Sharran Srivatsaa, president of Acquisition.com and a former Goldman Sachs funding banker, recently shared a story on TikTok about how he managed to get employed at Goldman Sachs—a course of that apparently required 39 one-on-one interviews, together with one which lasted lower than a minute however provided knowledge about what it takes to land a job at a prestigious Wall Avenue financial institution.
The entrepreneur, who has built a track record as a four-time Inc. 500 entrepreneur, recounted the unconventional interview expertise that occurred throughout his post-MBA job search. Based on Srivatsaa’s account, one specific interview concerned a managing director who instantly challenged him with an uncommon check.
“He shows up all frazzled. He puts like this big leather binder on the desk and he says, ‘You’re a hot shot. I see hot shots come through here all the time. See if you can set me up a meeting,’” Srivatsaa said. The binder contained contact information, including names and phone numbers.
The twist came in Srivatsaa’s response. Unlike previous candidates, who apparently tried to demonstrate their sales prowess by immediately making cold calls, Srivatsaa asked a simple question that changed everything: “I’m happy to call her. Do you have a script or something? Because I just want to represent you well.” The managing director immediately packed up his belongings, shook Srivatsaa’s hand, and left after what he said amounted to around 46 seconds.
Srivatsaa, who worked in investment management at Goldman Sachs from 2007 to 2010, mentioned he later noticed his interviewer at a cocktail social gathering and discovered why their one-on-one was reduce so quick. “You’re the primary person who didn’t simply decide up the cellphone and wish to show to me that they’re a scorching shot,” the interviewer informed him. “You requested me, hey, are you able to give me some steerage on what to do right here? As a result of that made me imagine that you just’re coachable.”
To be clear, it is notoriously difficult to get a job at Goldman Sachs. The investment bank’s hiring process is broadly considered probably the most aggressive in finance, with acceptance charges that make admission to Harvard College appear accessible by comparability. For 2024, Goldman Sachs says it received over 315,000 functions for internship positions however chosen solely about 2,600 candidates, leading to an acceptance charge of simply 0.9%. In contrast, Harvard’s undergraduate acceptance charge stands at 3.6%. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon mentioned even he was rejected twice by the corporate.
Goldman’s “Superday” interview process usually entails a number of back-to-back interviews performed over one or two days, with candidates going through wherever from three to 6 completely different interviewers. The method can embody a mixture of technical questions, behavioral assessments, and case research, all designed to guage each technical competency and cultural match. Nevertheless, Srivatsaa’s expertise of 39 particular person interviews seems to be exceptionally in depth, even by Goldman’s rigorous requirements.
Goldman Sachs didn’t instantly reply to Fortune‘s request for remark.
Solomon says Goldman Sachs looks for candidates who display “grit and dedication” and the power to “decide themselves up and mud themselves off and hold going” after they encounter setbacks. The financial institution actively recruits from a broad number of faculties worldwide and significantly values candidates with STEM backgrounds, on condition that Goldman employs over 10,000 engineers.
The investment bank’s competitive hiring environment reflects broader trends in elite finance recruiting, where major firms like JPMorgan Chase report similarly low acceptance rates of round 0.8% for his or her internship applications. This intense competitors has made networking and demonstrating coachability more and more essential differentiators for candidates looking for to interrupt into funding banking careers.
For Srivatsaa, the Goldman Sachs experience ultimately served as preparation for his entrepreneurial career, where he would go on to help scale Real Brokerage to become what the company describes as the fastest-growing publicly traded real estate brokerage in the world. His current role at Acquisition.com, the investment firm cofounded by Alex and Leila Hormozi, puts him on the other side of the evaluation process, where the lessons learned from his own marathon interview experience continue to inform his approach to identifying coachable talent.
You can watch Srivastaa’s TikTok beneath:
@sharransrivatsaa Are you able to give me a script? 3 causes that query wins: • Admits you don’t know all of it • Reveals you’ll comply with path • Offers you confidence earlier than you name Coachable beats cocky. ♬ original sound – Sharran Srivatsaa
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to assist with an preliminary draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the data earlier than publishing.
