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Operations analyst: Vishna

This Case Study belongs to Operational investment banker.

Vishna graduated with a BSc in Management.

I am a 3rd year analyst in the operations division at Goldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. Being an operations analyst my role sits at the core of the Goldman Sachs’ organisational structure. For every trade agreed, every transaction completed and each pioneering product launched or market entered, it is operations that enables business to flow and facilitates turning business ideas into reality. I am part of the securities operations team, and our role is to develop more efficient processes and controls, and to help specify and create the systems that deliver accuracy, timeliness and integrity to our clients.

I had researched numerous possible career paths in the financial sector before and during my first year at university. After on campus presentations and recommendations from friends and family, I gained a deeper insight and interest in the operations role . I therefore chose to undertake a summer internship in operations which served to highlight to me that my skill set and analytical nature was exactly suited to a career in operations post-graduation.

I chose to do my summer internship at Goldman Sachs because I was attracted to it being the leader in its field. After my positive experience over the summer and the great fit between the firm’s culture and my personality, I got my offer to join the Goldman Sachs’ graduate programme after successfully completing my ten-week summer internship, without having to complete any further applications.

My management degree was not directly relevant to my day-to-day role when I first started, but it has offered a good foundation for understanding the complex services offered by an investment bank. It has also helped me to develop the skills needed to perform well within my role.

Upon first joining the trading operations team at Goldman Sachs I began training on completing ‘breaksheets’ – front to back end reconciliations of traders’ positions to ensure their risk was being managed effectively. As my basic knowledge of the flows and products increased, my role developed into actively seeking and eliminating areas of exposure and sources of inefficiencies within our trade processes. More recently, I have moved to sit on the trading floor in order to build out a new securities operations middle office.

A typical day will begin by investigating and analysing breaks for a particular trading desk. I will then work with traders and other operational teams to get it resolved. The working day is very fast-paced, with additional responsibilities including assisting traders and other operations groups with booking issues and trading queries as well as sending out reports to senior managers across the firm.

I love the fast-paced working environment and the excitement of facilitating new areas of the business within the firm. There is a great sense of teamwork which helps to make the challenging workloads manageable. The less favourable part of my job is the long working hours.

My career aspiration is to progress within the company, actively seeking new responsibilities and challenges. I also hope to progress to a technical specialist role and associate level within operations. Due to the ever-changing business environment there are always new positions available throughout the firm which are internally promoted. I have been fortunate that with the new development of my middle office role I was able to transition into effectively a completely new job yet remain in the same team.

If you are looking for a graduate position in operations I would highly recommend applying for a summer internship. Also, develop your core skills, including communication, teamwork and problem-solving. Finally, gain a good understanding of global markets and the workings of an investment bank. This will help you better understand trade flows and how operations can add value.

Case Study sourced by Myrto Kalle of London School of Economics and Political Science, 27 May 2008.