How to get a job at Goldman Sachs

Goldman is considered the best of the so-called bulge bracket banks. The 155-year-old firm is the largest global M&A investment banker in 2024, advising on 313 mergers valued at $713.4 billion, according to Oct. 6 data from Dealogic. Goldman is also a major IPO adviser and has the best-known brand on Wall Street, said Meridith Dennes, managing partner of Prospect Rock Partners, a financial search firm. “Everyone wants to work at Goldman Sachs,” she says.

The analyst role at Goldman, an entry-level position, is one of the most coveted jobs on Wall Street. This position, typically aimed at executives in their 20s, can lead to careers in finance, private equity or almost any other field. So how do you get an analyst program?

The easiest way to get a job as a Goldman analyst is to intern at the investment bank. Each summer, the bank hires approximately 3,000 summer interns who are assigned to its various divisions, including investment banking, engineering and sales. For 10 weeks, interns work side-by-side with senior Goldman executives to develop knowledge, learn transferable skills to other sectors and gain industry experience.

“It’s almost like an extended interview,” said Jacqueline Arthur, Goldman’s global head of human capital management and corporate and workplace solutions. “We can evaluate the candidates brought in for the summer internship and they can really understand what it means to have a career here.”

The analyst position is very important to Goldman. About 40% of the bank’s partner class started as on-campus analysts. Some powerful current executives at Goldman who started as trainees include Marc Nachmann, global head of asset and wealth management, and Carey Halio, global treasurer and member of GS’s management committee. One of the most famous interns is John Winkelreid, who spent 27 years at Goldman and was considered a possible successor to then-CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Winkelreid instead joined private equity firm TPG in 2015, where he is CEO.

Landing a Goldman Sachs internship is also a fast track to a permanent role, with 80% of summer interns being hired as full-time analysts in recent years. Salaries are not broken. Goldman’s full-time investment banking and asset management analysts in New York City typically earn between $85,000 and $110,000.

Having Goldman on your resume can also be a long-term career boost that Prospect Rock’s Dennes likens to “getting the golden ticket.” She cites the formal training and mentoring program for analysts, but also points out that young bankers at the firm are typically exposed to the most complex and interesting transactions in the market. The investment bank also promotes from within, Dennes said.

“As far as bulge bracket banks go, (Goldman is) the best in the show,” she said.

It’s not easy

Although a position at Goldman is highly sought after, getting hired as an intern at Goldman is no easy task. This year, the bank received just over 300,000 applications and employed around 2,500 people. This means that less than 1% of the applicants who applied got the job.

For those who qualify for the internship program, Goldman typically selects those in their senior year of college following a standard interview and selection process.

The bank initially reviews resumes to narrow down its candidate list, then uses HireVue, a video interview platform, to interview candidates. Candidates should be prepared to answer situational questions, as well as behavioral and business-specific questions (Goldman also uses a technical assessment tool for engineering candidates.) Candidates who survive this round are then invited to the “super day”, the round final interviews. Then follow the offer letters for the successful applicants. The hiring process can take weeks, but could be longer depending on the hiring cycle at the time, Arthur said.

The investment bank’s successful reputation means it attracts candidates from around the world. And while candidates with finance or economics majors seem to have an advantage in applying to an investment bank, Goldman isn’t looking for candidates from a specific field of study, Arthur said. “We have a number of students who have gained financial exposure in college. We have many who didn’t. We train them for the roles they play,” she said. Candidates for investment banking roles also don’t need to come armed with modeling or Excel skills, she said.

Arthur said he was looking for a “genuine interest” in working at Goldman. This means that applicants should be able to articulate why they want to work at GS and why the particular opportunity is important to them. She emphasized that candidates should research the investment bank before any interview. Goldman has made available “possibility summits,” which are virtual programs aimed at helping candidates explore career options at GS, as well as podcasts. Students can also attend information sessions on campus, Arthur said.

Arthur still gets thank you notes after interviews. It makes no difference if the notes are handwritten or emailed. But Goldman does consider the candidate’s messages and their sincerity, she said. “What resonates with me is the person taking the time to carve out a personalized message,” she said.

Goldman is currently accepting applications for the 2025 Summer Internship Program online.