bchadwick Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Operations is a broad term. My firm is very small > and so we all wear lots of hats, and I > occasionally (more occasionally, recently) have to > get involved in ops stuff. The CFA comes in handy > primarily for the portfolio accounting piece. I’m > sure regular accountants also know this, but I > wouldn’t have learned it anywhere else (time vs > money weighted returns, performance attribution, > etc.). I find myself doing three things 1) > prototyping stuff for the other ops people to use > more regularly, 2) thinking ahead in data > management to figure out what kind of stuff we > need to be tracking now so that it is there when > we need it, and 3) teaching other ops staff how > and why we need to do things a particular way. > > I actually don’t mind it so much, since a fair > amount of it plays to the puzzle-solver in me, but > it’s clear that my efforts are best spent > elsewhere whenever possible. > > Also, Goldman is a big firm that presumably has a > lot of this stuff worked out already, so I suspect > ops is more about 1) data entry kinds of things, > 2) running ad-hoc analyses from middle and front > office types, and possibly 3) adding functionality > to the automated back office systems. > > As for whether you should do it, I guess it > depends. If you are going to Utah for a job, it > may be difficult to get out and go front office > anywhere else, because you will have geography > working against you. On the other hand, an > advantage might be that Mormons tend to be very > physically attractive; it’s the bit about since > one is made in God’s image, part of being holy is > to make sure that that image looks good. True, > you can’t drink, but since you don’t need beer > goggles, does it even matter? Mormon chicks are hot. Period. Thanks for the run down on ops. Really, from an accounting perspective, a Controller’s role is becoming more Ops oriented every year from what I understand. The whole path of Controller —> CFO might start to become Controller —> COO. I guess they make Ops sounds pretty cool here: http://www2.goldmansachs.com/careers/our-firm/divisions/operations/how-were-organized/derivatives-operations.html
And you’re right SuperiorReturn, When you come from a non, non-target school, GS is a damn good name to have on the 'ol CV. Regardless of BO or FO. Thanks for the advice and comments everyone. I’ll post with an update after the interview.