Goldman Sachs | Associate | Interview Experience | India
Summary
I interviewed for an Associate role at Goldman Sachs in Bangalore. After successfully clearing multiple rounds focusing on Data Structures & Algorithms and System Design, I unfortunately did not pass the final system design round where I was asked to design a billing system.
Full Experience
The recruitment process started after a recruiter reached out to me on LinkedIn. My first step was a HackerRank test, which consisted of two LeetCode Medium problems. I passed this initial screening.
The next round was conducted on Coderpad via Zoom. I faced two questions: one involved a grid-based Dynamic Programming problem, and the second was related to Pascal's Triangle. I successfully cleared this round.
The third round was another Data Structures & Algorithms focused interview. The first question asked me to Find Subarrays whose sum is 0, which I solved perfectly and wrote working code for. The second question was Meeting Rooms II. I provided the correct approach, but my code missed a few edge cases. The interviewers were happy with my approach and helpful throughout.
The fourth round delved into Software Design Principles. I was asked to perform a High-Level Design (HLD) of one of my past applications. The interview was intense, with back-to-back questions, leaving no time to draw the architecture while responding. Despite the pressure, I passed this round.
The fifth and final round involved designing a High-Level Architecture for their application's Billing System. Unfortunately, I struggled with this problem. The interviewers seemed a bit uninterested and ended the interview 15 minutes early when they saw me struggling. Although I understand I might not have been fully prepared, I felt the lack of assistance contributed to the outcome. Overall, the HR was very understanding, especially regarding my pre-planned vacations.
Interview Questions (5)
Pascal's Triangle
A question related to generating or manipulating Pascal's Triangle.
Find Subarrays whose sum is 0
Given an array of integers, find all contiguous subarrays whose sum is equal to zero.
Meeting Rooms II
Given an array of meeting time intervals intervals, where intervals[i] = [start_i, end_i], return the minimum number of conference rooms required.
High-Level Design of My Application
I was asked to perform a High-Level Design (HLD) of an application I had previously worked on. The interview involved rapid-fire questions about the architecture, requiring quick responses without much time for drawing.
High-Level Design of a Billing System
I was asked to design the High-Level Architecture for their application's Billing System.
Preparation Tips
My preparation primarily involved extensive practice on LeetCode, where I solved almost 650 questions, including approximately 350 medium and 50 hard problems. Based on my interview experience, I realize a significant area for improvement is in System Design, particularly High-Level Design.