<p>I am a senior chemical engineering major about to graduate with a b.s....(in may). I have two job offers on the table: Operations Analyst for Goldman Sachs (GS), and Field Engineer for Schlumberger (SLB). </p>
<p>Both of these jobs are not the ideal kind that I was hoping to get, but here I stand with these two offers in my hands. They are "second best" in their respective industries, in my opinion. But they are not bad either. They are also very different in nature. I have to make a decision within the next week.</p>
<p>so, pros and cons as i see them:</p>
<p>Schlumberger:
pros:</p>
<ol>
<li>better pay</li>
<li>related to chemical engineering </li>
</ol>
<p>Goldman Sachs:
pros:
1. I get to live in a large city (i actually really like salt lake)
2. big name
3. Potentially good work experience since I'm considering business school (I've heard people say that this is actually not true, please help me understand whether this is right or not)</p>
<p>cons:
1. Long hours
2. position is "lower" tier per se, a back office type job
3. Less pay</p>
<p>These offers have torn me into two equal pieces. Regardless of where I work I only want to stay with the company/firm for 3-4 years. Then I want to go to business school or law school.</p>
<p>Which of these would you recommend? Anyone out there who has worked for either company? Any advice would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>What kind of a vibe did you get at the work sites? I based my decision on which offer to accept on which group of people I would be most comfortable working with day in and day out.</p>
<p>Also regarding pay, make sure that you take into account 401k matching and any potential annual performance bonuses. And then another thing to keep in mind is how strong the company is. I interned for one company that was past its prime and went through successive layoffs and it was not exactly the most exuberant work environment.</p>
<p>I have an engineering background (although my career track is investment banking):</p>
<p>Only take a job at an investment bank if you are offered a front office position, i.e. trading, banking, research, etc.</p>
<p>The field engineer job is a revenue generating job. For the sake of career progression, exit opportunities, and business school…always chose a revenue generating position regardless of company prestige. The job is also…more fun. </p>
<p>SLB for sure. Don’t take a back office job at Goldman. People in the front office for whom you support may not even know your last name.</p>
<p>If you really want to eventually go into finance, do SLB, then do a MBA, and then get a front office role. This path is much more realistic than to move from operations to front office.</p>
<p>I am 100% sure I want to go to business school. Purely from a perspective of someone who’s goal is to go to Bschool, which one should I choose?</p>
<p>I don’t think I would hate either job, I would end up finding them equally enjoyable. When I visited each place, I enjoyed the environment of both equally. The people? I identify myself more closely with the gs employees…</p>
<p>I think the right choice is SLB…i would appreciate as many opinions as I could get, so please add you thoughts no matter how short the responses are.</p>
<p>Thanks to Thanol, DealMaker, and IvyPBear for your input</p>
<p>“I am 100% sure I want to go to business school.”</p>
<p>I think this settles it then. If you are set on business school, definitely take SLB. While I know a lot of engineers who got into top business schools (HBS, Stanford GSB, etc.), I rarely encounter anyone at a top business school who has fulfilled operation roles at banks. Engineering often offer unique advantages over the more traditional business paths (IB, MC, PE, etc.).</p>
<p>Do you know how long employees usually say in either position? At the company I’ll be working at, people generally move roles every 18-24 months. Like if you start at SLB you might not have to stick it out in the sticks for too long.</p>