Investment Banking
Goldman Sachs Application Guide
The apex bulge bracket and one of the most competitive graduate destinations in finance, built on pure advisory prestige and cross-divisional execution. Every stage of the process, the questions Goldman Sachs actually asks, and the prep that gets candidates through, in one place.
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The firm
About Goldman Sachs
The business today
Goldman Sachs is a global financial powerhouse that acts as an intermediary, advisor and capital allocator for corporations, institutional investors, governments and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. When a company wants to buy a competitor, raise billions in debt, or list on the NYSE, it hires Goldman to architect and execute the transaction. The corporate architecture is divided into two primary engines: Global Banking & Markets (GBM) and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM).
The firm makes money three ways: transactional fees (M&A advisory and underwriting), market-making and intermediation (bid-ask spreads and financing across FICC and Equities), and management fees (a percentage of Assets Under Supervision, plus performance incentives). It operates under OneGS, a mandate that divisions cross-sell and collaborate so a single client is served across advisory, markets and asset management.
For the full year ending December 31, 2025, Goldman reported net revenues of $58.28 billion and net earnings of $17.18 billion, up 9% year over year, with a 15.0% return on average common equity and diluted EPS up 27% to $51.32. Global headcount stood at roughly 47,400. Headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, it maintains US hubs in San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, Dallas and Salt Lake City, and global centers in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore and Bengaluru.
The last few years marked a pivot back to historic strengths: the firm wound down its capital-intensive consumer banking experiment (Marcus, the Platform Solutions credit-card business and the Apple Card portfolio) and refocused on capital-light execution and scaling AWM. Recruiting resources swung back toward core Investment Banking, Global Markets and private-market alternatives. David Solomon remains Chairman and CEO, John Waldron is President and COO, and Denis Coleman is CFO.
Why people apply to Goldman Sachs
The prestige comes at a clear cost: the surrender of personal autonomy and work-life balance. First- and second-year front-office analysts routinely log 70-90 hours a week, spiking over 100 during live-deal execution, under a zero-tolerance accuracy standard. Despite policies like the Saturday Retention Rule, global markets keep analysts tethered to their laptops around the clock. You accept the hours and the bar in exchange for unparalleled training, deal exposure and exits.
The real value of starting at Goldman is the density of talent and the velocity of development. As a junior analyst you are surrounded by some of the sharpest minds in finance, economics and quantitative engineering, on a learning curve that compresses three years of skill into twelve months.
Goldman's mandate flow means analysts work on the largest, most complex and headline-making transactions in the market. You are not updating pitchbooks for theoretical deals; you are executing market-defining cross-border acquisitions, restructurings and capital raises.
Exits are apex-tier. Within 2-3 years analysts move to mega-cap private equity, elite multi-manager hedge funds, top corporate development teams, or accelerate internally to Associate. The rigorous training and deal experience are exactly what buy-side recruiters look for.
Divisions inside Goldman Sachs's Investment Banking
Global Banking & Markets (Investment Banking)
Day-to-day
Owning financial models (DCF, LBO, public comps, precedent transactions), organizing client pitchbooks, cleaning transaction data and coordinating due-diligence streams for live deals across sector coverage (TMT, FIG, Healthcare, Industrials, Consumer).
Interview style
The hardest division to enter. Strict technical evaluation (advanced corporate finance, accounting, detailed LBO mechanics) alongside intensive behavioral analysis.
Extreme difficultyGlobal Banking & Markets (Global Markets)
Day-to-day
Arriving on the trading floor early (6:15-6:45am EST), monitoring macro data feeds, executing client trades, writing daily market-recap commentary, running pricing analytics for structured derivatives and supporting senior sales desks.
Interview style
Macroeconomic literacy, sales-vs-trading preference, risk tolerance and real-time market narrative under fast mental-math pressure.
High difficultyAsset & Wealth Management
Day-to-day
On the alternatives side, reviewing transaction pipelines, building investment-committee memos and evaluating portfolio companies. On the wealth side, building asset-allocation models, researching managers and preparing client review decks. Major hubs in NYC, Dallas and Miami.
Interview style
Tests macroeconomic insight, portfolio-construction theory, asset valuation and relationship-management capability.
High difficultyEngineering
Day-to-day
Writing production code (Java, C++, Python), building quantitative pricing and risk engines (such as the proprietary SecDb platform), optimizing distributed databases and designing systemic trading interfaces. Core campuses in NYC/Jersey City, Salt Lake City and Dallas.
Interview style
A highly objective technical screen: automated HackerRank/CodeSignal assessments (data structures, algorithmic complexity, system design) then technical interviews with senior engineering leads.
High difficultyTry it now
Score your Resume against Goldman Sachs's screen
Goldman Sachs talent acquisition screens thousands of Resumes per cycle. Most are read in under 30 seconds. The candidates who get to interview have Resumes that signal commercial relevance fast, in the format Goldman Sachs expects.
What Goldman Sachs looks for in a Resume
Quantified impact
Numbers in every bullet: deal size, team size, percentage uplift, revenue managed. "Led a team" is filler, "led a 6-person team that delivered £400k of revenue" is a signal.
Named firms and deals
Goldman Sachs recruiters skim for brand names they recognise. Name your prior internships, the deals you observed, the clients you worked on. Specifics beat generic descriptions.
Industry-relevant language
Use the vocabulary of the investment banking world: DCF, comps, LBO, league tables, deal flow. Generic "analysed data" reads as not-yet-in-the-industry; the right terms read as ready.
Tight, structured layout
One page max. Reverse-chronological. Three to five bullets per role. No long paragraphs, no dense blocks. The skim test decides the read.
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The application
How Goldman Sachs hires
6 stages, real interview questions, the criteria that decide it, and the moves that separate offers from rejections.
The process, stage by stage
- 1
Online Application (Resume Sift)
Opens early-to-mid March of sophomore year for Junior Summer Analyst roles; closes rolling, filled by mid-summer.One-page classic-format resume, GPA up top, every bullet quantified. Specify your target US division/location. Less than 15% pass.
- 2
Online Assessment
Triggers within 24-72 hours of applying; 3-5 calendar days to complete.SHL Verify G+ and SJT for business tracks; HackerRank for Engineering. Practice timed numerical, verbal and abstract reasoning. ~25-30% pass.
- 3
HireVue Digital Interview
Sent April-July; 3-5 days to record from when the link arrives. One attempt, no re-records.3-5 questions, 30s prep, 2 min record. Use STAR rigidly, lens-lock eye contact, nail Why Goldman and Why this division. ~20-25% pass.
- 4
First-Round Interview / Phone Screen
Rolling May-August; 30-45 minutes by Zoom or phone.Conducted by an Associate or VP. Know the three-statement walk-through and an EV-to-equity bridge cold. ~40-50% pass.
- 5
The Superday
June-September; 3-5 back-to-back 30-45 minute interviews over a single morning or afternoon.Scored as an aggregate grid, not pass/fail per interview. Secure strong support from 2+ senior interviewers with no disqualifying flag. ~10-30% convert.
- 6
Offer
Verbal offers within 4-48 hours of the Superday.Fast, consensus-driven. Strong summer-to-full-time conversion (75-85%).
What Goldman Sachs asks at each round
Phone Screen
- Why Goldman Sachs when you could work at any other bulge bracket?
- Why this specific division (e.g. Global Banking & Markets vs Asset Management)?
- Walk me through your resume.
- If depreciation increases by $10, walk me through the three financial statements.
- What is a macro trend you are tracking and how does it impact Goldman Sachs?
Superday
- Tell me about a time you worked with someone whose style clashed with yours.
- Walk me through a major professional or academic failure.
- A company buys $100 of equipment with 100% debt at 10% interest, 10-year straight-line depreciation, 20% tax: walk me through Year 1.
- Why might a company acquire a business that is dilutive to EPS from day one?
- If you had $10 billion to deploy across a single theme over five years, where and what are the risks?
- How should the firm balance fiduciary duty with citizenship on an ethically controversial IPO mandate?
Technical
- Walk me through how you calculate WACC from scratch.
- Why can you not use EV/EBITDA from a pure equity investor perspective?
- Walk me through a basic LBO: how does a sponsor generate returns?
- How does an increase in working capital impact free cash flow?
- Calculate the MOIC: buy at 10x on $100 EBITDA, 60% debt, sell at 10x with $120 EBITDA having paid down $200 of debt.
What Goldman Sachs looks for
Intellectual curiosity
The capacity to parse complex economic information and form an independent, data-backed thesis, not just recite headlines.
Team orientation and culture
Goldman operates on consensus and execution teams. Arrogance or a go-it-alone mindset is a definitive disqualifier at the Superday.
Quantitative competence
For front-office roles, total comfort with mental math, numerical reasoning, financial statement analysis and data interpretation under pressure.
Technical precision
Flawless accuracy in accounting linkages and valuation, with a zero-tolerance standard. A broken formula can derail a deal.
Academic excellence
A 3.5 GPA is the functional floor at target schools; non-target candidates generally need 3.8+. Goldman values academic diversity.
Networking and initiative
US recruiting is networking-led. Internal advocacy from an Analyst, Associate or VP can lift a resume out of the ATS pool.
The edge: what separates offers from rejections
Specific moves most applicants skip. None of them need talent, only preparation.
- 01Network early and specifically; internal advocacy lifts you above the ATS pool
- 02Master lens-lock eye contact and a structured asymmetric STAR model on the HireVue
- 03Anchor every story in the 14 Business Principles and quantify the result
- 04Know a real, recent Goldman-advised deal cold and explain the strategic rationale
- 05Manage your energy across the Superday and keep professional guard up at the analyst lunch
Prep, stage by stage
Drill each Goldman Sachs round
Dedicated pages for the four rounds Goldman Sachs runs. The Pack covers all four end to end in one purchase.
Pay & culture
Working at Goldman Sachs
What they pay
Graduate
$120,000 base (Year 1 front office); $170,000-210,000 total all-in
Internship
~$120,000 annualized for the 10-week summer analyst program
Perks
| Company | Comp | Hours / week | Exit options |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morgan Stanley | $120K / $170K+ total | 70-90/week | Excellent (tech/growth equity) |
| JPMorgan Chase | $120K / $170K+ total | 70-85/week | Broad (PE, private credit, corporate) |
| Evercore | ~$120K / $190K+ total | 80-95/week | Very strong (PE) |
| Centerview Partners | ~$120K / $190K+ total | 80-95/week | Very strong (PE, HF) |
What working at Goldman Sachs is like
- Intense meritocracy, relentless work ethic and intellectual rigor
- OneGS: divisions cross-sell and collaborate seamlessly
- High-performance, high-output; juniors get responsibility early
- 5 days a week in-office, strong apprenticeship culture
- Consensus-driven; team-first over individual ego
- 70-95 hours/week in front-office IBD, with spikes over 100 on live deals
- Three-Tier Evaluation System and an annual bottom-bucket pruning cycle
- Distinct internal vocabulary: commerciality, citizenship, fiduciary mindset
Timeline
When Goldman Sachs programmes open and close
By programme. Use these dates to plan applications across the cycle and submit early on rolling lines.
| Programme | Opens | Closes | Assessment | Offers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Insight / First-Year Diversity Programs | August-September (freshman year) | October-November | HireVue sent in October | December-January | Held over 2-3 days in spring in NY; high performers fast-tracked into sophomore summer interviews. |
| Sophomore Summer Analyst Internship | January-February (sophomore year) | Rolling, typically filled by April | - | March-May | Restricted seat count, focused on diversity and quantitative/engineering tracks; converts directly into a Junior Summer offer. |
| Junior Summer Analyst Internship (primary engine) | Early-to-mid March (sophomore year) | Rolling; priority window March 15-April 30 | OA and HireVue April-July | Rolling through the summer; Superdays June-September | 10-week internship the following summer; the main source of full-time hiring. Most NY IB seats lock before junior year begins. |
| Off-Cycle Internships | Ad-hoc, typically August and January | Per posting | - | - | 3-6 months, for international students, accelerated graduates and co-op schools (e.g. Northeastern, Drexel). |
| Full-Time Analyst Program | July of junior summer (external candidates) | Late August / early September | - | Late September / early October | A small external pool; the firm converts 75-85% of summer analysts directly into full-time roles. |
FAQ
Goldman Sachs application questions
How is Goldman Sachs different from its bulge-bracket peers?
Goldman competes on pure advisory prestige, execution excellence and cross-functional structuring capability rather than balance sheet. Where JPMorgan leverages an immense commercial balance sheet to win relationships, and Morgan Stanley leans on technology, wealth and equities, Goldman runs OneGS: divisions cross-sell and collaborate seamlessly, so a deal team can pull capital-markets intelligence directly from trading desks. In the M&A league tables it consistently battles for the number-one global ranking. Against elite boutiques, it offers global reach, financing capacity and capital-markets execution that pure-play advisory shops cannot replicate, while retaining their advisory prestige.
How technical is the Goldman process?
Very. The HireVue is largely behavioral, but the phone screen and Superday test core corporate finance hard: walking a $10 depreciation charge through the three statements, the EV-to-equity bridge, WACC and CAPM, DCF mechanics (unlevered vs levered FCF, terminal value, mid-year convention), and a mental paper LBO. Interviewers deliberately twist standard questions, changing capital-structure assumptions mid-stream, to test economic intuition over memorized scripts. The standard for accuracy is zero-tolerance, so practice explaining your logic out loud.
What assessments does Goldman use in the US?
For business tracks (IB, Global Markets, AWM), Goldman uses SHL's next-generation Verify G+ adaptive General Ability test (numerical, verbal and inductive/deductive reasoning) plus an SHL Situational Judgment Test, with an OPQ32-style personality questionnaire. For Engineering and quantitative tracks it uses HackerRank: roughly 120 minutes of algorithmic challenges (LeetCode Medium-to-Hard) plus CS-fundamentals MCQs. You generally have 3-5 days. To clear the automated filter on competitive tracks you typically need to score around the 75th percentile or higher, rising toward the 85th in saturated cycles.
When does Goldman US recruiting open?
It is hyper-accelerated. Junior Summer Analyst applications open early-to-mid March of sophomore year, nearly 15 months before the internship starts, with a priority window of roughly March 15 to April 30. Spring Insight and first-year diversity programs run earlier, opening in the fall of freshman year. Recruiting is rolling and seats fill fast, so applying in the first week, after networking beforehand, is the single most important step. Most New York investment banking seats are locked down before junior-year classes begin in September.
What are exit opportunities from Goldman in the US?
Apex-tier. Goldman analysts are heavily recruited by mega-cap private equity (Blackstone, KKR, Apollo, Carlyle, Bain Capital, TPG), elite multi-manager hedge funds (Citadel, Millennium, Point72, Balyasny) and top corporate development teams at firms like Alphabet, Meta and Apple. On-cycle PE recruiting often begins just 3-5 months into the first year, with headhunters building rosters for roles that start 18 months out. The combination of rigorous training, complex deal exposure and early responsibility builds exactly the toolkit buy-side recruiters look for.
How not to fail
Mistakes that cost candidates Goldman Sachs offers
Specific failure modes the firm screens out. None of these need talent to avoid, only awareness.
- 01Arrogance in behavioral rounds. Treating junior interviewers or recruiters with less respect than senior MDs. The panel operates on full consensus; a negative cultural flag from an Analyst can disqualify a candidate immediately.
- 02Rambling answers on HireVue. Failing to structure thoughts within the 2-minute window. Without a STAR framework, candidates run out of time before clearly explaining their results.
- 03Unverified valuation assumptions. Memorizing technical answers from generic guides without understanding the underlying economics, then falling apart when an interviewer twists the question.
- 04Inaccurate target alignment. Applying to multiple offices without keeping the resume focused on those regional markets (e.g. Houston Energy coverage with a West Coast Tech resume).
- 05Unquantified resume points. Passive task descriptions instead of clear, metrics-driven outcomes. Every bullet must demonstrate tangible impact with concrete numbers.
If you are rejected
What to do next
A rejection is not an indicator of your career potential given the sub-1.5% acceptance rate. Goldman does not provide individualized feedback at early stages due to volume and compliance. Map out alternative cycles and position for a later lateral move.
Bulge-bracket peers
Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan offer a broad platform and similar exits.
Elite boutiques
Evercore, Centerview, Moelis and PJT recruit similar profiles, often later into fall and winter.
Middle-market and regional
Middle-market banks and regional advisory firms recruit later in the season; build a track record and lateral into Goldman as an experienced Associate.
Goldman Sachs Pack
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Intervyo is not affiliated with or endorsed by Goldman Sachs. Process details are sourced from past applicants, the firm's published guidance and our own research; verify timings on the firm's official careers site before applying. Last updated July 18, 2026.
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