With the prestigious reputation of any Wall Street summer internship, the Goldman Sachs Group summer program is considered one of the most exclusive, as some report an acceptance rate as low as 2%. While it hosts several different programs, undergraduate applicants would be eligible for the Goldman Sachs summer analyst position, which is for “candidates currently pursuing a college or university degree and is usually undertaken during the second or third year of study,” according to the company website.
While the multinational investment bank is headquartered in New York City, the internship program is also held across many other cities, including Houston, Dallas, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle, Los Angeles and more. An internship at Goldman Sachs is largely recognized as a stepping stone into one of the biggest names in banking and financial services. But what’s the program really like, and how can you maximize your chances of getting in?
What’s the Interview Process Like?
For candidates who make it past the initial resume screening, the interview process for Goldman Sachs interns consists of two steps:
1. A HireVue Video
For the HireVue video interview, candidates will be given a link that they can log into at any point before it expires, and it’ll prompt them to record their answers to a series of questions to see if they’re a fit. One former Goldman Sachs intern called the HireVue interview “the hardest part of the whole process.” Knowing he’d be thrown off by the time pressure and unnatural process of answering questions in front of a blank screen, he spent two days preparing for the 30-minute video interview.
2. An In-Person Superday.
If the recruiters decide to advance you past the HireVue stage, you’ll be invited to a superday at a Goldman Sachs office, with all expenses for the trip paid for by the company. At the superday, you’ll go through two to five interviews with Goldman Sachs employees for the division that you’re trying to work in. According to Goldman Sachs’s former Head of Human Capital Management Dane Holmes,
“Interviewers will ask about the candidate’s experience, history and what they can bring to the company, but applicants can also expect open-ended questions designed to gauge their thought processes and behavioral skills, both in and out of the workplace.”
Holmes told CNBC that most questions don’t exactly have a right or wrong answer, but the interview is more about “analyzing how they work themselves through the process, and then assessing that.” Applicants are hired on a rolling basis, so candidates should hear back with a final decision a few days after the interviews.
👉 Read more about the Goldman Sachs interview process here.
What Should You Expect if You Get the Job?
You will gain a strong support system and knowledge base
Goldman Sachs tries to give its interns the same amount of real responsibilities as its full-time employees, while simultaneously educating them about the company and industry. Goldman Sachs managing director Suzanne Gauron said,
“Generally people are doing a combination of shadowing and education in their summer analyst program that starts to get them to build the types of investment views and perspectives that we're looking for in investment management.”
She said that the program aims to build a support system around the interns to ensure their success, pairing them with a buddy to ask about day-to-day activities and a more senior advisor to help them with more big-picture career development. New analysts will also go through division-specific training and will gain access to a web page of proprietary tools to help them with their projects.
You will be an essential part of the team
Although many interns may start out feeling less essential than their co-workers, the rest of the firm doesn’t see it that way.
“Everyone views it from day one that you're just like everybody else and so that means building personal relationships with other people on the desk, getting to know people and meshing as part of the team,” Gauron said.
The company’s intentions to treat interns as valued employees seems to pay off, as some report how meaningful they find the work. One former intern at Goldman Sachs said that the trading techs seemed to be excited to use their project, and even saw it running in production after returning the next summer.
You might work long hours
Goldman Sachs, along with many other financial institutions, has a reputation for high-pressure jobs and long hours. However, this can vary by position. Wesley Chan, who previously held a summer analyst role at Goldman Sachs and is now a full time engineering analyst, reported working mostly 9-6 during his time as an intern. He said that although sometimes people would stay late to finish up a project for a deadline, it wasn’t crazy intense.
However, his fellow interns who were investment banking analysts worked significantly longer hours. By contrast, another former intern recalled working anywhere from 12 to 20 hours a day during his program. Luckily, the company decided to put a limit on the amount of time interns can spend in the office, requiring them to leave by midnight and prohibiting them from re-entering the building until 7 AM.
How Do You Get a Return Offer?
While it’s a great feat to even be accepted into the Goldman Sachs summer analyst internship, it’s still not a golden ticket into a full-time position at the firm. Many incoming interns try to prepare beforehand to maximize their chances of coming back the next year. Industry experts recommend reviewing finance basics, learning excel functions, brushing up on PowerPoint skills, and keeping up with the market.
Once you’re there, it’s important to embrace the culture and show your colleagues that you’re likable and easy to work with. While the work can seem overwhelming at times, Gauron says that it’s important to maintain a good attitude. She also said interns going the extra mile can go a long way.
“Offering up other things that they can do that are thoughtful and show that they understand the business is a really exciting thing to see from someone,” she said.
👉 Learn more about what you should expect from the culture here.
Should You Apply to Goldman Sachs for Next Summer?
While Goldman Sachs’s prestigious reputation may make it appear daunting at first, don’t rule it out just yet. Gauron stressed that the firm is looking for diversity in their candidates.
“I'm looking for depth as well as breadth of interests,” she said. “We're not looking for everyone to have a PhD in finance, but we're looking for them to have done anything that they like in the world and done a good job at it and feel deeply about it.”
Chan advises putting plenty of time into research beforehand.
“Check on Glassdoor for prior interview questions. This will give you a good guideline of what to expect,” he said. “At the internship level, most of it comes down to your interview performance. So prepare and make sure you feel confident and comfortable when you are interviewed.”
