How to get an internship at Goldman Sachs
Get all the information about internship program of the leading American multinational investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs.
Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management and other financial services primarily with institutional clients. The organization recruits interns for real time projects at its Bangalore office.
Who are eligible to apply?
Internships are offered in both technical and operational division. Goldman Sachs visits a few reputed colleges in India and primarily recruits the 3rd year undergraduates.
How to apply?
The company prefers recruiting students from circuit branches (ECE, EEE, Instrumentation, etc.) as interns. Interested students from non-circuit branches would need to send their resumes in advance to the company officials (through their training and placement cells) in order to be eligible for the recruitment process. The company sets a cutoff CGPA of around 7.5 (varies from college to college) below which students are not allowed to apply for the recruitment process.
Students (irrespective of their streams) can also apply for internship in field of operations on the website.
What after applying?
In many colleges, the company conducts a written test following which around 15-25 students (varies from college to college) are shortlisted for further rounds. The written test comprises mainly of logical reasoning, coding questions and one essay-type question. All the shortlisted students undergo three rounds of personal interview.
Round 1: Questions pertaining to the subject of their interest and past projects are asked. Few sample questions-
- Questions about any prior project/internship.
- Why do you want to work in this platform and not on any other?
- What is your favorite branch subject? Questions regarding the subject.
Round 2: It is a technical round in which questions can range from networking to building algorithm for a given problem statement. Logical reasoning and analytic questions are also part of this round.
- Write the algorithm for quick sort.
- How would you create a network connecting three buildings in three different countries?
- Explain standard template library.
Round 3: HR questions are asked in the final round. The questions are nothing out of ordinary. Few sample questions-
- Why should you be hired?
- In which department are you most comfortable?
The interview process is held in August in most colleges. The selected interns are informed about the results on the same day after the completion of the recruitment procedure. Each intern is assigned a mentor and manager. A mentor is supposed to be a buddy you can hang out with whereas a manager is supposed to be a more senior employee of the company. The first two weeks of the internship mostly turn out to be a learning experience. After that the interns are assigned real time projects. The evaluation process varies from team to team. Most of the teams do two evaluations in the eight to ten weeks internship program – mid-term evaluation and end-term evaluation. In both the evaluations, the project work is reviewed mostly through presentations.
Word of advice from ex-interns:
Interview tips : The written round is always the toughest to crack. Applicants should be strong in logical reasoning and algorithms. Even if the applicants are not very strong in any particular programming language, as long as you can convince them that you are ready to learn, it should be fine!
Work Hard : As Abhinav says, “It’s not just about the work, it’s about how constructively you spend the two months there”. There are a lot of things you can learn in those two months at your internship. So try and make the most out of it. Your hard work might be rewarded with a pre-placement offer.
Unique Work Culture : The typical hierarchy structure in absent which is evident from Goldman Sachs’ no-cabin culture. Everyone starting from the Senior Vice President to the interns sit on the same floor. Despite being on a tight schedule, your team members will always be ready to help you.
Networking and Mentorship : The interns get the chance of working alongside professionals from across the globe. Cultural activities like talent shows and community team work programs are also arranged during the internship program which gives the interns a chance to interact with officials from different divisions. The transition from being a college student to working at a multinational company is very smooth owing to the friendly work culture.
A chance to network with a vast set of professionals across the globe coupled with a great learning experience certainly makes Goldman Sachs internship one of a kind. The experience of all ex-interns at Goldman Sachs is extremely enriching. Read the Goldman Sachs summer internship experience of Jeh Krishna Agarwal from NIT Trichy and judge for yourself.
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Editor’s note- The information is based on the interviews of certain ex-interns of the company. Readers are advised to go through the Goldman Sachs website or contact the Goldman Sachs office for latest information. We would like to thank Sarthak Agarwal and Abhinav Pathak for their valuable inputs.
Image credits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldman_Sachs