Goldman Sachs Internship Interview Experience 2021

Round 1(Online Test – Time: 135 mins): Difficulty: Medium

The test consisted of 4 sections:

1. Coding (3 questions – 2 moderate and 1 advanced)
2. Quantitative Aptitude (trigonometry, PnC, Co-Ordinate Geometry, Time and Work)
3. Computer Programming MCQ’s (OS, DSA, DBMS)
4. HR Questions (2)

I would suggest attempting all sections. Don’t skip any section completely. The aptitude section has negative markings. HR questions could be answered with rational thinking and smartness.

Round 2(Technical Interview – Time: 40 mins): Difficulty: Easy

• The round started with the interviewer asking me to tell him about myself. After that, he asked questions related to the project I mentioned on my resume. He asked me about a DSA problem. 
• Problem: Given a singly linked list, you have to reverse its second half and return the head of the modified linked list.
• I discussed all the corner cases, space, and time-efficient solutions. After he got satisfied with my approach explanation, I was asked to code it. 
• After that, he asked me some DBMS-related questions. To name a few, those were What is Indexing, Types of Indexing, Difference between Unique and Distinct with respect to SQL. 
• Finally, the interview ended with the interviewer asking me if I had any questions for him. This is the time you can make an impression so think over questions beforehand and do some research on the company. Never say No to this question.
• I was asked to wait for the next round.

Round 3(Technical Interview – Time: 30 mins): Difficulty: Medium

• In this round, the interviewer picked up one of my projects which I had done in Flask and asked about its working, why I took the project, my approach, difficulties, etc. He asked me whether I want him to ask questions related project or DSA. I answered DSA would be good (he had already asked many things related to my project).
• Problem: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/coin-change-dp-7/
• Then he asked the approach of a coding question that I was able to give properly. Before coding it, I explained my approach using the tabular method.
• He asked me to code the same. I coded it but it couldn’t run completely. He gave me time and asked me to just explained my approach using an example. I did the same. He was satisfied.
• Finally, the interview ended with the interviewer telling me it is fine if I couldn’t code it completely, as this is a short round. He asked me to wait for the next round.

Round 4(Technical + HR – Time: 40 mins): Difficulty: Medium

• The round started with the interviewer asking me to tell him about myself. I was given a Binary Tree problem.
• Problem: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/zigzag-tree-traversal/
• I discussed the whole approach. Once he got satisfied, he asked me to code the same. While I was coding I was explaining it through the binary tree example that I got as an input. He remained interactive while I was coding.
• After that, he asked me some C++ related questions. To name a few, those were What are smart pointers, when do we use them. He asked me if I know the Operating Systems concept. He asked Thread, Process. Difference between thread and process. Why do we use threads? 
• Finally, the interview ended with the interviewer asking me if I had any questions for him. Never say No to this question.

Tips:

• Stay calm and confident throughout the process.
• Keep communicating with the interviewer and tell them how you are approaching a problem. Their main aim is to check your problem-solving skills and your approach.
• Don’t directly jump to code your approach before discussing it with the interviewer.
• Be honest and don’t beat around the bush in case you don’t know anything.
• If you have confidence and knowledge, you will be selected.

All the best!

Verdict: Selected