Bagging a job at Goldman Sachs (GS)‘ is a phenomenon rarer than receiving an acceptance letter from Harvard University.
During a presentation in Miami Tuesday, the investing giant reported that roughly 3% of its applicants, or 9,700 out of 313,000, secured a position in 2015. That number includes summer internships.
Harvard University posted an acceptance rate of 5.3% for 2015 applicants.
Investments banking jobs have a notoriously low acceptance rate. Fellow banking giant Morgan Stanley (MS) reported that less than 2% of its applicants for a summer analyst position received an offer, according to Bloomberg.
Shifting Demographic
The number of employees at Goldman increased 11% since 2012, when the bank’s acceptance rate was also 3% with 267,000 applicants, CEO Lloyd Blankfein said at the Credit Suisse Group conference. Bloomberg first reported the story Tuesday.
While most banks were cutting down on staffing in 2015, the Wall Street giant hired 2,800 employees, up 8% from a year earlier, according to Business Insider.
But many of the new hires are located in low-cost areas such as Bangalore, Bengaluru, and Salt Lake City, according to the company’s second-quarter earnings call—keeping costs low. In the second quarter, 75% of new hires were based out of lower-cost areas according to Harvey Schwartz, Goldman’s CFO.
The percent of potential hires who accepted Goldman Sachs’ offers also fell this year to 82%, down from nearly 90% a year earlier, Bloomberg reported.
Blankfein said the bank was also working to round up more young talent, in part to reduce costs. In 2015, the number of lower level positions—analysts, associates, and vice presidents—rose 17% while the number of partners and managing directors has fallen 2% since 2012.
In recent years, Goldman Sachs also rolled out new rules in an effort to to retain its younger hires by doling out raises and banning junior bankers from working Saturdays.
It is not alone: Barclays (BCS) has mandated that junior employees stay away from the office on Saturdays, while J.P. Morgan (JPM) introduced advanced track promotions, allowing top analysts to become managing directors in 8.5 years rather than the traditional 12.5 years.
FAQs
Goldman Sachs is one of the oldest and most prestigious investment banks on Wall Street. With hundreds or thousands of applicants for every job opening, getting into this company is notoriously hard.
What are the odds of getting hired at Goldman Sachs? ›
Goldman Sachs is the premier investment bank in the world. With an acceptance rate of roughly 4%, it's harder to get into Goldman than it is to get into Harvard or Yale.
Is Goldman harder to get into than Harvard? ›
And it is still harder to get hired by Goldman than it is to get into Harvard University. "This week, we have about 3,500 undergraduates who are starting their careers here," says CEO David Solomon, in an interview with NPR. "That's 3,500 out of over 300,000 people that applied for those jobs."
How long does it take to get hired by Goldman Sachs? ›
According to a poll by Indeed: 39% reported that the Goldman Sachs interview process takes over one month. 27% said approximately a month. 16% claimed that they were hired within two weeks.
What GPA do you need for Goldman Sachs? ›
What GPA do you need to work at Goldman Sachs? A minimum of 6.5 GPA is needed to sit for this Company. But Students with higher GPA are selected at an higher rate than lower ones.
Is it easy to crack Goldman Sachs interview? ›
Is it easy to crack a Goldman Sachs interview? Interviews at Goldman Sach are quite similar to other good tech companies. It is not that difficult to crack. The interviewer only checks that you have the skills to solve challenges.
What is the lowest salary at Goldman Sachs? ›
Goldman Sachs salaries range between $68,000 a year in the bottom 10th percentile to $174,000 in the top 90th percentile.
Which college does Goldman Sachs hire from most? ›
Prevalence of select American university alumni at Goldman Sachs
| Rank | University | Factor |
|---|
| 1 | Princeton University | 2.130 |
| 2 | Cornell University | 1.650 |
| 3 | Yale University | 1.640 |
| 4 | Columbia University | 1.440 |
13 more rowsApr 4, 2023
Goldman Sachs's first-year analysts will receive a bump in base pay from $85,000 to $110,000; second-year analysts $95,000 to $125,000; and first-year associates $125,000 to $150,000, sources told Bloomberg.
Does Goldman Sachs only hires Ivy? ›
Among investment banks, Goldman Sachs picked undergraduates most heavily from nearby New York University. Goldman Sachs prefers Ivy League schools, with Cornell, Harvard, and Columbia ranking third through fifth among employees with bachelor's degrees.
Bankers continue to regard Goldman Sachs as the world's most prestigious bank, followed (as always) by Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan. Credit Suisse and UBS lost the most ground in 2022 while LionTree Advisors' reputation improved the most in the eyes of bankers.
Does Goldman Sachs only hire Ivy League? ›
Goldman pulls much of its talent from Ivy League schools in the U.S. and a handful of top-ranked universities in the U.K. While this is still mostly the case for front-office roles, the order of merit does change a bit when looking at revenue-generating positions like sales and trading, M&A and other lucrative client- ...
What is the salary of Goldman Sachs for 3 years? ›
Goldman Sachs Salaries in India
| Designation | Average Salary Yearly Yearly Monthly |
|---|
| Investment Banking Analyst (0 - 3 yrs exp) | ₹ 20,39,361/yr (₹6.6L/yr - ₹37.0L/yr) |
| Senior IT Analyst (3 - 6 yrs exp) | ₹ 5,66,743/yr (₹4.0L/yr - ₹7.5L/yr) |
| Senior Financial Analyst (2 - 6 yrs exp) | ₹ 6,73,674/yr (₹3.2L/yr - ₹12.5L/yr) |
7 more rowsThe average age at Goldman Sachs is 28: youthful promotions are an inevitability. Meanwhile, Goldman's giant MD class, which is skewed towards trading, has a message of its own: that Goldman has promoted so many people suggests it's working hard to retain them after a difficult year.
How long do most people stay at Goldman Sachs? ›
On average, employees at Goldman Sachs stay with the company for 4.8 years.
Does Goldman Sachs pay well? ›
The average Goldman Sachs salary in the United States is $108,830 per year. Goldman Sachs salaries range between $68,000 a year in the bottom 10th percentile to $174,000 in the top 90th percentile. Goldman Sachs pays $52.32 an hour on average. Goldman Sachs salaries vary by department as well.
Is working for Goldman Sachs stressful? ›
If working conditions at Goldman do not change, most respondents said they did not expect to remain at the company in six months time. The stress and pressure of working at Goldman has greatly reduced the respondents' mental and physical health, they said.
Is working at Goldman Sachs stressful? ›
In addition to the long hours, the analysts cited unrealistic deadlines, being ignored in meetings and micromanagement as major sources of stress. Among other things, the analysts said 80 hours per week should be the limit of how much they're expected to work.
