Goldman Sachs Interview 2024
— interview, job search, python, algorithms, database management, system design — 2 min read
I recently had the opportunity to interview with Goldman Sachs for the Global Markets, Software Engineer, Securities Settlements, New York position, and I'd like to share my experience.
June 27
My friend referred me for the position, and I received an invitation from HR to apply. The first step was to schedule a CoderPad interview.
CoderPad Interview
July 02
The CoderPad interview included three questions:
- Find a Cycle in an Array
- I had seen this question before, so the interviewer decided to skip it.
- Shortest Distance Between Two Midpoints in Number of Characters
- You can find a similar question here.
- Pascal's Triangle Function
- I was able to solve this one using recursion.
With two out of three questions successfully solved, I was invited to a virtual onsite interview that consisted of four rounds.
Virtual Onsite Interview
July 12
Round 1: Data Structures
The first round focused on data structures such as stacks, queues, and sorting algorithms, including their time complexities. I was also given a problem to find the root of the largest tree in a forest of one or more disconnected trees. You can see a similar problem here. I answered all the questions but used tree algorithms like DFS, which wasn’t the optimal approach.
Round 2: Software Engineering Practices
The second round involved a real-time problem related to securities transactions. This round tested my practical knowledge and understanding of software engineering principles in a real-world scenario.
Round 3: Software Design and Architecture
In this round, I faced questions on SQL queries, filtering, and database indexing. The interviewer discussed about cache hydration, and asked what is the optimal policy to hydrate the data into cache.
Round 4: Hiring Manager Round
Unfortunately, the fourth round was cancelled because the hiring manager was on sick leave. I was informed that this round would be rescheduled.
Follow-Up
July 17
After waiting for a few days, I followed up with HR regarding the rescheduled round. However, HR replied that they had decided to move forward with another applicant and would not be conducting the fourth round.
Conclusion
Though I didn't get the job, the interview process at Goldman Sachs was a valuable learning experience. If you're preparing for an interview with Goldman Sachs for an Analyst role, make sure to brush up on data structures, algorithms, real-world problem-solving, and database management.
Good luck!