Goldman Sachs degree apprenticeship

[DaisyBuchanansmaryjaneshoes]

Does anyone have experience of the degree apprenticeship at Goldman Sachs? DD is considering applying, she is predicted A*AA in her A level. She is certain that banking is the career for her, she has done the summer school internships with JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.

Have any DD/DS's applied?

Not specifically Goldman Sachs but a Degree Apprenticeship in banking will get her off to a very good start and open up a number of opportunities. There are a number of banking specific examinations which will be of help going forward that she would probably consider after her degree anyway, depending which area of banking particularly interests her. If she has the right brain, treasury can be a good area to get into.

I would encourage her to look at threads on The Student Room that focused on last year's application cycle. Obviously details and timings can change but my DC found these useful (L7 programmes but not banking in their case).

Thank you both, well done to your DC @PerpetualOptimist .

My dn is coming through a similar older scheme at goldman sachs that he started at 19 after working for a year as an exec assistant. He’s 25, no debt, 100k+ salary now (he was promoted twice immediately after graduating), and 50k in savings. But it is high pressure, high academic expectations, and they do lock you down so she needs to be 100% certain goldman sachs is for her.

There is also a culture of grad trainees looking down on apprentices and in some cases even when they may be doing the same work the grad will be supervising it. It can be frustrating.

Thanks for your reply @Ozanj, that is very helpful information.. How long do you have to commit to Goldman after your degree? I did wonder about the culture especially since they usually only recruit from a few universities.

Your DN is in a position very few 25 year olds are there days. He has obviously done exceptionally well there.

Goldmans on your CV is like a golden ticket even now. They will take you for every hour of your day but you’ll be handsomely rewarded. DH did 8 years there. Started on 50k plus about bonus of about £25k. Left on £150k basic and 100% bonus and that was IT not even banking.

God, can you imagine some of the bellends working there?

I’m not sure about the new program but DN had to sign a contract to say if he left before graduating he had to pay back a portion of the costs. But after graduation the only commitment was that he had to stay in his business line for a year. DN was very motivated tho & loves GS & they clearly love him. The potential there is limitless if your face fits.

I remember reading a book about working for Lehman Brothers before the collapse.

Finished it by wondering what was the point? They were earning oodles of cash but without a spare second to ever enjoy it and under constant stress.

Most people I know who have done this invest wisely and are retired at 45 and enjoying life with their kids.

Most in the book ended up divorced.

My brother did both! Retired at 45 and now enjoying life with his new wife's kids 🤷🏻‍♀️

I do find it interesting that the careers for DC that seem to be discussed most on Mumsnet - at least on the sections I look at - seem to be law (especially so-called ‘Magic Circle’ firms), banking/City finance and the ‘Big Four’.

All choices that deliver very conservative notions of ‘success’.

I think this would be well worth doing if she is happy with the terms and conditions. It is very full on but very interesting and potential to earn a lot and you can just do it for 5 years or so and move to something different if it becomes incompatible with work life balance which is likely. When I worked in banking I was approached for both other banking jobs and jobs in other sectors like overseas economic development which are very hard to get into straight out of university. Don't know about divorce rate, lots of men having affairs but still married and think a lot of wives were only with them for the money, some even lived in different countries. You do need to be fairly thick skinned or to acquire a thick skin and stand up for yourself unless it's improved.

Had a quick google and it looks like she would do an apprenticeship at GS alongside studying for a (very specific) degree. Then post degree there is “potential” for a job offer.

I would be cautious about several things:

1. Juniors in banks work notoriously horrific hours. Will she actually have time to complete a degree alongside whatever GS throw at her? Will she be ok with having (I suspect) zero time for social life/love life? She should ask to speak to some former apprentices ideally. Or try to find some on student chatrooms,.

2. The degree she would be working towards, is it actually the degree she wants? As the “potential” GS job offer may or may not pan out - she doesn’t want to get stuck with a degree in something quite niche that she didn’t want otherwise.

3. If she gets offered the job at the end, is she under an obligation to take it? (I expect not but one to check). As many people find the world of big investment banks is not for them once they’ve had a taste. The hours and culture can be very off putting.

4. as a previous poster hinted, are degree apprentices seen as equal to grad recruits? Bearing in mind many of the grad recruits will be Oxbridge, Ivy League, etc and have lots of scarily impressive stuff on their CV - I can imagine there may be some snootiness, sadly.

5. There are very very very few senior female bankers. Just saying.