Goldman Sachs interview experience Real time questions & tips from candidates to crack your interview
Summer Analyst Intern
Goldman Sachs
3 rounds | 7 Coding
problems
Selected Interview preparation journey
Journey
This was an on-campus offer. I had to undergo an initial screening online assessment, followed by three rounds of interviews to get this role. I started coding in my second year of college and had some basic coding knowledge previously. I mainly relied on online coding platforms for practice, which immensely helped me. I tried to stay calm and composed during the interview as much as possible.
Application story
This was an on-campus internship. I applied through the Goldman Sachs application portal. Then, I had to take an online assessment with aptitude and coding questions. Around 30 people were selected for interviews after this. After each interview round, some people were rejected, while the rest moved on to the next rounds. I had a total of 3 interviews, all of which were coding-based, with the last one including a few HR questions as well.
Why selected/rejected for the role?
I answered every question confidently. I was able to answer most of the questions. I got stuck on one question in the first round, but after receiving a slight hint, I understood it well and was able to form the correct solution.
Preparation
Duration: 6 months
Topics: Data structures, Algorithms, OOPS, Graphs, Dynamic programming, Linked lists, Operating systems
Tip 1: Practice a lot of questions on online coding platforms. Try to cover a variety of topics and avoid sticking to just one.
Tip 2: Be confident during the interview. Feel free to ask questions if you have any doubts.
Tip 3: Try to maintain a decent CGPA (8.5+). This might help in the screening round of some companies.
Application process
Where: Campus
Eligibility: No criteria
Tip 1: Mention the projects on your resume that you would be comfortable explaining in great detail.
Tip 2: Remember to add a skill to your resume that you won't be able to explain in detail if questioned.
Interview rounds
01
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration60 minutes
Interview date25 Jul 2021
Coding problem2
1. Equilibrium Index
Easy
0/40
Asked in companies
You are given an array Arr consisting of N integers. You need to find the equilibrium index of the array.
An index is considered as an equilibrium index if the sum of elements of the array to the left of that index is equal to the sum of elements to the right of it.
Note:
1. The array follows 0-based indexing, so you need to return the 0-based index of the element.
2. Note that the element at the equilibrium index won’t be considered for either left sum or right sum.
3. If there are multiple indices which satisfy the given condition, then return the left-most index i.e if there are indices i,j,k…. which are equilibrium indices, return the minimum among them
4. If no such index is present in the array, return -1.
2. Merge Intervals
Moderate
20m average time
80% success
0/80
Asked in companies
You are given N number of intervals, where each interval contains two integers denoting the start time and the end time for the interval.
The task is to merge all the overlapping intervals and return the list of merged intervals sorted by increasing order of their start time.
Two intervals [A,B] and [C,D] are said to be overlapping with each other if there is at least one integer that is covered by both of them.
For example:
For the given 5 intervals - [1, 4], [3, 5], [6, 8], [10, 12], [8, 9].
Since intervals [1, 4] and [3, 5] overlap with each other, we will merge them into a single interval as [1, 5].
Similarly, [6, 8] and [8, 9] overlap, merge them into [6,9].
Interval [10, 12] does not overlap with any interval.
Final List after merging overlapping intervals: [1, 5], [6, 9], [10, 12].
Problem approach
1. Sort the intervals.
2. While traversing the intervals vector, we will encounter two cases:
Case 1: If there is an overlap between the intervals, take the maximum element from the ending point, and thus, merge them.
Case 2: If there is no overlap, push that interval to our resultant vector.
02
Round
Medium
Video Call
Duration60 minutes
Interview date25 Jul 2021
Coding problem3
1. Puzzle
You have someone working for you for five days and a gold bar to pay him. Giving him a piece of gold at the end of every day would be best. What is the fewest number of cuts to the bar of gold that will allow you to pay him 1/5th each day?
Problem approach
Tip 1: Work out your thought process on paper.
Tip 2: Try the hit-and-trial method to solve and work out the solution. At times, this may provide insight into how the problem works, and you can adjust your solution accordingly.
2. Puzzle
Three employees want to know the average of their salaries. They are not allowed to share their salaries.
Problem approach
- X adds a random number and his salary, then tells the sum to Y.
- Y also adds a random number and his salary to X's sum, then tells the new sum to Z.
- Z also adds a random number and his salary to the sum told by Y, then tells the new sum to X.
- X subtracts his random number from the sum Z tells him, then tells the new number to Y.
- Y subtracts his random number from the sum told by X, then tells the new number to Z.
- Z subtracts his random number from the sum Y tells him, then announces the new number.
The new number is now the sum of the three salaries, and the average can be calculated by dividing the sum by 3.
3. Binary Tree Zigzag Traversal
Easy
15m average time
85% success
0/40
Asked in companies
You have been given a Binary Tree of 'N' nodes, where the nodes have integer values. Your task is to print the zigzag traversal of the given tree.
Note:
In zigzag order, level 1 is printed from left to right fashion, level 2 is printed from right to left. and level 3 is printed from left to right again, and so on…..
For example:
For the given binary tree
The zigzag traversal is [1, 4, 3, 5, 2, 7, 6]
Problem approach
- Made a queue to store each level and kept track of the number of elements in each level.
- Kept pushing the children of each element into the queue.
- Once all the children of a particular level have been pushed into the queue, we will get all parent elements in an array. Traverse this array from left to right or right to left alternatively and add those elements to our answer vector.
03
Round
Easy
Video Call
Duration45 minutes
Interview date25 Jul 2021
Coding problem2
1. Project based question
I was asked to explain my project, which I've mentioned in my resume.
Problem approach
Tip 1: Know the tech stack of your project very well.
Tip 2: Know the future scope and possible improvements that your project can have.
2. HR Questions
HR-based questions on how I would tackle handling deadlines.
Problem approach
Tip 1: Be confident when telling your approach.
Tip 2: Take a few seconds to think and form your answer before speaking.
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Skill covered: Programming
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