Ashley

I sit on the assessment strategy team, so I’m focused on uplifting our Firmwide Risk and Control Self-Assessment. Our north star is process improvement; we provide tools that allow our people to rate how effective their controls are – and, based on this input,  assess the risk within their space. By doing so, we drive business decisions and  uplift controls to mitigate risk. Every day, we help the firm run more effectively and efficiently.

I’ve spent my entire career with Goldman Sachs. I first interned as a Summer Analyst in the operational risk department within Risk and joined full-time after college. During my internship, I learned about project management, how to deliver projects on a condensed timeline, and how to tap into people with different areas of expertise to find solutions. In CF&O, you have the unique ability to see across many divisions.

The firm exceeded my expectations. One of the things I came to enjoy most about Goldman Sachs is how connected you are with global colleagues. From my very first day with the firm, I found myself collaborating across regions and partnering with colleagues in India and London. Because of the firm’s catch-up culture and open-door policies, you’re given the opportunity to work with people at all seniority levels and can lean on them for subject matter expertise. At Goldman Sachs, it was important, especially early in my career, to grow my network and continue to learn.

I have a liberal arts background. At the University of Michigan, I majored in economics and minored in writing. I thought I would need a business background to work at the firm, but like Risk, these subjects are an interesting combination of both qualitative and quantitative work. My writing background was valuable to me because analysis is a useful skill, but, in my work in operational risk, I need to be able to articulate that analysis.

Diverse backgrounds make the Risk team successful. Odds are your coursework might not relate to your career, but the mindset that you have from school—asking questions and staying curious—will help you. Every day, my peers and colleagues who came from different backgrounds teach me something new.