Operations: why

Hi all,

I am not an expert and all my questions may sound silly, but I have learned that the sillier the question, the more answers it gets, so I am hoping for many answers.

I am starting to speak with people working for investment banks, and some of them are in Operations. Now, I would be too embarassed to ask them, but, to be blunt: what is the point of working in that department? *From what I can read online here and there* it looks like a glorified administration department. And I wouldn't want to work my butt off only to end up in an admin position, no matter how prestigious the firm.

Did I miss something? Are there exciting aspects of the job or maybe career prospects (maybe it's just a springboard people use to get to move internally or externally?) that I haven't noticed?

Final disclaimer: I don't mean to troll, I really have no clue and could use some feedback.

I'm by no means an expert, but I think you're rather mistaken. "Operations" is a hugely vague term and you'll find a wide variety of roles falling in to that bracket. So for a start, it's very difficult to treat it as one thing.

Secondly, no bank would work without the Ops people, so don't write it off as admin.

Thirdly, all the same challenges apply past a certain grade regardless of where you are really. Once you get senior, you manage people.

They get generously compensated for their work.

Ops is the backbone to a IB

Someone has to....

I get it's an important role, and generously compensated, but why would you work your butt off studying Finance if then you're going to be a backbone who makes sure payments are settled etcetera.

Maybe the person in question didn't make it to Front Office, or they just enjoy the position and they're suited for the role. Not everyone wants to work 16 hours a day in Front Office IBD.

Also some markets facing ops roles can lead to front office positions. Eg can help non targets get into s&t.


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Maybe the person in question didn't make it to Front Office, or they just enjoy the position and they're suited for the role. Not everyone wants to work 16 hours a day in Front Office IBD.

Not too sure what you think is special about a Finance/Business degree - doing one isn't going to make it more likely you end up in FO. Banks/firms are generally much more interested in traditional (quantitative) degrees.

This is a valid point, I didn't think there was much of a difference.



Never said it's special, just that it is quite unrelated to the job.

Isn't every degree pretty unrelated from Operations?

Kids that glorify front office when they get there reality hits them all too fast.