I applied through a recruiter. The process took 1+ week. I interviewed at Goldman Sachs in Jan 2011
Interview
Methodical. Very rigorous and well planned. Some junior people but the right fit is essential. Some interviewers have little experience and lack proper interpersonal skills. Nothing more irritating than having someone check their blackberry while you are answering a question.
I applied through a recruiter. I interviewed at Goldman Sachs (London, England)
Interview
No big surprises here. Usual questions about OO, garbage collection, threads, events and etc. Phone interview was purely technical. So I would say it was not harder than any other banks I've tried.