Essay About Analyst Role And Goldman Sachs

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Landing a job for an analyst role at Goldman Sachs is more difficult than getting accepted into Harvard. In the year 2014, CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, wrote that the investment banking giant had over 43,000 applicants for a meagre 1,900 analyst positions. To add to it, the bank accepted only 4% of them. Upon joining, the analysts are put through the firm’s training and orientation program, which lasts for multiple weeks, called the Goldman Sachs University or GSU. During the GSU, the analysts attend teaching sessions on different modules and lectures by many senior executives. During this period, they are tested on what they have learned throughout the program. In late July till early August, the analysts took a multiple-choice exam that tested their knowledge of various verticals in finance and stocks. The analysts were given materials a couple of days beforehand to prepare. They had to score a 70 or higher to pass. If they failed, they could retake it. The exam was not seen as difficult by many persons familiar with the test. However, some of the analysts used the company-issued computers to Google the terms that came up in the exam, and cheat the system. Goldman was able to trace the activity logs of the cheaters and found discrepancy. The day that the bank reported weak earning, the careers of 20 or so analysts were cut off. They were fired and put on a notice-period, wherein the company continued paying the person till they find another job. Michael Duvally, a Goldman Sachs spokesman in New York, said, “This conduct was not just a clear violation of the rules, but completely inconsistent with the values we foster at the firm.”