Goldman or Google?
If you could work as a Financial Analyst in Goldman Private Wealth Management or on Google's Finance team which would you choose? Here's how I see them stacking up:
Interestingness: Goldman - the Goldman job sounds a bit more interesting.
Perks: Google - this one is no contest.
Prestige / getting me into a top 3 b-school: Toss up, maybe Google - Goldman is Goldman obviously, but Google is arguably the most selective company in the country right now (they receive 1,500 resumes a day) and b-schools know it.
Pay: not sure, but it sounds like both will be about $80 - $90k all in.
Growth within the organization: Google - after 8 months to a year you can transfer to pretty much anything you want or go abroad. Goldman would have great exit opportunities but I'm not sure about within the organization.
A penny for your thoughts?
goldman: front office google: back office
that should help with your decision.
From my understanding, PWM at Goldman is not that prestigious, and it's difficult because a lot of it involves selling to high net-worth clients. So the job requires both analytical and people skills. My older sister does marketing and considered Goldman PWM but ultimately passed because she didn't think it was worth it.
For b-schools, I would imagine Google would help more, but it boils down to what you can bring to the table.
This is just a minor point, but Google is not the most selective company in the country. That honor goes to DE Shaw. Last year, Google handed out tons of offers to CS students at MIT, Stanford, and Berkeley; however, almost no one gets an offer from DE Shaw.
They are 2 very different companies with 2 very different roadmaps. It really does depend on where you see yourself in a few years.
As far as this business school crap (I don't say crap at you - but rather everyones mentality here) both companies will get you in. In actual fact if you've displayed any level of leadership you'd get into a good BS.
both aren't particularly selective or prestigious
Thanks for all the replies, even yours PoppingMyCollar. I don't think you're going to find a lot of people who agree that a company that receives more than a million resumes a year and extends offers to somewhere around a quarter of a percent of those people is not selective but to each his own I suppose. Right now I'm leaning toward Google because of the work environment and the opportunities to branch out into many different areas depending on my interests (as opposed to GS which is obviously pure play finance). In truth, the main thing GS has going for it right now is that it's a 10 minute commute from my house as opposed to an hour for the Goog. Either way, I'd be incredibly lucky to get an offer from either.
I'm assuming you live in the Bay Area? My sister met with some of the Goldman PWM guys in the San Francisco office and were extremely impressed. They all went to HBS, Stanford, etc. One of them was even a Rhodes Scholar who did JD/MBA at Harvard.
Does that mean the janitor positions are selective?
People want to be software ENGINEERS there, not work in the back office in the finance dept.
PoppingMyCollar,
Not true, Google is the #1 most desired employer among MBA students this year. McKinsey and Goldman round out the top 3, though Google is comfortably ahead of both of them.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mba100/2007/full_list/
Your hostility and juvenile sarcasm are misdirected.
Dude, nobody wants to work at Google to be in the finance division. According to the same list, Bank of America is ahead of Morgan Stanley. The list is not so useful.
hilarious
b..bbb..but google is so selective
Arguing in a forum is stupid and I'm not going to do it. Popping said that no one other than engineers wants to work at Google, and I pointed out that a lot of MBAs want to work there too - that's all. This is also beside the fact that finance is a common and logical stepping off point for Google's corporate development, strategy, etc offices. As for Bank of America vs MS: the list is not a league table, it's a survey of where MBAs want to work, and BofA is a huge organization with a lot of areas other than investment banking.
I've said my piece.
Why the hell are you all focusing on how selective the company is? It's irrelevant.
Google has a lot of opportunities so does GS. GS will give you money as an incentive. Google will let you pursue opportunities to keep you happy.
I think coming to this message board asking was a mistake. I've rarely seen a helpful post - rather it always seems to be idiots who focus on things that really don’t count.
Simple fact is - they are 2 very different companies in 2 very different industries. If you really want to try and get into investment banking goldman sachs will be the better choice.
Applying Front - Middle - Back office mentality to a comapny outside a bank is retarded.
PWM is a bit of bullshit if you ask me. The options you have are SO different - I'd take google - dare to dream.
I would go with Google. Who knows, maybe you go there and you're awesome and you move into corp development / strategy etc. in a year. I think there might be more different types of career opps internally there if you're not 100% set on banking.
Then again, you make it sound like the Goldman people you met are very cool, interesting and smart. If they have better ppl and more interesting work, then go with them -- just don't expect to be able to transfer to IB or make a career out of it since you're coming in as an analyst.
Less important, socially as a young person you might want to consider -- SF or Mountain View? Where are your friends going to be and where are you going to have more fun?
well you can live in Sf and work at google using the Buses. although it wastes a lot of time commuting
The commute is a bit of a sticking point, but at least the buses have WiFi. I'm also thinking I could use the time to just read, which I'd like to do everyday anyway but usually don't because of TV/internet distractions.
Goldman PWM pay is more like $65K (and rises at a rate just short of inflation)
By the way, the fact that Google was the top employer of MBAs is misleading. On the whole, I don't doubt that folks from Kentucky Tech A&M B-school would like to work at Google; however, you're going to find Goldman, McKinsey and others at the top of the list for students at any top-tier MBA program. In example, note that Google hired roughly 6,500 employees last year, versus ~350 worldwide for McKinsey or ~250 for BCG.
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