<p>People are telling me going to UMD will "only" get me "Back Office Positions" like IT and Operations. I don't aspire to be an Investment Banker or anything, but I was wondering what the people in Back Office Positions do? Obviously IT is self explanatory but what about Operations?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I believe that back office is mainly a term used in the banking industry. Essentially, it is a part of the corporation that keeps the company running. Back office positions don’t partake in the actually business of the firm, but they provide support to those that do, and/or overall support to keep the firm running. Back office roles aren’t client facing.</p>
<p>If you worked in IT for a large retailer, you could install a new IT system that saves the company millions of dollars a year. Thus your impact could be quite large. However, that is still in support of the company itself. The retailer isn’t in the business of creating IT solutions. It is in the business of selling goods. The front office would be the salesman at the store.</p>
<p>Back office positions are probably looked down upon at places like Investment banks where the bankers have great $ upside. IT would obviously be looked upon favorably at a technology firm like an IT consulting firm. There, one could ascend all the way to CEO from IT. However, at a retailer, it is likely your upside would be limited to reaching the CIO (chief information officer) position.</p>
<p>Thanks. I’m majoring in either Business or Economics so IT isn’t an option, and I don’t plan to go into Investment Banking. I was just interested in what the Operations people do at these banks. Does “support” essentially mean grunt work? (Like do they do all the research and stuff)</p>
<p>When you say you are majoring in business, do you have idea what path you are taking? Operations is a specific field. Depending on what path you take, you are not limmited to operations just because you are going to UMD. (By the way - which UMD - Maryland or Minnesota?)</p>
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<p>UMD as in University of Maryland - College Park.</p>
<p>Well I’d prefer to major in Economics, but people have suggested I major in Business if I want a job at Graduation, so I’m applying to the Smith School of Business. This is highly tentative but I might go into Finance or just do “General Business” and double major in Economics.</p>
<p>Someone I know said that UMD places into “Back Office Positions” at places like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs. I was just wondering what they do in Operations (which apparently is a Back Office Position).</p>
<p>I don’t know exactly what they do at banks, but operations is about making improvements to business processes to save money. A bank could have a variety of operational projects going one at one time. Six Sigma (an operational strategy) is very prevalent at Bank of America.</p>
<p>For more information about operations:</p>
<p>[Operations</a> management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_management]Operations”>Operations management - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>For information about Six Sigma (which may give you a better understanding of operations):</p>
<p>[Six</a> Sigma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma]Six”>Six Sigma - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>back office is relevant in all industries not just banking. “back office” is all the administrative activity that happens in the background. The stores for a retail company or the manufacturing plants for a manufacturing company are the visible part of the company that everyone thinks about … however in the “back office” is all the other stuff needed to make the company go … accounting, finance, IT, inventory management, HR, etc. Overly simplisitc but most desk jobs at headquarters would be considered “back office” jobs.</p>
<p>Cool. I mean, that’s sounds really important…why are they looked down in places like Goldman Sachs (are they?). I mean, the friend sounded as if UMD placing people into Operations was a bad thing.</p>
<p>Thanks Vector Wega, that sounds like something I’d like to do/be good at. Wow, I had no idea Six Sigma was a Motorola thing. I thought it was invented by Welch. Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>Back office people keep the firm running. They are accountants, HR people, MIS folks and so on. They make very good livings relative to people doing these jobs in other places on the whole and have much better lifestyles than ‘front office’ people.</p>
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<p>Thanks hmom5. What do the people in Operations (at these Financial firms) do? Like do they do all the grunt work for a deal or something? I’m more of a behind the scenes guy, so something on these lines is really appealing for me.</p>
<p>No, they are not involved in deals at all, that’s what we have analysts for–the grunt work. All of us front line people did our share. Operations/back office people are concerned with the bank as a corporation. They do the same functions they would do at a widget company.</p>
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<p>Oh</p>
<p>“They do the same functions they would do at a widget company.”</p>
<p>Which is…? :o</p>
<p>They keep things running smoothly. It’s not as prestigious, doesn’t have the same exit opportunities, and you won’t make the same industry connections. However, you get paid pretty well compared to the avereage American and might actually like the work more depending on your personality.</p>
<p>Thanks Venkat. How do they keep things running smoothly 
I understand that they don’t have anything to do with deals (thanks hmom 
), but what specifically are their functions?</p>
<p>I’m not concerned about prestige. Also, would Business School still be an option if you do well in Operations?</p>
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<p>The front office guys at Goldman make tons of money. At a retailer, a backoffice guy may make multiple times what the front office guys make and thus look down upon them. Given that it is a financial firm, there are more opportunities for those in finance roles. At a technology company, there would be more opportunities for someone in technology than in finance. That being said, even a bank can be very operationally focussed (like Bank of America).</p>
<p>As for actual positions, that is really tough to say. A company could have tens of thousands of back office workers who are doing a wide variety of tasks.</p>
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<p>If you want to do operations, there is nothing wrong with it. However, understand that it may receive more respect at some companies than others. Strategy consulting is largely about process improvement and thus operations is very important at companies like BCG, McKinsey, and Bain. There are plenty of MBA students coming from financial firms like Goldman that would love to get a job at one of those companies.</p>
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<p>Thanks! It’s funny you should mention strategy/management consulting. I’ve been reading up on it and it sounds really interesting, but it’s probably nearly impossible to get a job at those places after undergrad.</p>
<p>^It’s tough working for a name brand consulting place out of Maryland. Really your best bets are working at a Big 4 accounting firm or a backoffice position at a bank (assuming they leave the NYC area to recruit). Nothing wrong with that. They are good jobs and pay well. I feel like defense contractors also hire out of Maryland due to proximity. You might be better off with an engineering degree when applying to them, but they could be another place to look.</p>
<p>^ Not a big fan of Sciences actually. I think I’ll stick with Smith (Business) or Econ.</p>
<p>I know it’s near impossible working for a near brand consulting out of Smith. I’m considering working in a back office position for a few years and getting a MBA. Is that possible or do MBA Admissions Officers also look down on back office positions from financials?</p>
<p>If you do well at your job and can get amazing recomendations from your bosses then you <em>should</em> be competitive for a good MBA program. You also don’t know where you’ll be 4 years from now, let alone 8 when you’re actually looking at MBA programs, so I wouldnt want to comment on your MBA aspirations just yet.</p>
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<p>Haha, ya I guess there are too many variables to make a prediction. So for MBA admissions, it’s not the job as much as what you do with the job, right?</p>