Goldman Sachs Interview Experience | Analyst | India

My Goldman Sachs Interview Experience

I applied to Goldman Sachs multiple times through referrals on their portal, but I never received a callback. This time, I decided to randomly apply and was fortunate enough to get an interview opportunity. I have 1.5 years of experience working in a product-based startup and possess decent Competitive Programming (CP) ratings.

Online Assessment

I received a link for the Online Assessment (OA) which consisted of two coding questions:

• The first question was a standard dynamic programming problem concerning 'how many ways to make a sum using given numbers'.
• The second question was Construct Smallest Number From DI String.

I successfully solved both problems, and the very next day, the HR contacted me to inform me that I would proceed to the next stage. However, the HR then ghosted me for about 10-15 days before the next steps.

Screening Round (Coderpad)

I aced this round in just 25 minutes, solving both questions the interviewer provided. These problems were commonly found in other Goldman Sachs interview experiences and involved topics like arrays and DFS/DSU.

Super Day

The Super Day consisted of multiple rounds, each with two interviewers. Every interview began with a warm exchange of greetings, and all the interviewers were very attentive and gave off good vibes.

1. First Interview (DSA Round)

The interviewers reviewed my resume and started asking JavaScript questions since it was prominently mentioned. They asked about promises and other JS concepts, but I struggled to recall many details as I hadn't used JS for 4-5 months. They allowed me to use JS throughout the round and were understanding about minor syntax mistakes.

• The first DSA question was a simple hashmap plus set problem. I coded it easily but had some trouble with JS syntax. Despite that, I passed all test cases in one go.
• The second DSA question was Minimum Window Substring. Again, while writing in JS, I made a small mistake using 'of' instead of 'in' for a forEach loop, which prevented the code from running initially. I debugged it and successfully passed all test cases.

2. Second Round (Software Engineering Practices)

This round primarily focused on my projects. I was then asked to give a very high-level design of a food delivery application from the user's perspective. I also had to design the database schema for it in detail.

• There was one DSA question which was a very easy map plus queue problem.

3. Hiring Manager (HM) Round

For this round, I was specifically asked to code in Java only. When I inquired if I could use C++, they mentioned I had already used C++ and JS in previous rounds, so doing one in Java would ensure language wasn't a barrier. They also agreed to help me with syntax if I got stuck.

• The DSA question involved a queue and a sliding window concept. I couldn't recall the exact question but managed to write very clean code in a short amount of time.
• I was given a puzzle whose answer turned out to be the sum of squares up to 'n'.
• Additionally, there were a few behavioral questions.

Verdict

I am currently waiting to find out the verdict as most people are on holidays. I will update once I receive the outcome.