✅ Pros
Pay is high in absolute terms and the brand name opens every door that comes after.
⚠️ Cons
The gender gap is visible on the trading floor. Men get the stretch assignments; women get support roles.
💡 Advice: Keep your time here defined. Take the brand name and leave for somewhere that values you more completely.
✅ Pros
Compliance team is somewhat more diverse than front office. The work itself is interesting and high-stakes.
⚠️ Cons
Work-life balance is a myth. The expectation to be always-on is cultural, not occasional.
💡 Advice: Make sure your lifestyle truly aligns with the hours before accepting. This is a lifestyle decision, not just a job.
✅ Pros
The brand is real. Learned more about financial systems in 2 years here than anywhere else combined.
⚠️ Cons
Pay inequity is structurally baked in. Operations women versus front-office men — the delta is enormous.
💡 Advice: Negotiate at every review cycle and document everything. Silence is not neutral at Goldman; it costs you money.
✅ Pros
London office is slightly more progressive than NYC. Smaller teams create more individual visibility.
⚠️ Cons
Still a boys' club culture just beneath the surface. Client entertainment dynamics are male-dominated.
💡 Advice: Seek out the Women's Network in London — they're meaningfully more active and senior-backed than NYC.
✅ Pros
Top-tier compensation package and global brand. The learning velocity in year one is extraordinary.
⚠️ Cons
Extreme gap in sales incentive allocation. Men are routinely credited for group wins.
💡 Advice: Document every individual contribution explicitly. If a deal is partly yours, leadership must know it's yours.