Goldman Sachs Interview - Who's Been Through It for Internships?

Grueling. So bad that I slept through take off after the interview.

First day is all fit. Then superday for me was 4 or 5 back to back interviews on Broad Street. Fairly technical, but nothing ridiculously hard. Seemed to have a strong focus on 'Why Goldman?' and some simple accounting, linking the statements etc. They got back to me right away with an offer. I interviewed with people from various groups and mostly were 2-1.

Only had a final round interview. Had a few technical questions regarding bond prices, yields, etc. Had interviews from 9am to 4pm straight(except a 1 hour lunch with the analysts.) Got back to me the next morning.

Why does it have a reputation to be such an intense interview......

I don't understand that part.

Tell any one that you got an interview with Citigroup or JPM and everyone gives an amazed look. However, tell anyone that you got an interview from GS and everyone's eyes are wide open.......

The most intense interviews I had were for:

CS San Francisco Tech M&A - Random brain teaser and logic based finance questions Blackstone M&A - Very strong technical and previous deal knowledge from my summer. UBS LA - Complicated accounting and no help from interviewer Greenhill - Just Technical in general

Most boutiques in general I found to be more intense than BB. For some reason the GS interview I had was fairly straight forward - very similar to the Vault Finance Guide.

I interviewed for FT analyst and it was not bad. First round was mostly fit and going over my resume with an Associate and HR girl. Second round was four 2 on 1 interviews in succession. It was all associates and one partner. Some technical questions, a lot of fit questions. It seemed like they were evaluating my mannerisms and personality as much as anything else. The PMD asked some very tough modeling questions and "what do you do in your free time?" That's always fun. Got the verdict about 2-3 weeks later because it was an accelerated interview.

1st round was the usual background, valuation, and I got case study like questions. super day was more technical, but based more on my summer experience. Overall, not too grueling.

Many of you said you met with 4 different groups for 2 on 1 interviews throughout the day.... How do these interviews differ? Like if you are applying for Asset Management, will one of the interview be with 2 people from the investment banking department to test you on your knowledge on i-banking and M & A, and then another from Sales & Trading to test you on your current market knowledge, etc?

For summer analyst spot in Europe, not London:

-Two rounds of phone interviews 1) two MDs from Europe asking fit questions...really encouraging me, but also intense on the "why goldman". grilled EVERYTHING on my resume. spoke both languages to me that i had put on my resume as proficient...be prepared 2) Associate from the office, general technical, accounting type questions. know it.

-Four rounds in the NY office 1) Met with VPS, and analysts who used to work in the country office where i was interviewing. got lambasted by a VP with this crazy consulting type problem involving cash flows of a hypothetical company...was intense. lots of technicals from analyst. also had a video interview with the european office.

-On-site, 7 round interview in Europe with written english and math exams 1) insane. 2) made me go in RIGHT after my transatlantic flight, straight from the airport 3) sat me in a room for over 8 hours. everybody came to me in the room. total stress test 4) HR girl tried to psyche me out about the written test...emphasizing the time pressure. just stayed cool..went through it, did well. 5) whole team came in one-by-one to drill me. fit for the first 10 min, brainteasers, accounting questions, valuation questions, why goldman questions, everything.
6) some were good cops, some bad, some turned lights down low and asked if i was getting tired...some flipped lights on bright and asked tough questions right away 7) finally made it to a sweet MD who was nice and tough. was friendly at first, then started yelling at me, asked me to stand up and give a speech on the global auto sector, told me to sit down and quizzed me on math questions and the size of various global firms. told me i had it at the end...and was really nice.

not too bad, huh? everything was MUCH more intense than CS, Citi, or Jefferies. even interviewed with McKinsey and they werent that intense.

Oh my god is that what the interview was like for full time or summer internship? I had no idea it was that intense!

I found the attitude more grueling than the questions per se. There were some challenging technical questions and some curve balls that I hadn't expected, but unlike most other banks where people are somewhat warm even when they're giving you a serious interview, at GS the interviewers never cracked a smile. I've never had interviewers stare so hard and intently at me during an interview, and I admit it was somewhat intimidating. Most intense interviews I've ever had.

or take the time to write so much if it wasnt true?

two phone rounds, a first office round and a superday is pretty standard.

plus, in some of the european offices, the teams are smaller and there is not an entire "class" of analysts...so they are pretty serious about it.

believe it or not. just giving my experience.

had a phone screening with a VP, then flew in for a super day. had 9 or 10 back-to-back interviews from 10AM-5PM and also went to lunch with someone from HR. all of the interviews were intense - very technical, detailed questions about my work experience and general industry knowledge.

it's tough but there's not much you can do to prepare other than coming up with lots of really good questions to ask your interviewers.

How advanced are the financial questions for the summer internship interview, or would you say they are more of just basic financial questions?

Intern: 1st round was on-campus with some alums from my school. Really easy and nice, pretty much fit (this was for investment management). superday was grueling. 7 hours of interviews where i met 20 people. In the morning, I think I had 3 interviews. then during lunch, they get into a room (if you're a girl, i'ts pretty much like rush) and they vote on who stays and who goes. They brought us out one by one and either asked us to stay or to leave. I was in GS offices until about 5 pm or so (got there at 8am). I interviewed with different business groups within GSAM. After, I received another phone call saying that they wanted to meet with me again, so I flew back to NY for another round of interviews. Ultimately, I didn't get an internship offer in the group I wanted.

Full-time accelerated:I had two different interviews, one in S&T and the other in Investment Management. S&T people sucked..both of the interviewers were so boring and I couldn't even stand being in the room with them for 30 minutes. I knew I didn't want to be in that division. First round in IM was the easiest thing ever. My interviewer was so nice and basically spent 20 minutes talking about herself and her career path. She barely asked me any fit questions and asked me what groups I'd be interested in. All i got from her was "I've heard you're awesome. Your resume is fantastic. I have no questions." Received final round interviews in IM,and ultimately an offer. they were alot easier than my internship interviewers, and pretty much fit all the way through.

sorry if you've answered this already, but how/why were you in an accelerated stream?

get invited if you applied in the winter for an internship (But i'm sure they have your file). Some of my friends who were invited to apply ultimately didn't receive any interview.

alot of other banks do this accelerated process also.

Just had my phone interview today. It was very relaxed and basically a normal conversation. The person I spoke with seemed very nice. I was asked the basic questions you would expect to get in any interview. BTW it was for a summer position.

thanks

First and non-target

I interviewed with GS in the early round of FT recruiting during the summer. As previously noted, first round was an associate and HR woman. They went back and forth between technical and behavioral questions. It was only intense because they were both very serious and it was 9pm at night after a 14 hour day of internship work.

superday was intense for different reasons. Four 2-on-1 interviews and literally every single interviewer was from Wharton or Harvard or both. They kept stating that they are looking for "the best" and would ask if I was top of my class etc. You really need to have a tight pitch on what makes you better than the other candidates. Don't expect to get away with reciting formulas or theories if you can't explain them in your own words. That's a given but one guy really pushed me on this.

Overall, GS was tough but I find 2-on-1 interviews are always a little more intense than usual. I've definitely had worse interviews. MS was brutally technical - they made me calculate an EV (FCFs and WACC) for my stock pick without using pen/paper and taking numbers from memory or guessing. Having said all of that, it can just depend on your interviewer!

I had an unexpected phone interview while studying abroad. That was interesting.

wow thats really sucks man...sorry

My first interview with Goldman was the "superday" interview. I was referred by a friend of a friend and was interviewed for 4 hours and 45 minutes by nine individuals. The process was very cordial and everyone seemed very professional. I interviewed with two departments that were both hiring. At the end, they told me they had to meet to discuss candidacy. How long does it usually take for Goldman to get back to you? Is it based on how busy they are?

they let you know right off the bat, esp. if you are at the top of the list. Friends of mine have gotten phone calls on their way to the airport.

Some other people have gotten very mixed signals, i.e. they were in the middle of the pack, other ppl. didn't accept and they were called on.

I have e-mailed people within the firm to no avail expect for the admin assistant who works as a gatekeeper. Her response was that if I do not hear back within ten day's, to let her know and that she would follow up. If they are interviewing several people over the course of a couple of weeks and you're interviewing for a job that would start in the Spring, couldn't it be possible they are going to meet at a late date, or do they meet after every interview to discuss candidacy?

hu

I got grilled! Real bad!!!

I think I was a bit too arrogant, and the guy did not like it....

I might be getting another chance for interviewing. Any hints on what to do and not to do?

This time its in research, should I expect questions on the market or specific securities? Between work and studying for the CFA I havent had time to read WSJ or watch CNBC in a while!!

My first round GS interview was much harder than my super-day. Then again, nothing compared to how intense my McKinsey interview was.

My first round GS NY interview was pure fit. They sent one person out of about 15 to second rounds and it was not me. They assume that you can do the job if your application is strong enough to get interviewed. I hear GS LA was mostly technical though.

CDNmonkey which school in Canada do you go to?

My GS first round interview was purely fit and behavioral. I was asked questions like "Why Goldman?", "Why financial services?", "Why not consulting, marketing, etc.?" They also asked general questions about my resume to get a sense of my personality. During the first 20-25 minutes, the interview focused on me; during the last 15-20 minutes, the interviewer let me ask questions about GS and his experiences at the firm. Overall, it was not as intimidating as I thought it was going to be.

I reached the final round of interviews for a Research Assistant role at Goldman. The MD said that there would be a written test next week as the final toll gate. Any idea what the test entails? quant / financial modeling / business writing / analytical writing like in GMAT? Please comment Thanks!

A friend referred me and I have am scheduled for a phone. The desk deals with some type of RMBS, but thats about all I know. Any tips?

How did it go?

another phone screening tommorow, spending today prepping

dinged for sure

how so?

elaborate please...

interview did not go well, surprising considering the interviewer went to my school. we interned at the same firm, but in different groups and had vastly different experiences, to the point where I sounded buffoonish. No word from them in the last week.

any tips for a boutique?

first rounds were on campus, some 2 on 1, some 1 on 1, with alums from my school pretty much across the board. you could have interviewers from any division, no matter what you applied to. if you get second rounds, they decide the division.

the first time i interviewed for an internship, i was a sophomore with no finance coursework or experience, so my interviewers more or less gave me advice on how to strengthen my candidacy for junior year.

when i interviewed as a junior, i got a few technical questions based on some previous experience and a lot of fit questions including "why GS." an interesting question i got: "would you rather be the captain of a losing team or be a regular member of a winning team?" i was called that night for second rounds in IBD, which i wasn't expecting (i had indicated more interest in FICC during my first round).

the next day, i had three half-hour interviews, all 2 on 1. i had a hard time convincing them that i really wanted an IBD job, but one of my interviews was with people working in capital markets-related areas. i really hit it off with them, but not with any of my industry group interviewers.

later that day i was about to leave for the airport when i was asked to come back to meet more people from my capital markets interviewers' groups. i had 4-5 informal interviews with people from those groups that evening, and got an offer from one of the groups the next day. the last round of informal interviews was part technical (testing my intuition for the products they worked with) and part fit.

overall, an exhausting experience. GS is very "big brother" in that they think they know which group/division is best for you, regardless of how you feel.

I go to a non-target school and my first round interview was ALL fit, i was expecting it to be much more technical. It was only about 30 minutes in the Maiden Lane, NYC office. It was not bad at all, and much less intimidating than I though it would be... However, i did not get a second round interview

When you apply online, they ask you to apply to three divisions, does this mean you have to rank them from first to third in preference of where you want to work, or do you get equally reviewed for each position regardless of what position you ranked it, that is if there is a ranking system......IN addition has anyone been to the study abroad super day that is specifically meant for students who will be studying abroad in the spring, so they hold a special super day sometime i think in november or december for these people. Is this application cycle easier or harder than the traditional spring one?

I have an upcoming interview for FT Operations Analyst position. Can anyone give me any tips or suggestions regarding question they may ask for this particular division?

Goldman Sachs Phone Interview, later that day they called me to schedule an interview with two recruiters. The phone interview went well. Was asked basically what i do at my current job, with specifics. Now i i have to meet two recruiters for a informative interview. There was no exact job mentioned. Any ideas where this will lead to? And if this is considered a first round??

well do elaborate!

It took me almost 5 months to get an interview despite thorough networking...the phone screen went very well and I was notified to come to a real face-to-face interview in 2 weeks. However, the person who began the interview was absolutely completely horrible. Didn't read my resume, didn't understand half of what my history in the financial world had to do with this job, said despite my many years of experience and multiple financial licenses I was not experienced. Kept asking why I want to leave my current job. Like twenty different ways. My headhunter told me that the interview was going to be 4 hours, highly structured, prepare for anything. Nothing went as planned at all. The thing is, I am highly qualified and do have strong experience in the field. I was dismissed like a gnat on the wall. Completely baffled. This person may have been a bad apple in the bunch. But I thought GS stood for something. Evidently something is really wrong there with a person like this ruining interviews and sending bona fide candidates away in a very rash manner.

Have first-hand experiences of interviews for three divisions: Securities, IBD, and Global Investment Research (including from accelerated interviews for this current recruiting cycle)

Take the following with the grain of salt as the variance for types of interviews and the interviewers is extremely high.

1. For securities, a lot of mental math questions - e.g. how many pennies would fit in this room, math game dealing with factorials, and a question about how swaps were an example of game theory

2. For IBD, mostly fit questions (they are judging you on whether of what you highlight would make you a good analyst). Regarding GS and the position, I was asked who the current CFO was, which business principle I found to be most important, and what makes a good analyst. I had only 2 technical questions - what are different valuation models and are there any changes I would have made to the model I built in a previous internship.

3. For Global Investment Research, I was asked to talk about a paper and the investment thesis I wrote for an investments class (and later became the foundation for a paper that was cited with my professor). No technical questions at all - given that I had worked in securities before, it was assumed that I knew about the economy.

Hope this is helpful. Feel free to reach out with specific questions, as I have compared my interview experiences to other interviewees and fellow interns.

Chasing Consultants, Breaking Bankers http://chasingconsultantsbreakingbankers.blogspot.com/

Found out I was selected for interview with GS Investment Management. Does anyone have insight about what to expect in each round and the interview process for this department specifically?

I have been asked to schedule two back to back phone screens by someone from the Revenue Campus Recruiting Team at GS in New York. My major is in the social sciences (i.e. no finance or accounting) and I am from a non-target school. I applied online to PWM in New York and GIR in London.

What kinds of questions can I expect?

I wouldn't recommend this company if you are a top tier progressive technologist. The interview was so easy even for the Lead/Architect level position that you start to wonder about losing your edge in no time. Even their so called Technical Fellow was so outdated with the technology. I then confirmed online that Finance companies generally hire below par technologists unlike pure technology companies.

In spite of being mediocre, there was no dearth for dirty ego in these interviewers. This is the most egoistic company with no substance I ever encountered in my career. No wonder, these idiots glorify and create buggy finance models that helped prosper countries like Greece and companies like AIG!!.

I think this company is a shame to US image in the Europe and abroad. I also think this company is doomed to fail soon.

HR was the worst ever experience. Didn't get any straight response to even the basic benefits question during the verbal offer. Felt like dealing with some scum. I guess this is how they cheated Greece.

These guys were never open. Didn't feel like they were honest. I think this is the worst company culture and no wonder these crooks created this finance mess around the world and now its their turn to pay back.

DONT EVER WORK FOR THIS COMPANY IF YOU ARE A TRUE PATRIOTIC AMERICAN. THIS COMPANY WILL EAT ITS OWN SHIT IN LESS THAN AN YEAR.

/\ troll.

I wouldn't recommend this company if you are a top tier progressive technologist. The interview was so easy even for the Lead/Architect level position that you start to wonder about losing your edge in no time. Even their so called Technical Fellow was so outdated with the technology. I then confirmed online that Finance companies generally hire below par technologists unlike pure technology companies.

In spite of being mediocre, there was no dearth for dirty ego in these interviewers. This is the most egoistic company with no substance I ever encountered in my career. No wonder, these idiots glorify and create buggy finance models that helped prosper countries like Greece and companies like AIG!!.

I think this company is a shame to US image in the Europe and abroad. I also think this company is doomed to fail soon.

HR was the worst ever experience. Didn't get any straight response to even the basic benefits question during the verbal offer. Felt like dealing with some scum. I guess this is how they cheated Greece.

These guys were never open. Didn't feel like they were honest. I think this is the worst company culture and no wonder these crooks created this finance mess around the world and now its their turn to pay back.

THIS COMPANY IS THE BIGGEST SHIT YET TO COLLAPSE...

Look if you are a technologist and love the bleeding edge of tech, don't go into sell-side finance. It's not their bread and butter and it doesn't need to be because its a franchise business.

Typically hedge funds/prop-firms are the first adopters of the newest tech into finance because its an arms-race. But GS has a history of being more progressive than other firms.

i like to think im pretty badass from time to time but my GS experience definitely brought me back down to earth.

got a call from a head hunter i had built a relationship with and let handle my resume back when i was a trader. he had lobbed a few calls in from hedge funds and other banks that wanted to meet me, but i was completely uninterested until he called to say GS saw my resume and wanted to interview me as soon as possible. i was an associate at the time. who turns down goldman sachs right?

i make up some shady excuse to get off the desk for an afternoon and headed down to 85 broad a few days later. i interviewed with a couple of VPs and and MDs. the MD experience was mostly conversational. they seemed particularly interested in client contact, my views on the market and the experiences i could bring to the firm. there was clearly one MD that was understaffed and was frank about wanting me, as he was starting a new group thats now really popular all over the street these days, but i really wasnt interested in switching my career around at that point so i told him that it really wasnt my area of expertise and that I probably was not the best person for that role (first mistake).

the VPs were fine. they asked me more specific technical questions but nothing that if you know what youre doing you couldnt answer. except for this one VP from my exact area who was a real hard ass. he had more than a few questions that were specifically designed for a trip up. but it wasnt so much the questions as his attitude. anyhow, there was no way i was going to be intimidated by a fkg VP, when i was executing and getting paid at VP levels already at my firm. so i sucked it up, buttered it up and did pretty well by my accounts. by the end of it we were trading stupid trader floor jokes.

looking back on it, i think i might have come off a nonchalant and arrogant because of my first mistake above and also when asked how much i wanted to get paid i said some ridiculous number and then i also felt the need to make it real clear that i did not want to work in any other area but my specific one (definite no, no). i dont know, i was probably trying to overcompensate and pretend to be too cool for GS as a way to prove i did belong (bad idea). i was also thinking i just wanted one more banner bonus year and then i was gonna peace out of the business anyway. but there was no doubting i would have gladly worked there.

anyhow i dont know if they ever filled the role or ever had one, were just curious about me and wanted to poke a stick, didnt like my attitude, simply thought i sucked ass or some combination of all of the above, because i never heard back from them. not one word. not sure if i would change what i said or did, it is what it is and im happy with where i am now, but i can tell you this - it sucked at the time and im still a little bitter about it.

so i guess the takeaway here is that this is clearly what not to do on a goldman sachs interview!

Got an OCR interview earlier this year cause an MD forwarded my resume through to the recruiters (I know this because my resume wasn't strong enough to get me interviews with any other BB's). The interview was clearly a formality and they had no interest in giving me a chance to prove myself, as they didn't ask anything technical and barely asked about my experience. Just a few behavioral questions. They were very nonchalant and friendly, but it was clearly a BS interview. Perhaps they were also hungry as my interview was right before lunch...

Hi bro and sis,

I read some opinion about this topic in citehr forum. We can find out some articles at about.com or shrm.org, I think that it is useful for our community.

Apart from that, you also can ref more at: http://www.humanresources.hrvinet.com/admin-assistant-interview-questio…

Rgs

It was actually one of my easier interviews. Unfortunately I was so nervous with it being GS and all that I completely flunked it.

Anyone have any insight on credit derivatives analyst interview? I have no experience with credit derivatives, but this is what they selected me for (based on my resume and I would assume their needs).

After reading searching for my own answers after my Super Day with GS Bank, I felt compelled to contribute.

The interview was for a (for Seniors in college) Full-time Analyst Position within the GS Bank for either Management OR Strategy and Business development divisions.

Here's how it went:

Round 1

On-campus interviews consisting of all behavioral questions

Round 2

Had the Super Day at 600 West NY and did back-to-back interviews from 9-11am. All behavioral and fit questions none technical. Come lunch, there is a decision making process of some sort and everyone gets called back up to the floor and you are separated into two groups. One group goes home with " we will contact you all next week" and the other stays (if they want more info from you) "so they say".

No clear indication of why some go home and some stay as I thought I did a great job and connected with a lot of people with the team. I sent emails to interviewers thanking them and was told that the decision for further consideration is in the hands of Human Capital Management. I have no idea how this works, as I am a diversity student and wouldn't know how HCM dictates who gets what job and how that comes about.

It is hard to say if this is bullshit or not, but will definitely post progress to help those who will experience this as well.