Goldman Sachs contacted me after I posted my resume on my university's e-recruiting website. The initial interview took place in my university's career center.

After my friend was called back for a second interview and I hadn't heard anything, I contacted the person who interviewed me via email to inquire if they had made a decision on my application.

I discovered they had no electronic record of my application because I had not applied online. Apparently, the interviewer remembered our discussion about software design and databases in my first interview and was impressed. He then arranged a second interview for me at their offices in Salt Lake City, consisting of a series of five or six interviews over five hours.

The interviews at the Salt Lake City offices focused solely on technical questions about:

• SQL
• C++
• Java
• Software Architecture and Design
• Algorithms
• Algorithm Analysis

Additionally, many company-culture-related questions were asked, such as:

• "Why are you interested in Goldman?"
• "What are your career aspirations?"
• "Why are you interested in the financial industry?"
• "How much interest do you have in learning about our core businesses? Business understanding is crucial to your success here."
• "What do you expect out of Goldman as an employer and a workplace?"
• "What can Goldman expect from you?"

The morning after my interviews, I was contacted and offered an intern position in New York City.

Even though this was my experience, my friend wasn't contacted until almost three weeks after his second interview. Therefore, I wouldn't give up on Goldman completely just because they haven't given you a "yay" or "nay" yet.

Which is faster in C++: post-increment or pre-increment?