Good place to work Goldman.

Pretty much everyone is qualified for an entry level position. That doesn’t give us enough insight to determine if you’ll get an interview.

.....

She edited her post. Her boyfriend referred her.

Didn't Trump also promise Stormy Daniels a spot on The Apprentice?

At times, Goldman pays a little less, because people will work just for the name. In the long-run, its probably worth the sacrifice, but if you don't plan on staying in finance long, you might take that into consideration.

Also, culture is important. There are subtle, but important cultural differences between banks. The Goldman culture may not suit everyone. There are plenty of good shops other than Goldman.

what exactly do you mean by their culture?

C-u-l-t-u-r-e... why does this still have to be explained to people?

attitudes values perceptions work ethic management styles dress code environment behaviors communication style expectations business etiquette employee pride industry reputation

etc. etc.

1) You hate the culture 2) You would prefer to work in a smaller firm (a top boutique like Greenhill/Lazard) 3) You just like a firm of similar caliber better. There aren't too many firms of similar caliber out there...Morgan Stanley, Blackstone, Lazard, Greenhill (in my opinion) 4) You want to work in a different location...Goldman's not tops in Los Angeles, Houston, Asia, etc.

Goldman's a really solid choice though. I'd say barring those 4 reasons, you should go there if you get an offer.

So what's the culture like at Goldman? Are they friendly or very stuck up and always talk about business matters and their expensive assets and use large vocabulary words.

Yury, I don't think you're getting it...

ALL bankers are both friendly and stuck up and ALL bankers always talk about business and their expensive assets etc.... one could add that ALL bankers talk fast too.

However, this is not the "culture" that one alludes to when referencing or differentiating cultures among firms.

Then explain it to me please lol.

A horrible culture would be one where the place is replete with girls like Aadpepsi and Mis Ind.

A culture everyone would like is one where the place is full of guys like me.

i dont no why evry1 is so reluctant to explain the GS culture. yury, ive heard the culutre is very militaristic. ive heard that everything is very team oriented and strict.

b/c very few people actually know it.

Very focused on teamwork. Completely unselfish and easy going. Not competitive within, but extremely competitive with other banks.

Sounds like the Vault guide's description...

in addition to the points made above, while i am not suggesting you should chose another BB over GS, there are other things to consider. Mainly, if you work at GS, generally, you will be working with larger deal teams. This means that you will be handed less responsibility and will learn at a slower pace than someone at a middle tier BB. Furthermore, it may take a lot longer to reach MD status, then at another bank, but this is purely speculative.

However, Goldman IBD is Goldman IBD. That name on your resume alone is pretty golden.

That being said, I know of 3 people that have decided to turn down the offer. One of them decided to do consulting, and the other two chose another bank.

to clarify for the topic creator or anyone else interested in the subject matter, aside from my speculative point about reaching the MD level faster, my other points were not from personal experience but from 3 GS 2006 summer analysts and one non-GS MD at another BB.

Furthermore, to comment on "ExGSBanker"'s comment following my post, I would ignore the suggestion that "you get much BETTER experience working on teams at GS". Unless "ExGSBanker" has worked at a number of investment banks, I find his comment, "there are enough people on this board that have worked or do work at each bank that we should really listen to them for firm-specific points", as a contradiction following his praise that GS teams give you a much better experience.

Aside from that, the poster does seem to claim that he has worked for GS, and thus provides another perspective when it comes to team sizes in relation to deal sizes.

Are there any current GS bankers that would like to help the original poster out? Perhaps they are more "qualified" than this Ex-GS-Banker.

For example...I'm a leveraged finance guy and seek to stay in leveraged finance long-term. Thus...for me, Goldman is not the place to be. I would prefer to JPM, Citi, or Credit-Suisse.

does have bigger teams (I know first hand, as I am at the bottom of quite a few of them). I know compared to MS, teams are larger and less responsibility in some ways is given at each level. That said, you do get decent experience and more importantly the name on your resume (and the senior bankers will go to bat for you when you need to get placed). All in all, less of a star culture at every level (if you are the best analyst, you still might be staffed on crap vs. another bank where the star analyst would get all of the good projects. Just my opinion, but I see it first hand here, although it does vary to some degree from group to group

I did work at another bank, which makes it easier for me to compare. Further Tubs, I think that team size is something which is easier to see from outside a bank than culture is (which is what my original point was about)

I don't know where you get off suggesting that I am unqualified, but that is another issue.

Maybe my experience and that of my friends and the people around me is unrepresentative and wholly different than others, but I believe the responsibility an analyst is given at GS is strong than at other banks (known most specifically from my time working at other banks, coupled with my exposure to people who have worked at other banks.

One other thing not to forget, its not like I worked at GS 10 years ago... left less than a year ago.

what does "star culture" mean?

the star at any level, the group caters to you (as analyst, you get put on the best projects-deals, get leeway with the staffer on other stuff, etc). As you rise, it means you get better pay, more resources and a greater say on group and client matters. At GS, this doesn't happen nearly as much, the star banker in will have influence in the group (a lot), but not the same amount that a MS star banker would have in his group.

I firmly disagree on the responsibility at GS comment. I have been staffed on sellsides where its MD, associate and myself, but in general, teams are big and heavy and everyone essentially knows their role. I know MS/Lazard have smaller classes and everyone is given more work/responsibility (don't know about all banks on wallstreet). Once again, everyone's experience is different both at GS and at other firms, but in general, I think GS does not give much responsibility to analysts (especially seeing how the entire banking job is really not tough analytically, and more of a client hand-holding process). I'm just glad that I'm done with this in 3 months

ExGSBanker, seems to be offended by my posts. I was just giving a single point of view, which was formed by other people that have worked at his previous bank. The point about deal team sizes seems to be agreed upon by a current analyst (napolean). I would like to make one point clear. I was in no way bashing GS and thing its a stellar bank.

While I do not think ExGSBanker is unqualified for posting his opinions, I do think he should take my posts less personally.

Again, to those that were originally asking about why someone would not want to take the GS offer, all my posts are relative and probably differ on a group by group basis.

goldman people are serious, intellectual, nice people

e.g. ML, JPM peope : arrogant party animals not serious at all

take ml, jpm if you fit there better

all my posts are relative and probably differ on a group by group basis but this is the general view people tend to agree on at my uni

stfu

GTFO

did i miss sumthin , i cant see anything else other than the question

shapo:

So just some quick background on me. I went to a top 20 semi-target and I work in ibanking for a BB (think UBS, CS, DB). i had final rounds with GS for S&T but got rejected, but I am happy I did, because I was more interested in ibanking.

Anyway, one of the myths conveyed on this board are that only the best and brightest work for GS. False. Four people from my school will be working for GS. Only one of them had above 3.5, two had below 3.25 with majors such as Literature. That is a fact. Just some food for thought. If you get rejected from GS, don't get too dejected. Chances are, it wasn;t because you weren't qualified.

You make a very good point that if one is rejected by GS it's not the end of the world. Keep in mind however, that your grades are important but not a decisive factor. On this side of the pond, grades hardly matter at all (unless they are completely rubbish) and the subjects you read are far less important than the university you went to.

All that aside, it is still a fact in my experience that whilst I have known some morons who ended up at GS, by and large GS bankers have been running circles around guys from other BBs.

This is in part due to the fact that their organisation 9rather than the individuals) functions betetr, so even a person with a lower intellect can leverage off the firm.

PS. If there's someone from GS HR on this forum, I expect a cash contribution for all this :)

"LIVING THE DREAM 24/7 ON http://THEALLNIGHTER.BLOGSPOT.COM"

totally agree with you, dude. had a similar experience. Granted, I did like a couple of guys there but mostly it was ego. Never had such a "funny-feeling" post-interview experience.

Chances are, it wasn;t because you weren't qualified.

What are your other options?

well i'm at gs and i'm f*ckin smart

Is your GPA sub-3.25?

GS will reject plenty of extremely smart applicants and take dumb kids, just like any other bank.

However, GS attracts top talent and on average will have the smartest people.

Werd.

I'll chime in with the obvious:

New York Yankees.

Most notorious, most known brand, commitment to excellence, prestige, etc.

The Denver Tebows because you're doing God's work.