Mizuki Associate, Equities Controllers Finance division, Tokyo

Everyone was so willing to share their own expertise to help others achieve the best outcome. This made me eager to contribute to the team through whatever advantages I had.

My Work

I work in the Finance division in Tokyo as an equity product controller focusing mainly on the Japan volatility desk. I am responsible for the correct reporting of Profits and Losses (P&L) as well as reviewing valuations of our products.

All of our tasks are based on what transpires in the markets and what is happening on the trading desk as a result. Our business is completely connected to what you see going on each day in the news. After two years of working at the firm, I have come to know a great deal about the economy and can now often foresee what news will affect my work and how it will affect it each day.

My work is both individual and collaborative. Everyone has their own task and desk to focus on, however we must work as a team to consolidate individual P&L and report them for the Tokyo office or Pan Asia team. I have colleagues in all of the Asia offices and the key to working with them smoothly is communication. At times it can be difficult to work through the time differences, language barriers and differing backgrounds but it is important that we come together so that we can share our various theories. At first, dealing with the differences was a bit overwhelming but now they are an aspect of the job that I enjoy.

On a daily basis I work to report the previous day’s P&L. I have to check to see if there are any booking issues and must ensure that all the valuation is done correctly. As far as weekly and monthly assignments, I sign off on periodical P&L, work on price verification comparing our prices to market indicators and make commentaries for periodical P&L based on market movement. My work requires that I am constantly multi-tasking, especially the week after the month-end when we have a heavy workload.

In order to complete all of my tasks I often need to contact different people throughout the firm. I am also constantly communicating with my team members each day. We always support each other if someone needs help meeting a certain deadline or if issues arise. It is important that we are all flexible.

Finally, I make sure I learn about the different system flows and products. Since efficiency is crucial, I have to set priorities on what I need to concentrate on learning and determine the best way for me to acquire that new information, whether it’s by asking questions of those who specialize in a certain area or obtaining the proper course materials provided by Goldman Sachs University.

Before ending up in finance I explored many different industries and careers and attended various recruiting events. I had a very vague idea of what I wanted for my future except I knew that I wanted to work in a global environment. At one recruitment event, I learned about Goldman Sachs and was impressed not only by the quality of the people that I met, but how highly they spoke about their careers. I came to learn more about the work that Goldman Sachs does and the finance industry and decided that the firm would provide me with the optimum career environment.

After joining Goldman Sachs, I was surprised to learn how much everyone genuinely enjoyed their work. Also, everyone was so willing to share their own expertise to help others achieve the best outcome. This made me eager to contribute to the team through whatever advantages I had.

At my university I majored in architecture and therefore had no deep knowledge of economics. I never imagined I’d one day have a career in the financial industry and it wasn’t a path I’d considered until I learned about Goldman Sachs.

The great thing about finance is there are so many different areas to explore. I would suggest to anyone entering the job market for the first time or looking to follow a new path that you look at things from your own perspective. Decide for yourself which area you want to work in or where you want to build your career and then pursue that course.