Goldman Sachs

They're good at getting people in the door, but the issue is retention. We have a pretty high Black contingent, but that's more of a product of the Black people at the company recruiting their friends and colleagues.

We're not doing anything really innovative in the diversity and inclusion landscape. I think there's a lot of Black people at Goldman, especially compared to the overall landscape on Wall Street. The diversity programs are OK. I interned at Morgan Stanley in 2015 and I thought that they were very bad with diversity, and Goldman is definitely better.

Goldman will work you to death for sure, but it's one of those places where if I'm working long hours, the rest of the team is well. We have that “we're all in this together” mentality.

Everybody is really smart, so regardless of whether you're doing work or just talking about things like politics and the news, everyone is really intelligent. It's competitive for sure, but it's competitive in getting business from other banks and less competitive in terms of competition between employees. In Sales and Trading, I believe it's a bit more competitive amongst colleagues than the overall firm, but I'm not certain for sure.

I think that they have a lot of programs as you get more senior; they don't have as many at the junior level. There are personal development classes available, but you have to do them on your own time. It's available, but it's a question of how much time you want to dedicate to learning new things aside from your day job.

You don't have one primary manager. There's a staffer for all of the teams that gathers feedback and does compensation discussions. That staffer is the go-to resource for gathering feedback and managing your career. My staffers have been supportive. The one I currently have has been great about checking in, and he even checked in when I was sick with COVID earlier this year.

We have pretty extensive training. It's about two month's worth of training before you hit the desk. It's pretty comprehensive, and it's a good overview of finance, accounting, business skills, and stuff like that. For people that are motivated, it's a good opportunity to learn and grow your skills. Having the internship helps a lot just to give you that initial experience, but for someone that wasn't able to intern, transitioning to full-time is difficult.

The norm for years has been for analysts to leave their bank after 2 years and go into private equity/hedge funds. There's a big feedback-based culture at Goldman and in Banking. we had our first feedback discussion in May, but the compensation discussion occurred in August, not May. They don't rank amongst your classmates like they do at other banks. I got good feedback, and the process was pretty straightforward.

Banking takes a certain personality. You need to know that you're Type A and can be self-motivated. I interned, and I knew that I could be successful in the analyst role, but not everyone has that same experience, and it can be hard to prepare for it without that initial exposure to the job.

Diversity programs helped me get to Goldman. I was in my college's undergraduate business school, and there's a program where they bring full-time employees to campus to network with students. The sophomore internship is a big pipeline for getting diverse candidates. There's a Black Professionals Network that's firm-wide, and then there are smaller networks for the individual groups. For the full-time roles, those interactions to meet other Black people are sparse. They had a lot of events for interns, but they don't have as many for full-time. I've been a little disappointed with the programs since I started. They do more work to get you in the door and recruit you than they do to maintain you.

My academic experience didn't prepare me as much as some of my peers. Training time was reduced in recent years, which was a little upsetting because I already felt behind. It ultimately didn't really affect me because I have gotten good feedback, but I wish the firm had asked if people wanted additional support around certain topics.

When it came to racial injustice in the country, my group was incredibly slow to respond. Our CEO put out a statement, and the division head put out a statement, but where I'm truly impacted is by the people that I work with everyday, and I didn't hear anything from them until much later. I expressed that I was disappointed with their inaction and ultimately there was a broader group discussion, which was good, but the time it took to get a response was just too slow. I want to know that people are supporting me not just as a Black person in America, but as an individual at Goldman Sachs. Hopefully when the next Black person joins, things will be different.

I would say my relationship with my manager is average. I work directly with multiple associates, and my relationship with them is good.

There is the BPN (Black People Network), and then there are sub networks within the BPN. We recognize each other, and if I am going through a moment where I think I am not on track, I can go to people in the group and express myself. I have been open about wanting more feedback, or about how I have not agreed with the way the company has handled race issues.

The industry has such a high turnover that big banks aren't really focused on training people to be Partners at a junior level. The Black network has been pretty intentional about reaching out and offering mentorship, but ultimately, career development is on the individual.

My managers have been super available to talk to me anytime. Most analyst programs at Goldman are two years, and it's not an awkward conversation to talk about rotating out of your group or out of the firm. They're very aware that a lot of people want to rotate out after their two years are complete. I interned in a finance position before joining. For me to get out of that position and get into investment management, I had to do 14 interviews, but I was heavily supported. Once folks like you at Goldman, they're all about your success.

They impact your experience more when you're in a larger office. In the regional offices, it's more difficult just because there's not as many minorities here.

There's this internal website called Goldman Sachs University that you can use to learn skills in your free time. The firm is very interconnected, so even though it's spread out nationally, it's very close, and I can call on people in different offices if I have a question or want to know something.

I work in private wealth management, and we're slightly more conservative than other divisions at Goldman. You're more face to face with clients, so things are more conversative. The culture is super apprenticeship heavy. You learn a lot by sitting next to your team and just doing the work. Your experience is heavily shaped by the team you're on.

For campus hires, there's a timeline where you're an analyst for 2-3 years, then the next position for 1-2 years, etc. They recently changed the promotion process in my division and created a new position in between analyst and advisor. I haven't seen a concrete timeline for the promotion process, but it's clear that your performance impacts your promotion. It's also true and worth noting that Goldman usually cuts the bottom 5-10% every year.

There's always some code-switching in place. I'm more tenured, so I'm naturally more comfortable in the office. But overall, it's hard to be yourself in these environments because who we are isn't the status quo. I've been asked “why are you so loud?” and I respond by saying “it's cultural.” It's like a lot of other places where it's hard to be your full self in the workplace. As you get more tenured, you can bring it out a bit more, but there's still a line you have to walk to be seen as capable/intelligent. The experience as a minority can feel somewhat lonely. It can be frustrating because a lot of people don't come from your background; a lot of people come from privilege, so it's different. It can be a daunting experience.

In the earlier stages, the promotion process is “fair,” but it can be frustrating. You find yourself asking how much of it is time-based vs. performance-based. You have to hit certain time hurdles before you can be eligible. My situation was a bit different, as I took a non-traditional route into Goldman Sachs. Despite the lack of a traditional finance background, I was able to land 2 promotions within my first 2.5 years with the firm. Upward-mobility is not an issue as long as you are performing well in your role.

My first manager was great; she really helped me get my foot in the door and make the transition into full-time Wealth Management. She also gave great career advice and helped pull me along. My second manager wasn't as good. I didn't get any advice or suggestions from him on how to progress my career. Now, we have another manager in place that's been better than the last; she's been open to having conversations.

As far as being a minority, race isn't something that's addressed as much as I would want it to be. Goldman has announced initiatives around getting to a certain % of minorities by a certain date. Since I've been here, there's been a fluctuating number of either 2 or 3 African- Americans in the office. There are affinity networks that are nationwide, but there's not a lot happening with them. There's a conference for Black VP's, but as you trickle down to the associates, there's not much happening for them. What about the lone Black analyst in Seattle? Who's thinking about her experience? We get these people in the door, but then there's not much of a network of minorities to keep them around. Thankfully, I work with a few on my team, but there isn't a strong network of minorities. There's only been one social event in the three years I've been here.

Generally good - the senior team is full of people who are excited about getting to know you on a personal level. Since you work with a variety of teams, you can get some managers that are tough to work with but that is few and far between.

You get exposure to very high-quality client services (analysis, presentations, transaction management etc.) and you get a shot to contribute no matter your experience or background.

If you come into the job still needing to learn (which is true of most Analysts and Associates) and it shows up in your performance, you can fall behind your peers and quickly get a reputation as a poor performer. There isn't much time or space for you to course-correct and the company doesn't groom managers to support professional development.