I work in operations closely with one of our legal departments. I make less than 45k a year. Debating whether or not to go back to school and use Mellons tuition assistance to be more marketable. As someone not very familiar with other areas of the bank, can anyone share some of the positions that will make good money? My role at another firm would surely pay more than the pittance I receive. However, I’m not sure if those firms would pay for schooling. Do you have to be in a client facing or manger role to make that much?
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@Gtyi, nobody claimed we're a fintech company. Try to follow along.
And why would we want to limit ourselves to providing services to kids with manbuns?
Agreed, nobody would ever argue that we’re techie.
No idea what a Fintech is? We aren’t a Fintech simply because you carry your personal smartphone with you into your Operations job. The best way to learn is to watch as we sell off lines of businesses to Fintechs who have kept current with technology and have lower operating expenses from a low cost of Operations staff.
Not every company spends BILLIONS of dollars a year on technology like BK does. You can argue that we're sleepy, but you can't argue that we're techy.
Every company is a tech company, some more than others, some less than others. We’re a sleepy Custody bank, bringing up the rear behind the Fintechs, the giant retail banks, the Investment banks and the caboose of Custody… the ledger transactions. On the bright side we’ve heard of blockchain but are scared silly to do it.
A more accurate description: technology-enabled services (yawn)
@Fesb, you're wrong. The product our company sells is the services of our computer systems. You can change the discussion from a technology company to a fintech company which for some reason has more to do with consumers and smart phones now, but the fact is still, we ARE a technology company.
Every company is a tech company to a degree. We're far from being a FinTech if that helps.
Concentrate and ask again
I was making 35k for two years.. decided to start applying elsewhere and now make 95k base + 20-30k bonus from two years at BNY and the experience on my resume. Leave the company if you actually want to make money.
Sr auditor - j level (vp) - 105k including bonus.
Legal compliance VP role only making between 70-75
@6cnl, the digital team doesn't have much to do with our hundreds of applications. We sell the service of those applications.
We’re not a tech company by any stretch of the imagination. If you doubt this you should FAX the Digital Team and ask for their achievements over the past 4 years.
Mellon does exist today as one of our boutiques
Thank you for a truly well thought out post. It should be required reading!
Start learning SQL, even in operations you may be able to find a role that pays better with just making automations or queries for reports.
I should point out that you'd have to leave the bank to make good money if you go into the ethical hack field.
And you could also look at some of the cloud tutorials to see if computers are for you. Learning the syntax of a language is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to programming. I just wish our offshore programmers knew at least a little bit about design patterns instead of just how to code an if statement. They're a little better about knowing how to spin up BXP containers but they're still no cloud experts.
Programming is one of the easiest things to outsource. And you won't land any high paying job for just knowing a little code syntax. If you think you might be interested, search youtube for "solid IAmTimCorey" and see if you can follow along. If not, coding isn't for you unless you're in India.
Most tech/computer jobs aren't programming though. You can make well into six figures just using tools and creating ethical hack reports. It sounds really scary to be into computer security but jobs like that are way less complicated than creating good software.
@1usa I’m only referring to US pay scales. Non-US delivery centers are definitely on a different scale.
@uuo+1grms2X2 - are you saying PGH and Oriskany are at a lower pay scale than Wrocław, Pune, Chennai?!
Learn to program. You don't need to go back to school. You can learn on your own but it might be tough. Some people can do it but it's not the easiest path.
If you choose this route, I'd recommend AlgoExpert.io and FreeCodeCamp (especially their YouTube videos).
As an alternative, go to a very reputable bootcamp. This is highly important and you must do your own research.
After that you can work full time remote for a ton of companies. Including silicon valley startups that easily pay over 100k even for a Jr. Engineer.
They don't care about 4 year degrees anymore and there's a desperate shortage of good engineers.
the horizontal one with your manager
@uuo, we're not a tech company??? What do you think we sell?
"Technology is something that you really have to have an innate ability in to do well. "
And if you have ANY ability you probably wouldn't apply at BNYM
Read and understand risk management policies: Operational Risk, RCSA, Ops Risk Event Reporting, Key Risk Indicators and start networking with the control functions within your business - typically under CAO functions for stretch assignments. Move from operations to an in business risk role or a second line operational risk role. Once there, spend 2-3 years and then depart bank for >$100k. Do not go back to school, all the information you need is within the bank + networking.
Based on your statements that you work in Ops and you called the company "Mellon" I am assuming you work in our Pittsburgh office. I have a bunch of info I think will be helpful to you and others when mapping out a career here. But it will be long so I'll apologize now for the wall of text. I hope it helps!
When determining salary, bonus, etc. the firm buckets all locations into 5 tranches based on cost of living, with Tier 5 being the most expensive (Manhattan, Menlo Park, San Francisco, Jersey City), and Tier 1 being the cheapest (Pittsburgh, Oriskany, Lake Mary, etc) and many cities in between. The same role will pay differently in another city, but you'll see that often the support work (ops, tech, compliance, controls, client services, HR, etc) is located in the tier 1 and 2 cities and are roles which typically pay poorly, and the revenue generating roles (relationship management, product, trading, investment roles, etc) are located in the tier 5 and 4 cities and are roles that pay well. I think this is important background to understand when looking at pay and function; a front office role will almost always pay more than a non-revenue generating or back office role, and the two types of roles are not evenly distributed across all of BNY's locations.
As for which positions make more than $100k: every LOB and corporate function has employees making this much, but some are much easier than others. I will bucket roles into four groups:
- Operations: You will never make $100k without moving into either a transformation/project management role, or ops management. Even then, the road to $100k is long and you probably won't get beyond that until you're an MD managing hundreds of people. I know of an ops processing MD who managed all of the North American employees for securities operations that made about $160k, and there's only one person that gets that role. Getting there would take a lot of luck and years of dedication.
- Technology: Easier to get to $100k but you need to have a specific tech-based skillset such as application development, coding, agile, etc. If you have or can get experience, you can start in Pittsburgh around $75k and relatively quickly get above $100k. Given that we aren't actually a tech company however, and thus our technology group doesn't drive the revenue, don't expect the $400k+ pay packages found at places like Aurora, Google, etc.
- Support functions that aren't Operations: As you get closer to the LOBs, but still in corporate functions (things like compliance, risk, controls, communciations, governance, legal, client services, etc.) you will find that there are very few roles below VP, but most roles K and above should get $100k or a little more "all in" (with bonus). The people at the top of these orgs will make a $200k+ all in. Limited growth compared to the next grouping, but if $100k is your goal, this could be a good option.
- Front office/revenue generating: These roles are either within LOBs (Asset Servicing, Market, Corporate Trust, Treasury Services, Markets, one of the Investment Management boutiques, etc.) or in select non-LOB groups (GCM or "Global Client Management," Corporate Strategy, Trading) where pay is largely dictated by function or bespoke expertise. These roles include relationship management, market strategy, investment strategy, sales, trading, investment management front office, wealth management front office, etc. These roles can pay $100k all in or more even to analysts, depending on the team and function. These compensation for these roles are often structured heavily around incentives such as sales goals, revenue of the product you manage, or success of a project your strategy team is advising on. The sky is the limit with pay for some of these roles.
For Pittsburgh, the first three groups have lots of open roles. There are occasionally roles in the last grouping, but the experience generally required for them can't be found in most of the supporting functions. Knowing the bank's technology architecture inside and out or how to streamline processes in operations will generally not help bridge the knowledge gaps needed to manage a portfolio or be a client executive, but that's totally okay. You will find that those with specific skillsets in necessary functions at the Bank will make $100k+. If you have the opportunity, the path is shorter and easier in the front office roles, but pretty much anything outside of operations processing should put you on that path. Unfortunately, as I mentioned at the top, the distribution of roles is not equal among offices. Management roles in any of the groups, as well as nearly all front office roles are found in places like KYC, London, Boston, and Pittsburgh generally does not have those roles present. Even in a support role such as a compliance officer- which can make $100k- you may find that the bank really wants that role in New York, close to where we meet with regulators, or in close proximity to those who sit in roles within our businesses.
Regarding schooling: I agree with what others say here. Assuming you aren't talking about getting a History PhD and becoming a professor, a graduate degree such as an MBA will will only make a difference for your career and earning potential if you quit working here and go to a full-time program, and even then, I would suggest that the MBA is only worth the money if the school is within the top 25-ish programs in the US. This includes Carnegie Mellon, but does not include places like Pitt, RMU, or Point Park. There are certainly success stories that buck this advice, but the overwhelming value prop of an MBA is to go into a top program FULL TIME, and take advantage of the networking opportunities and standardized internship and hiring cycles that companies engage in with those top schools. Almost every graduate from top programs can graduate with a role $100k+ if they want, but those at lower tier programs or part-time students miss out on that standardized recruitment. If it's a personal goal to go back to school, BNY pays I think $5000k per semester. I'd say its only worth it if you can get a scholarship and pay nothing out-of-pocket, unless you're an applicant for a top program.
Regarding another firm paying you more: I don't know what you do, but if it is clerical operations work, I doubt you'll easily walk into another job that will pay you a lot more than what you make now. If you've got a good academic resume and interview well, maybe you could party your operations knowledge into consulting role and those would pay a lot better, but I can't think off the top of my head another role where you could double your salary with your current experience. However, that isn't to say that if you took a role at another company that was similar in pay, that you couldn't progress up and hit your financial goals. You can do that here, too, but it will be hard in Operations, and that skillset will only work to isolate you further from other types of roles as time goes on. When you're early in your career, its a lot easier to make a lateral move, either internal or elsewhere. If you are doing ops processing work, and you know already that it isn't for you, it might be the right time to start looking at BNY or elsewhere for another role.
Ops in general pays a lackluster salary. Both sad and angering to see the MD's managing these areas making as much in bonus as the analysts make in salary.
I wouldn’t recommend Mellon’s Tuition Assistance. Mellon hasn’t even existed for 15 years.
Operations is not a good background. It doesn’t even require a degree and you will be pegged as clerical. But with the restructuring of Tech & Ops into global technology and operations you can try to move into technology related jobs. If you’re a self starter and comfortable with technology you can really move up the salary scale. Technology is something that you really have to have an innate ability in to do well. I’ve hired people without degrees based upon what they were able to demonstrate and discuss in interviews and all went far.
Unless you have a strong desire to return to academia (which I totally get), or plan to attend a top graduate program you may want to reconsider. Graduate school for those in business is mostly about connections - so best to attend a school with a strong reputation and Alumni base. It won't impact your salary at BNYM - don't let that be a motivating force.
look for another internal job with a higher job level.
operations management will drain everything out of you while paying you diddly squat
getting a masters wont bump up your pay that much or even immediately and BNY surely wont cover entire tuition so you better really want to do it. you should apply for an entry level analyst program positions i think they start at like 75-80k after college. if you have interest in learning to code that's prob the most in demand job right now. im sure you can just leave and start an entry level position elsewhere and make way more than 45k. good luck