Man says Goldman Sachs put him through a gauntlet of 39 one-on-one interviews—and the decisive conversation was less than a minute

Sharran Srivatsaa, president of Acquisition.com and a former Goldman Sachs wealth manager, shared on TikTok his experience of undergoing 39 one-on-one interviews to secure a job at Goldman Sachs, highlighting an unconventional interview that lasted less than a minute but proved pivotal.

During one interview, a managing director challenged Srivatsaa to set up a meeting using a binder of contact information, but instead of immediately making cold calls like previous candidates, Srivatsaa asked for guidance or a script to represent the director well. This response led the interviewer to end the session quickly, and Srivatsaa later learned that it demonstrated his coachability, a trait highly valued by the bank.

Goldman Sachs' hiring process is notoriously competitive, with an acceptance rate of approximately 0.7% for its internship program, lower than Harvard University's 3.6%. The typical "Superday" interview involves multiple back-to-back sessions assessing technical skills, behavior, and cultural fit, though Srivatsaa's 39 interviews were exceptionally extensive.

CEO David Solomon emphasizes that the bank seeks candidates with grit, determination, and the ability to recover from setbacks, actively recruiting from diverse schools and valuing STEM backgrounds. This reflects broader trends in elite finance, where low acceptance rates and the importance of coachability and networking are common.

Srivatsaa's Goldman Sachs experience informed his entrepreneurial career, including scaling the Real Brokerage and his current role at Acquisition.com, where he applies lessons on identifying coachable talent from his own interview marathon.