount of tangible skills which you can transfer to other organisations like you can in other divisions. Overall I would be cautious in pursuing a career in Ops and the long term viability.

There was a bit, but this was normally more organised off our own back and not with the help of the company. There were more social gatherings in terms of teams going out together after finishing but it does depend on the make up of your team and what peoples responsibilities are.

Expensive. £4.40 a Pint. You might find that some bars do provide a discount though for GS employees. You can also expect to pay between £3 - £8 for lunch depending on where you go.

Pretty poor where I worked, but in London theres all sorts going on which is only a short tube journey away.

Not really. There were some who set up a 5 a side team, but after work you do often feel quite drained and you do just want to go home. But if you do feel up to it there is some things going on.