I have an interview lined up with a quant team at Goldman. Has anyone gone through any interviews with them in general? Can you offer any tips or links to previous relevant posts (numi’s or another person’s)? I am mostly interested in big no-no’s of what to say. Also any interview tips in general would def be apprecated. Quant, programming, and thesis questions will be important and I’ve read about these things on more quant forums, but I get the feeling that a big part of the process will be about social skills, fit, amd other non quant stuff. Thanks in advance.
Make us proud Sub! I’m pulling for you! http://www.glassdoor.com/Interview/Goldman-Sachs-Interview-Questions-E2800.htm
http://www.businessinsider.com/former-goldman-associate-and-private-client-wealth-manager-talks-about-how-to-ace-your-goldman-interview-2010-3 http://www.spearswms.com/asset-management/16477/alphaone-male.thtml good luck buddy!
wow! thanks, you guys are awesome.
If A, B and C follow Standard Normal(0,1) and are iid find P(A>B & A>C)
^ i could be wrong, but due to symmetry, iid, and the brainteaser nature of the question, wouldn’t that be 1/2 * 1/2 = 1/4? if not, i’m curious to know the answer.
Yes you are wrong. I hope you do understand that A,B,C independent does not imply that A>B & A>C are independent. Sub, try harder, not all brainteasers can be solved in 2 mins. Sometimes interviewer wants to see how you approach a problem, but above question does have a concrete answer and was asked during a grilling interview.
hmmm, there are six possible permutations, each equally likely. (with equality having density zero) 1 - A > B > C 2 - A > C > B 3 - B > A > C 4 - B > C > A 5 - C > A > B 6 - C > B > A so the first two satisfies your relation. p = 1/3 i am doing it without using calculus first…maybe wrong again! : )
I interviewed for a similar position about 2 months ago. Goldman people were very nice, far nicer than other places I interviewed (I’m looking at you, HSBC and Bloomberg …) The questions were very straightforward, derive Black Scholes, standard C++ questions, write code on the spot…
Good Job Sub.
deleted, doublepost
@ gauri Thanks, your hint helped. Though, I was unsure that my method had some hidden problems and only worked if it were a uniform distribution. @ DoubleDip How important were behavioral questions and bulding a rapport with the interviewers? Like, is everything based on purely technical considerations and they don’t care if you have a bit of Asperger tendencies (which I do have)? Or can social skills help to close a gap if you are missing some of their advertised technical experience requirements? Thanks.
I had very few behavioral type questions, if any, at GS. I think that in order to get in at GS, you have to be technically very sharp, but also humble and I would recommend that you try to build a rapport with the interviewers. I don’t think that social skills can help much if you can’t answer the technical questions. And regarding social skills, at least one interviewer I had (also at Morgan Stanley) told me that they don’t like working with people at all, just want to write their code, and they got in, but I would advise you not to say that of course! Just keep in mind that this characteristic is fairly typical of quants, so technical skills >>>>>> social skills. A friend of mine just got hired there and I am certain that he would have just gotten in on the technical skills alone, judging by what he told me about his interview experience. They do seem to like people with a wide range of backgrounds. Good luck!
PS since you asked for no-nos on what not to say: don’t bring up the current SEC case :), oversized bonuses, or that Rolling Stone story comparing GS to a giant squid vampire… also of course nothing negative whatsoever about former job, coworkers etc.
That’s some great info, thanks! I will be weak on some of the very advanced C++ stuff, but hoping to make up for it in other areas, both technical and non-technical, since the position isn’t a pure developer role, and just trying to strategize about the entire process.
here’s some help on C++, it’s what I use to brush up when I go for interviews http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:IcQjfdzxWkcJ:www2.research.att.com/~bs/bs_faq2.html+stroustrup+c%2B%2B+faq&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us no idea why the actual site isn’t loading… GS does not use C++ but their own internal language SLANG. Most people there use it, even traders and portfolio managers, I was told, and they said that they ask C++ questions because they’ve found that people who know this language can pick up SLANG quickly. Also see Schaum’s outline on C++, and write some code before you go in as you should not give them any reason to reject your candidacy, you should expect that there will be many who will ace all aspects of the interview.
Good luck buddy, may you ace that interview.
@ DoubleDip Thanks again. Yeah, I’ve been studying C++ like crazy for 6 months now, sacrificing everything and going over like 15 books (core language, finance-focused C++, and interview-focused C++) and writing small to medium sized programs, but have no experiecce in software development as part of a large team. I can answer up to medium difficulty problems, but any professional developer with a few years experience will outclass me. Hopefully my prep was enough and other areas make up for any deficiencies. @ JOE2010 Thanks, I’m expecting to fail, but at least the opportunity is there.
DoubleDip Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I had very few behavioral type questions, if any, > at GS. I think that in order to get in at GS, > you have to be technically very sharp, but also > humble and I would recommend that you try to build > a rapport with the interviewers. I don’t think > that social skills can help much if you can’t > answer the technical questions. And regarding > social skills, at least one interviewer I had > (also at Morgan Stanley) told me that they don’t > like working with people at all, just want to > write their code, and they got in, but I would > advise you not to say that of course! Just keep > in mind that this characteristic is fairly typical > of quants, so technical skills >>>>>> social > skills. > > A friend of mine just got hired there and I am > certain that he would have just gotten in on the > technical skills alone, judging by what he told me > about his interview experience. They do seem to > like people with a wide range of backgrounds. > Good luck! my interview was not like this at all… it was very fit driven and i did not have much tech. questions until final person… they all asked me why gs… every single one of them… i did get offer but declined
hey goldenboy09, were you interviewing for a quantitative role? also, maybe it was different because you already had experience? i’m interviewing right out of a phd program with no finance experience, so maybe this weights it towards the technical questions a lot more.