Smith Barney vs. NYC Office of Management and Budget
Which would be a better entry-level job for a college graduate?
Smith Barney -
-- I would help one of the financial advisor's with various office duties
Pros:
- Reputable Company
- Easy Commute
Negatives:
- Lower Pay
- Role seems like a glorified secretary
NYC Office of Management and Budget
-- I would be an an analyst and help develop and implement the City's budget
Pros:
- Good Benefits/Pay
- Seems like I would get good experience
Negatives:
- Public Sector (Worried about it being harder to get back into the private sector or MBA programs)
What would you recommend? Thank you.
i'd actually think the NYC office of management and budget would be a more interesting opportunity. like all jobs, it's really what you make of it, but if you can gain some interesting insights in terms of the way the city runs its finances and also develop good experience with models, i think you could have some pretty good talking points, especially from the standpoint of business school. now, i can't say i'm familiar with the position and you'd really have to enlighten me as to the day-to-day responsibilities...but it's just 'different' from the opportunity at Smith Barney, which is a good thing. graduates who work at Smith Barney are a dime a dozen, and you're right, there's a lot of work that's pretty menial (and probably some secretarial too). let's just say that during a resume screen for experienced hires, it's not uncommon to see several dozen (!!) Smith Barney resumes.
at the end of the day, i have no idea how impressive the opportunity at the NYC office of management and budget is...but it IS different from what wall streeters normally see, and the Smith Barney position really isn't that exciting from the standpoint of a prospective employer.
Thank you for your feedback. I didn't know Smith Barney was so common and I greatly appreciate your insights. The Office of Management and Budget is technically considered part of the Mayor's Office. I really liked all the people there but I was afraid that the private sector may look down on any public sector jobs.
I have copied and pasted the job description.
--
Budget Analyst
Primary responsibility for monitoring a City Agency's expense and capital budget; preparing technical and programmatic budgetary exercises with minimal supervision, and assisting in the preparation and review of the Agency's expense and capital budgets as needed With minimal supervision, preparing and researching special projects such as reviewing expenditures and allocations for the Agency's seasonal budget, given deadlines and time frames. Estimating fiscal impact of management decisions and policies Identifying and recommending solutions to operational issues with fiscal impact Reviewing Agency's ongoing fiscal requests and formulating appropriate recommendations Monitoring and expediting all budget modifications and agency restructuring proposals, ensuring compliance with approved financial plans and cost effective techniques Reviewing and monitoring cost reduction programs Evaluating the impact of Federal and State budget policies
Evaluating legislative proposals
Does it sound OK?
i think government jobs sound great on paper, but are very frustrating once one begins them and tend to be a great deal more bureaucratic. it's like saying you are an "environmental engineer", only to find out that what you really do is to pick up trash because someone above you told you to do so.
i'm obviously exaggerating, but if nothing else, i can only guess that the NYC budget job will be more bureaucratic.
i also don't think that the Smith Barney resumes are very "common". remember that WHAT YOU DO is just as important (if not more) than WHAT IT SAYS on your resume. in this sense, SB may provide better opportunities because you are somewhat closer to the flow of money/markets/portfolios than you are in government (i.e. - stocks/bonds vs. child services budget). also, the Smith Barney job has more potential for upside and entrepreneurial endeavors allowing you with opportunities to step up and stand out.
it's definitely true that an opportunity is as good as what you make of it. college1212 should definitely go with what he believes will bring him closer to his ultimate career goal, whatever that is, and really needs to take a good look at himself since he should take advice from a web forum with a grain of salt. after seeing the job description of the city of new york job, it definitely looks like he'd have to deal with a fair amount of bureaucracy -- probably true of all public sector jobs -- so i'm a bit less enthused about it than before. that being said, make no mistake that Smith Barney "assistants" are a dime a dozen -- if you browse the forums of this site, you'll see TONS of people with Smith Barney internships. if you recruit for a bulge-bracket bank for full-time jobs as i have, you'd see dozens more people working in Smith Barney looking for a way out. that job is far from entrepreneurial -- in fact, is there really any aspect of Citi these days that one can honestly consider to be "entrepreneurial"? i digress....
anyway, college1212, let us all know what you decide. if you decide you want to be in personal finance or do something related to investments, the Smith Barney route might be the better way to go. but it's unclear exactly what you'll be doing -- if you don't have a hand in front office work, even in a direct support capacity, you might be better off with the city of new york job. why? because secretarial work is awful and it's worse than dealing with the bureaucracy of the public sector -- and don't forget that Citi is well known to have a bureaucracy of its own, and you don't know how bad that is till you actually work there. but here's a hint -- if you think you can move up quickly from a "secretarial" role at Citi, i wouldn't bet the house on it. do you have a job description for your role at Citi/Smith Barney too? it'd be helpful to see what your day to day responsibilities there would look like in order to make a good assessment.
basically, we don't want to fool you into thinking that either one is going to be your dream job, but at least you have a job in this economy, which is good. if some aspect of investing (rather than public finance) is something you want to do, you'd probably have a better bet going with the SB job, assuming you have some exposure to the investment or portfolio management process...but if it truly is a secretarial job, you'd be worse off there. you really have to flesh out the job description for that role. anyway, hopefully you get some other help from respondents on this website before you make a decision, as i'll probably be away most of the day tomorrow. let us know of your final outcome.
thanks fishbeancake for the feedback. Although now I'm confused about which one to take. I need to decide by tomorrow.
I'd take the NYC job. Being public sector won't rule you out.
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