I just got my offer for the general IBD pool at Goldman Sachs IBD. Anyone have any suggestions for coverage/industry group? I'm between NR, Industrials, and FIG for my top choices.
I've spoken to some analysts in each group and they all speak highly of their group (naturally). NR and Industrials seemed very similar and they both said FIG was a different ball game. Some help?
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Every group at GS IBD is great. TMT is the best, the rest are all great (as in, not much significant difference in terms of prestige or exit opps). Join the one you like the most, and consider the other factors (hours, stress level, FT hiring rate, etc.).
Tmt
When I'm talking to analysts, is it alright to ask about those things: "hours, stress level, FT hiring rate, etc."? I don't want to sound lazy if I ask about hours....
Yup - you will sound lazy and stupid. You're going to be a summer analyst and the last thing you should be worrying about is sleepy-time and free-time. You'll come across as unserious and not ready for banking if you're already asking about work-life balance and stress-level before even getting a full-time offer.
Don't ask "so which group works the least hours and gets to sip the most kool-aid?"
Instead ask about pros and cons of each of the groups you talk to, they'll tell you about if the hours are good. Then ask about what they think of some of the other groups, and they'll tell you "hell no they work crazy hours 100+ every week" if it's the case.
I appreciate the insight....does anyone know anything about FIG in general? Should I go in knowing about how the companies they cover work? Or, assuming I am a quick learner, is it something I can pick up on the job? I have a friend that went to FIG at another bank and he's doing very well there except he knew a lot about banking operations before he went there. I hear the valuation is unique and other things are very different from other groups. Is it a huge challenge, or is it just like learning any other group?
What groups have the best hours? This is an anonymous forum so lets get the opinions out here.
I wouldn't know but I'd love to know if someone has that information.
Disclaimer: This is based on my opinion formed by a few people I know within each group. I could certainly be off to some degree
Healthcare is probably most lax, I heard that they even have hourly caps where they will send you home if you work more than X hours. I would say that the consumer groups are pretty standard banking, also a bit on the lighter side compared to what might be portrayed as GS standard. Natural Resources and Industrials are both around the middle -- they encourage you to leave when you aren't doing work, and so long as you stay on call everything is cool, but naturally with Goldman the hours can still pile up and the groups are tough. FIG and TMT are definitely the most brutal, but also the most prestigious. TMT will work you to the bone, don't expect to have a much of a social life.
Let's put it this way -- suppose you have a girlfriend: you can probably maintain the relationship in any group but TMT or FIG. Naturally the tradeoff is that exit opps are fantastic out of a group like TMT... but then again you need to consider that banking at Goldman is banking at Goldman and the reputation is sticky. Please keep in mind that I am trying to blow up group differences as big as possible to show how they are different . As far as I've heard, every group is very challenging and will give you the full experience -- so don't think that one group is significantly different.
Yeah. I just spoke with someone from FIG and they pretty much told me the exact same thing. FIG and TMT (and he said TMT even more) both have the toughest work/life balance but that the exit ops were much better from FIG and that there was a general respect for Goldman FIG, given the specialized work they are doing relative to a hard asset type industry. Thank you for all of the insight though I really appreciate it.
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