Again, this review is for State Street’s back office fund accounting and custody positions of which the vast majority are labeled “fund accountant, portfolio accountant, or account controller.” If you have a BA or BS, State Street should be considered as a last resort if you are desperate for a job.
Wait, what about the logic that says State Street looks great on a resume and you need to get experience and then you can get into something better?! Fact is, it is very rare to move from the back office to the front office unless you have something more going for you than just back office experience. (The majority of those who left and landed much higher paying jobs outside of the back office had business/economics/finance degrees, were working towards grad degrees, or showed a rapid promotion pace at State Street coupled with strong analysis, communication, and people skills.) Also, by taking a starting salary of $32K, you are seriously anchoring your salary. State Street back office jobs are the most numerous private sector jobs in Boston so other employers can easily find what you make and many employers already know that the job is just repetitive and tedious data entry done primarily on proprietary State Street systems. State Street’s MCH accounting system is from 1986 and uses green and black colors and you simply memorize data entry sequences that usually utilize combinations of four letter codes, F10, and enter. In a given morning you will be processing hundreds if not thousands of these data entry sequences. In the afternoons you will spend most of your time checking numbers to make sure they match up. You will also use Excel 2003 for data entry. You will also use Excel for sorting data and pivot tables. Many workers listen to music through headphones during the day so that tells you quite a bit about the nature of the work.
Managers say learning about the business and helping others are the two real keys to advancing and generally I agree. However, what that means is that the people who can enter data and run the ten keys the fastest are then able to help others out. I don’t care what your abilities and strengths are; if you are not one of the fastest in your group on the ten key and on the keyboard you most likely will never get promoted.
Another point that can’t be overemphasized is how little State Street cares about its workers. You are just a number. I was interviewed with a group and then just asked a few general questions by two managers and hired the next week. Your performance reviews consist of managers filling out checklists saying you meet goals 99% of the time or more and you will get four to five short sentences a year of general feedback. The next year managers may change one sentence or two and give you your updated review. Only managers and above get flat panel monitors so you will spend time squinting and straining your eyes on old school monitors from the 1990s. As the economy grows turnover is once again returning to its high pace. State Street does not even care about an exit interview when you resign, they just send you a survey email.
If you are in a group that has a lot of people leave, (which is very common), you may be able to advance to a senior and manager in a short time, but you will still be making less than many newly minted college grads. Starting pay is $32K while seniors make $36K and both roles are eligible for OT. However, it is very common for groups to say you are not allowed to bill for OT so you end up working all through lunch without pay. It was very common for my group to eat in about ten minutes at our desks while managers said make sure you are not billing OT for when you are eating at your desk. Managers start at $45K on salary while Officers start at $53K on salary. Again, not a lot of money when you consider the 2.5-3.5 years to make manager and the 5 years plus (if you advance really fast), to make officer.
A key factor about State Street is shown by their response to high turnover rates. See the Boston Business Journal 9/8/2008 for an article about State Street and the Year Up Program in which State Street trains and hires current community college students who are working towards their associate degrees. If you have a bachelor’s degree why would you want the same job for the same pay?! In fact, you will even find just high school grads on the floor as well.
Also, many workers at State Street lack basic written English skills. The emails sent are downright embarrassing and it is obvious these folks could not get hired at any other company. I understand that English is your second language but you need to take classes and improve it to grow your career. Client communications were often downright embarrassing and this is the image that State Street projects.
Your opinion does not matter. Your suggestions do not matter. All managers care about is that you make deadlines with no mistakes. Our workloads were consistently increased and when deadlines were repeatedly missed by the group, management simply said no excuses. We often had meetings every few weeks when things were not going well and it was just an opportunity for managers to put on shows to the officers and AVPs. State Street’s corporate culture does a great job of “pitting” managers against the “problems” within their groups. It was not uncommon to see managers outright lie and blame others whenever an Officer, AVP, or SVP was upset with a mistake that was made.
At the end of the day, most of competent people do not stay very long at State Street and they go on to much more lucrative and rewarding careers while the weaker workers stay. The key is to have a plan and understand your role at State Street in the broader context. Despite the nature of the work, it is very high risk and if you can talk about responsibility and how you fit in the asset management, accounting/custody, and client service picture you will be on your way. Remember, nobody outside of State Street cares that you know 129 MCH functions!
Now, I highly recommend that you do a little research on your own. Go the Lafayette Corporate Center (across from the Paramount Theater) and observe the three revolving doors at the State Street sign. How are workers dressed? How do they present themselves? Next, leave the LCC and walk over to Boston’s financial district and observe workers there and compare and contrast. You will see where you want to be in financial services.
If you are considering State Street use it as a last resort and have a plan. If you currently work there start exploring other options right now and have a clear exit plan. I can’t overemphasize how easy it is to get pigeon-holed and stuck in back office operations if you do not have a clear and quick exit plan.
