Hi,
I'm currently a junior at a non-target and am in the process of doing a ton of networking in preparation for the upcoming full-time recruiting process (IB). I’m currently interning at a PE firm in NYC and some guys I work under have generously offered to give me introductions to some people in their network. One of the places that I’ve been recommended to is GS which is awesome but, as you can tell by the name of this post, I have one concern.
I’ve had a few people (some reliable, some not) tell me that GS doesn’t pay as much as other banks since the name of Goldman Sachs is so valuable that people won’t mind coming to work for them for less money. Has anyone heard this as well? Do other banks do this, or is GS the only one that can really get away with it? I know this is sort of irrelevant since if I get an offer from them, I’m most likely going to accept it (which may be me unintentionally answering my own question).
Thanks.
Don't live your life and make big decisions trying to maximize your first/second year Analyst pay. Do the best thing for your long term career, whether that's at Goldman or anywhere else.
Got it. Yeah, it's real, but it also doesn't matter. There is a BB discount as well since EB bonuses are generally materially higher. Doesn't mean the EB model is right for everyone.
Your head is in the right place, but you may (or may not) be surprised to learn that a lot of recruits make stupid short-term decisions based on pay.
You are definitely the new go to guy for IB info here. You could help out a lot of kids by doing an AMA, especially for people looking to recruit from B School.
If you don't, could you please elaborate a bit on "EB model isn't right for everyone".
I promise to do an AMA, just need to find the right time alongside my current staffing levels.
Very briefly, I would say that some people are interested in stuff beyond M&A and RX such as Leveraged Finance, Financial Sponsors, or even just being in a coverage group that is exposed to many different products at the same time that a BB could provide. More importantly, however, I think that one of the topmost considerations should be company / group / team culture. Sometimes you will gel the best with the people you meet at Evercore, or perhaps it will be Bank of America, or Houlihan RX. At a certain point that becomes more valuable than just dollars. At the present time, it would take a lot to move me away from my current team.
Gs pays really awful. The analysts I worked with at GS were all spectacularly unhappy about pay. Generally true for 1st and 2nd associate years as well - might be group dependent.
Based on the data points I’ve seen, comp is well below bulge peers like citi and JPM, and vastly inferior to Evercore and the rest of the EBs especially at the associate levels, pay differences can be $100k+.