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Goldman Sachs Interview Questions

January 4, 2024 - Dom Barnard

Goldman Sachs Overview

Website: www.goldmansachs.com
Size: 10,000+ employees
Revenue: $10+ billion (USD) per year
Headquarters: New York, NY, United States
Founded: 1869
Industry: Finance
Competitors: J.P. Morgan, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley

Company Overall Rating: 4.1/5
Recommend to a friend: 80%
Benefits: 4.2/5

Goldman Sachs Interview

Interview Experience
Positive: 62%
Neutral: 11%
Negative: 27%

Getting an Interview
Applied Online: 47%
Campus Recruiting: 29%
Recruiter: 19%

Interview Difficulty
3.1/5 (Average)

Technical Questions

  1. Suppose you have a C++ method which is declared as “protected”. Can an instance of a child of that parent class call the protected method? Do any restrictions apply? What about a child of that child class?
  2. Consider some arbitrary covariance matrix. Describe the terms you would expect to find on the diagonal of that matrix.
  3. What are the differences between java and haskell, html and css. How would you describe one concept in java to a non-programmer?
  4. How would I find the unequal weighted snooker ball with weighing scales
  5. Describe a time you had to present complex information in a simplified way to another person.
  6. How would you describe a database to someone who without technical knowledge.
  7. Flip 100 coins, probability of having more than 65 heads.
  8. Explain to me the Newton’s method and give me the intuition why it works.
  9. How do you solve the Vasicek model?
  10. Explain Ito’s lemma to me.
  11. A client calls you at 7pm, he wants a new functionality by 8am. You are not allowed to work overnight. The Client does not want to hang up. What do you do?
  12. The last guy I interviewed was from Harvard and has perfect grades – why should I hire you over him, given that you’re much less impressive?
  13. Tell me a time where you make decisions without any data.
  14. Describe a time when you have made an error, what would you do to stop this from happening in the future?
  15. How many windows does the empire state building have?

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Sales / Product Manager / Operations Questions

  1. What makes GS stand out to you
  2. Describe the life cycle of trade
  3. Talk about a recent deal we’ve advised
  4. Who is the CEO of GS?
  5. What’s your greatest fear about investment banking?
  6. What is the difference between an investment bank and a retail bank?
  7. Tell me about a situation where you solved a problem.
  8. When is a good time to withhold information
  9. What kind of things do you think Operations at Goldman Sachs is doing
  10. Give me 3 weakness and strengths
  11. How are your skills suited to this role?
  12. What piece of recent news do you think would most likely impact the Operations division as a whole?
  13. Describe a time you have made an improvement or made something more efficient.
  14. Tell me about a time you had a conflict at school/university/work. What did you do to solve it?
  15. Difference between prop trading and market making
  16. Example of a time you’ve had to compromise
  17. What motivates you in life?
  18. If you had £10,000, how would you invest it?
  19. Tell me about recent M&A deals.
  20. What macroeconomic factors affect the Real Estate division?
  21. When have you taken a risk and how is risk measured?
  22. Do you think financial markets in China will ever open up?
  23. Are there any companies that appeal to you right now?

These Goldman Sachs interview questions were asked in real job interviews. Make sure you can answer the majority of these questions before your interview.

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