Application Process:
CV and Application Submission - Cover Letter usually optional
Selective HireVue with 3/5 pre-recorded questions - usually sent after at least more than a month
Assessment Day / Super Day - usually 3×30mins interviews
GS’s application process is very smooth:
After applying, there is a selective invitation to do a pre-recorded HireVue, which typically comes after more than a month, and consists of around 5 questions, motivational, competency, commercial awareness, and sometimes technical
The only interview you will have with actual people will be in the final super day which consists only of 3 interviews x 30 mins - usually virtual
The interviews do not consist of doing any presentations or case-studies, just normal interviews, questions are typical motivational, competency, technical, and commercial awareness
GS put a lot of emphasis on motivation, leadership, and people with high potential - more so than others. If you are able to showcase during the interview process exceptional achievements, such as impressive leadership skills in sports, university, and extracurricular, that can help massively. They look for students able to show really high motivation and excellence.
How to Pass HireVue Stage & Superday - Interview with a Successful Candidate:
The HireVue invite was sent after over a month and a half if I am not mistaken. Also, it is sent in patches, meaning that not all invites are sent right away, hence if you hear someone received an invite whereas you did not, it does not automatically eliminate you.
The HireVue consisted of around 6 or 7 questions, 30-60 seconds to prepare, and 2 minutes to answer. The questions in my experience were not technical, they are mostly motivational, competency, and commercial awareness. No surprises really, the typical mix of questions about motivations to apply to the company, commercial awareness questions about deals or financial events, and
Goldman Sachs has a heavy focus on selecting candidates that demonstrate excellence and leadership. Just looking at my cohort of interns, you definitely see it clearly; many of the people are their university's society presidents, or have completed summer internships in their first year, or are captains of the football team, and etc... Hence my advice would be to try in your answers to reflect those aspects. For example, if they ask you about a time you worked in a team, certainly talk about collaboration and cooperation, but also to aim to reflect a certain attitude of excellence and leadership.
Another tip which applies to HireVues overall, is to keep staring at the webcam. They say that it is AI-analysed to a big extent, and that the system analyses your interactions and face expressions, not sure how true this is, but would recommend do it, as it would not hurt in any case.
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Assessment Centre - 3x30mins Interviews
The invite to the Assessment Centre also came quite a while after completing the HireVue. The AC itself was probably the easiest from all Acs, it was a chill interview, with VPs and above, for my case an Executive Director was the most senior person I spoke with. The nature of the interview itself is very dependent on the interviewer. For instance, one person I know did it for Global Markets, his first two interviews were quite chill, asking him about things such as boxing and his YouTube channel, and then in the last interview, it was more technical. For example, he was asked to pitch a stock, which he prepared for and gave a 2-minute solid pitch, and after he finished he was asked to pitch another stock, which he did not prepare, and was not successful in getting an offer.
There were technical questions in my process but it was not anything surprising, the typical questions about valuations and accounting that you can prepare from the famous 400-technical questions guide. For the most part it was more of a conversation, and they asked about experiences on my CV, for example I did a summer internship at a very small boutique and they asked me how I got it, and I said that I cold-called many people and sent hundreds of emails, and they liked that since it shows motivation. Other questions were about my extracurricular, such as running and playing tennis, and some about my favourite football team.
Questions that I was asked:
Have you read about an event that will have an impact on the market?
Walk me through a DCF
How do you get to Terminal Value
The financial statements and how they are impacted by changes in certain items, such as increase in depreciations or a 10$ increase in income
Questions about hobbies
Questions about previous summer internship at boutique shop and what I learnt
We have a recorded interview with the candidate that you can check out here:
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GS Cover Letter Sample - Access through Hyperlink
