Preparing for Your Engineering Interview

Goldman Sachs is hiring talented engineers who are excited to work with other great engineers in a fast-paced,
ever evolving environment. We want people who are deeply passionate about using technology to solve business
problems, and are constantly innovating to find better ways of doing things.

We assess technical ability in different ways — phone interviews, onsite interviews and live coding platforms like
CoderPad and HackerRank.

Programming
We are looking for in-depth conceptual understanding of at least one programming language,
preferably C /C++, Java, Python or JavaScript. Applicants may also be required to know APIs, Object
Oriented Programming, multi-threading, testing, handling edge cases, and Front End/ Back End/Full
Stack development. We often use CoderPad and HackerRank to test actual coding ability. CoderPad
is a collaborative coding platform for conducting remote interviews with candidates that allows code to
be run in real-time. Another testing tool we might use is the aforementioned HackerRank. You may also
be asked to create some pseudo-code on either over the phone or during the onsite interview.

Data Structures
Software engineers at Goldman Sachs regularly design, implement, and manipulate complex data
structures. Depending on the role you’re interviewing for, questions about time and space complexities
of libraries, and underlying data structures, could be asked. Frequently used data structures are arrays,
hash-tables, hash-maps, linked lists, stacks, binary trees, heaps, graphs, and queues.

Software Algorithms
If you’re asked about data structures, you’ll likely be tested on your understanding of which algorithms
would go with each data structure. Algorithms frequently used include binary search, dynamic
programming, recursion, and sorting. You’ll want to be familiar with the complexity of the algorithms and
ways to improve it. Don’t just seek to produce an algorithm that works, produce one that is optimal.

Mathematics
In addition to core programming, some roles will require in-depth understanding of mathematics.
For these roles, be prepared to speak to your understanding of Stochastic Calculus or differential
equations, Probabilities and Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or Physics (as applicable), and more.

General
You’ll likely be asked about other abilities, such as your creativity in problem solving, ability to think
in terms of interoperability, scalability, and performance, as well as ability to deal with ambiguous
specifications and finding efficient solutions without a brute force approach. We’re not just looking at
what you can compute, but how you do so. Be vocal in detailing your thought process, and be ready to
explain and justify your choices. Knowledge of financial markets and instruments can be viewed as a
plus, but not required.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Will I be asked any brain teasers?
A: No, we don’t ask brain teasers. We’ve learned that the best way to understand a candidate’s
capability is to give them real world problems to solve.

We want to understand how you approach programming, and how you’d solve the challenges you
will encounter working here. We’ll ask relevant work-based questions that will require real world
technical solutions.

Q: Do I need to have finance experience?

A: Finance experience is not a prerequisite. In fact, many of our hires come from other industries
entirely. Diversity is at the core of innovation, and our Goldman Sachs Engineering teams fully
embrace and recognize that. We’re striving to build the best technology teams, simple as that.

Q: Who is selecting my resume for interview?

A: All relevant candidates are hand selected by our recruiting team, who collaborate directly with
our hiring managers.

Q: How are our interviews scheduled?

A: We have a dedicated team of Coordinators, who will work directly with you and the Hiring
Managers to schedule your interviews in a timely manner.

Q: Can I know who I’ll be interviewing with?

A: To prevent any confusion that arises from last minute changes, we don’t provide interviewer names.

Q: Will I receive specific feedback on my interview?

A: No, the firm doesn’t provide specific feedback to candidates.

Q: Who should I reach out to if I have any further questions?

A: One of our recruiters will always be available to assist you in anything you need. We are not only
available, but encourage you to reach out should you need anything throughout the process.

Q: How will I know if there are next steps?

A: Someone from the recruiting team will be in touch shortly, to provide information on any potential
next steps.