A Step-by-Step Guide to Launching a Career at Goldman Sachs - FMI (2024)

True to its name, Goldman Sachs is the gold of the investment banking industry. It is one of the world’s largest financial institutions with specialisations in: investment banking, global markets, asset management, and consumer and wealth management. Next only to JPMorgan, it commands 9% of the world’s investment banking revenue.

So it’s no wonder that Goldman Sachs received a record-high of 236,000 applications . And its acceptance rate for these is roughly 1.5%. As for more advanced roles, the company gets 1 million applications for mid level jobs each year.

This can be highly intimidating for someone looking to start their career at Goldman Sachs. But while there’s power in numbers, your chances are also greatly influenced by your profile, preparation, and perseverance. So, here we share some key tips on how to ace these to finally land that sought-after IB job at Goldman Sachs:

1. Research Company Background:

First things first, you should research what the company is looking for. This comes directly from their website and from those who work/have worked at Goldman Sachs.

The company is very particular about candidates following its application checklist. This can help you understand which elements they’re looking for so can you use them to your maxmimun advantage.

The Goldman Sachs application checklist has the following:

• Contact Information
• Education History
• Examination Results
• Work Experience
• Motivation for Applying
• Language Skills
• CV/Resume
• Honours, certificates, technical or other skills
  

They also clearly state on their website that “When we review applications, we look for creative, team-oriented candidates who will bring intensity and integrity, intellectual curiosity, and leadership potential to our team.”

These 3 qualities are crucial to them so start looking for examples in your professional experience where you have demonstrated these traits:

• Integrity: Integrity is easier to display during the interview, particularly when answering behavioural questions. But for the application itself, you can use the “Motivation for applying” section to show these skills. Look for examples of impressive work ethic, accountability, managing challenging situations and so on.
• Intellectual curiosity: Find examples where you have exhibited a desire to learn. This could be a certificate program outside school or university. It can be an Investment Banking course or something entirely unique, as long as you can show how it helped you better yourself. Or it could be a skill your acquired acquiring by going out of your way. Maybe you travelled across 10 countries to learn about their cultures. Think of what helps you stand out.
• Leadership potential: At an entry level, you might be worried about showcasing your leadership potential but it can stem from starting a club at college or university, leading a project at an internship, or an initiative for your community.

This is also the ideal time to reach out to current and former Goldman Sachs employees in your network or even through emailing for informational interviews. Ask them questions about company culture, values, and what they look for in employees. This will help you understand how to craft the perfect application and subsequently, excel at your interview.

2. Create an Impressive Resume

Before the actual interview, your resume is the primary way for Goldman recruiters to evaluate your profile. So, you must spend considerable time fine tuning it. Remember, they don’t only care about your technical skills or having a finance degree. In fact, a major misconception about roles at Goldman Sachs is that you need a finance degree. That is not true. They welcome unique applications with open arms. As they also mention on the website, they are looking for “creative and team-oriented” individuals.

This must be reflected in your resume through examples of transferable skills. These will vary based on the role you are applying for. Some jobs might place high value on communication and creativity while others on negotiation and leadership. Don’t be afraid to highlight your uniqueness. The keywords that a job description includes should also be mentioned and evenly spread out through your resume.

Goldman Sachs shares these helpful pointers on what to include in your resume. Further, recruiters at the firm have shared these quick tips on creating a remarkable resume:

• Keep it one page long
• Add relevant experience (internships or jobs)
• Add achievements around education
• Highlight situations where you have demonstrated leadership skills
• Give yourself time! Resumes aren’t overnight projects. You will need time to craft an amazing resume

3. Ace the Video Interview

The video interview is a golden chance to show a slice of your personality to the recruiters. Goldman Sachs conducts video interviews to understand candidates on a deeper level. The questions at this stage are almost 80% behavioural and the rest focus on why do you want to work at Goldman Sachs or a particular division. Some tips to crack the video interview are:

• Research: ensure that you research the company, the role/s you are applying for, and the industry in general
• In-person Interview: treat the video interview like a normal in-person interview to prepare better
• Formal attire: your outfit should be formal but should also make you feel comfortable
• Body language: have a good posture, smile, and practice ways that make you feel confident
• Be concise: you should provide details in your answers but don’t tell irrelevant stories. You can finish the interview before the given time.
• Mock interviews: you should practise questions before the final video interview.

4. Seal it with an Epic In-Person Interview

According to Goldman recruiters, interview questions are mostly situational or behavioural. In fact, they mention that they’re not too worried about your technical expertise as they have the tools to help you learn. But they deeply care about your attitude and interest in working at Goldman Sachs.

So, practise your soft skills answers as much as technical ones. Ultimately, they are looking for real-time examples of teamwork, problem-solving, critical thinking, and your thought process. Their website also mentions, “Consider preparing examples which could set you apart from other applicants. Interviewers like to understand what motivates you, why you are interested in their company, and why your experiences make you their ideal candidate.”

Further, if you have community service experience, mention that in your answers as the company is actively looking for people who give back to their community. It shows that such an applicant would add value to their company and community as well.

It’s also important that you have solid, specific, and compelling answers to why you want to work at Goldman Sachs. This helps the recruiter understand that you have researched the company and are genuinely interested in working there.

Finally, don’t forget to come up with your own questions that you want to ask the interviewer. This sheds light on things you care about and how keen you are to learn about the company.

Conclusion

You will need rigorous preparation and practice to land a role at Goldman Sachs. The process begins with first ensuring that you are ready to put in all the effort that’s needed. With that dedication in place, you need to dig deep into the company and what they look for, craft the most outstanding resume, and crack all video and in-person interviews. It is an uphill climb but your hard work will magnanimously pay off!