Goldman Sachs Interview Questions & Reviews

Interview Details Aptitude
2 on 1 with juniors
2 on 1 with seniors

Interview Details The interview involved me meeting 4 team members of varying rank. I was given a number of behavioural questions and asked a lot about my experienced and educational background. It was clear that they wanted someone with a lot of experience. I had worked in London so that helped a lot.

Interview Details Called by HR person about a week after submitting resume. Interview was with hiring manager and managing director. Basic questions about background etc. Questions related to position and why I wanted to work with GS. Called back in about 3 days from HR person that they selected another person.

Interview Details Interview process consisted of two back to back interviews, each with two GS employees. All selections were made based on these two interviews, no further ones were necessary for those chosen. All the questions were personality based, nothing technical at all. Interviewers were kind and pleasant. None of the questions seemed designed to catch one off guard or gauge stress.

Interview Details This was for a front office junior quant position at the London FX desk. I had two phone interviews to begin with. First interview was with a member of the FX team and took around 1 hour. The interviewer was very relaxed and kind. He first asked me about my CV, then immediately came the technical questions. These were about mathematical finance and stochastic calculus. I answered most of the questions, some with some hints. 2nd interview was also with a guy from the FX team. He also started asking about my CV a few minutes. Then he asked 2 math questions and 1 question about option pricing. I did all without problem, this was really the best interview. I think he was very happy about the outcome, and after this one I got a two day VC with their main team. I got the VC as I live far away from England and this was most appropriate. So I went to the Goldman Sachs HQ in the closest city to my home.

In total I had 5 interviews in the VC, first day 3 interviews, 2nd day 2. Each interview was around 1 hour. The 1st guy was a young guy who was not in the FX team actually but worked closely with the team. He told me a bit about what he was doing, asked me a bit about my CV, and then asked a math question which I solved in the end though it took some time (it was a hard question). 2nd guy was slightly more senior I think, and while first guy was very friendly and even seemed a bit shy 2nd guy was more brief and serious. He also first told me about the team, and asked me about my background. He asked me also why I did want to do quant finance (since my background is physics). He then asked me to price a option which I did correctly. Next he asked me to write down a pseudo-algorithm for a question about matrices. I did this one also. 3rd guy was the most senior and he talked to me only about C++. He didnt really ask any technical questions, he rather wanted to find out about my C++ experience and he asked me about my PhD thesis. This interview was the most short one, around 45 minutes.
All in all, in the first day I think the interviews went rather well, I did answer all technical questions and the interviews were all smooth.
2nd day I first met a guy who was again from a slightly different team. He asked me about my background, and asked me to explain my research so he could understand it (he told me his background was not physics). Then he asked me one math question about brownian motion which I answered (however I could have realized an easier solution). 2nd question was about writing an algorithm and he asked me to analyze the complexity of the algorithm. This one went well too.
Then came the final interview, the guy was from the FX team. While I felt all other interviewers were rather kind, this interviewer was quite on the contrary. I guess his point was to try how I handle stress, and how I react if the interview does not evolve smoothly. He questioned my motivation for applying there, and contradicted some things I said, and then said things like "I am going to be perfectly honest with you..." and "this is a very tough job, and dont think you can get a high salary as you might think etc". This made me rather uncomfortable. In hindsight I should have known he was just testing me, but in that situation, and being so tired after all previous interviews it does get you somewhat off the track. Then he asked me a numerical algorithm question. I didnt do as well on this one and it took long time. I did first come with an answer which he didnt like so I pushed forward. Finally I got out something but it was not so smooth.
I think it was this last interview that was the reason I didnt get an offer, but actually I am completely sure. All I heard was that they were after all not going to hire any junior at the time (no one below VP), and that they liked me but maybe I was not who they were looking for.

Interview Details First round interview was on campus, I was asked a lot of personality question, and really basic programming questions about inheritance, polymorphism, and school projects. Know everything on your resume really well, because they will ask a lot of details on it. About a week later was asked to go to New York for second round. You can get called back to 1-4 groups. Each group has 2-3 people interview for a total of 1 1/2 hours. Lots of brain teasers, and a few simple java programs. Second round had no behavioral questions really. Some of the interviewers can be really intense while others are helpful.

Interview Details Phone interview with two members of the team. Pretty basic, described the position. They were most concerned with gauging interest. Goldman flew me down to NYC. Was little bit of a hassle because they flew me into JFK even though my interview was in Jersey City (but hey, they are goldman they can do that). During face to face Super Day 4 back to back interviews. I was given my offer the next day and I accepted. Questions were not all that difficult, be confident. It was a little awkward that you get to meet all other candidates before the interviews.

Negotiation Details – Goldman does not negotiate

Interview Details A lot of brainteasers and typical quant interview questions. Friendly interviewer.

Interview Details I received an email inviting me to interview with the Litigation department in New York about a week before the date. I flew out, and met directly with executives in the department, no HR people involved. There were two interviews with three people in each. It was strictly behavioral and resume-based.