- Sharran Srivatsaa says he endured 39 one-on-one interviews to land a post-MBA role at Goldman Sachs.
- A 46-second interview with a managing director became decisive when he asked for a calling script instead of immediately dialing prospects, signaling coachability.
- The story underscores how humility, preparation, and willingness to be coached can outweigh flashy self-promotion in elite finance hiring.
- Goldman’s selectivity is extreme, with its 2025 internship acceptance rate around 0.7% from roughly 360,000 applicants.
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This case study of Sharran Srivatsaa’s experience speaks volumes about the current hiring culture at elite financial institutions like Goldman Sachs. First, the sheer number of interviews (39 one-on-ones) suggests a hyper-fragmented evaluation process that tests candidates relentlessly, both for endurance and consistency. While many firms have multi-round interviews, 39 is exceptional even among financial services.
What transformed Srivatsaa’s trajectory was not domain expertise or instant bravado, but rather a moment of self-restraint: he paused to ask, “Do you have a script?” in place of immediately trying to showcase his skills. That question signaled his “coachable” nature—an attribute that apparently outweighed attempts to immediately prove one’s worth by force. In high-stakes hiring, such moments of candidate control and self-awareness may tip the balance.
The interview that lasted just ~46 seconds functioned less as a full assessment and more as a micro-test of alignment with Goldman Sachs’ cultural values, particularly humility, ability to follow guidance, and emotional intelligence. These qualities are increasingly critical for firms that need collaborative leaders rather than sole star performers.
The data around Goldman Sachs’ internship acceptance rate corroborates how high the bar is. With ~360,000 candidates for ~2,500 intern slots in 2025, the bank’s acceptance rate of ~0.7 % far undercuts many elite institutions’ own selectivity. Amid that, displaying coachability may stand out against the sea of polished but perhaps less self-aware applicants.
Strategically, this suggests that for candidates, investing in emotional intelligence and preparation (e.g. asking clarifying questions instead of assuming standard interview scripts) can yield outsized returns. For firms, however, this kind of process—so long, so granular—poses internal costs, candidate fatigue, and possible public relations risk if perceived as excessive.
Open questions remain: Is Srivatsaa’s report an outlier, or emblematic of a broader trend at Goldman or across Wall Street? How reproducible is winning by “coachability” in other settings (e.g. for technical or senior-level roles)? And what trade-offs are there for firms between throwing many interviewers at candidates versus streamlining for efficiency without sacrificing rigor?
Supporting Notes
- Srivatsaa went through 39 one-on-one interviews during his post-MBA job search.
- He worked at Goldman Sachs from 2007 to 2010 as a wealth manager.
- The decisive interview lasted approximately 46 seconds, involving a managing director who asked him to set up a meeting using contact names and phone numbers.
- Instead of making cold calls immediately, Srivatsaa asked whether there was a script to use—this question revealed coachability and led to an immediate positive reaction.
- The MD later told him he was the first candidate not to instantly reach for the phone, but to ask for guidance—“that made me believe that you’re coachable.”
- Goldman Sachs’ internship program in 2025 had ~360,000 applicants; ~2,500 were selected, yielding an acceptance rate of ~0.7 %.
- Goldman Sachs emphasizes values like “grit and determination,” coachability, and recruits globally, with strong preferences for STEM backgrounds among their ~10,000 engineers.
Sources
- fortune.com (Fortune) — 2025-10-07
- www.ndtv.com (NDTV) — 2025-10-09
- www.moneycontrol.com (Moneycontrol) — 2025-10-09