Your questions to the head of EMEA recruitment at Goldman Sachs

Once again, Sarah Harper, head of recruitment for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) at Goldman Sachs, has agreed to respond to some of your questions on graduate jobs and internships.

We've started the process by asking Sarah a few questions below. Please post your questions in the comments box at the bottom of this page. Sarah will be answering three a day between the 19th and 21st July inclusive. Questions are now closed!

1) What advice would you offer people who want to convert their

internship into a full time job this summer?

Sarah Harper: I would encourage you to make sure that you have a good sense of how you are performing throughout the programme.

Many interns will not receive formal feedback until the mid point or even the end of the programme but often this can be too late. Make sure you are asking for feedback along the way and then ensure that you are acting on it - ask for help if you are not sure how to correct something and ask for updates to ensure that it is clear to others that you are / have made efforts to improve.

Other than that, it is a question of working hard, showing that you are keen to learn and develop and figuring out how you can add value.

2) If a student applied for a summer internship at Goldman Sachs and didn't get offered a place, is it worth applying again for a graduate position?

Sarah Harper: Absolutely. We will hire about 70% of our summer class into full time positions but that still leaves a good number of roles to fill straight from campus.

Be sure to change your application from your summer version to incorporate any additions to what you may have achieved in the last year or perhaps thoughts as to why you might be applying on your cover letter.

We will start interviewing for full time positions soon after the internship ends.

3) Come September and October, do you still expect to have places left for 2012 graduates - or will most of next year's places go to this year's interns?

Sarah Harper: Around 70% of our interns will be offered full time positions but we will still have a number of slots to fill for the full time 2012 class.

We will run our main interview process after our application deadline (which you will find on our website) but if any students have particular reasons they need to be interviewed early we will always try and accommodate that.

4) Is it ever possible for London-based students to get a graduate position in your Asian businesses?

Sarah Harper: Yes, we allow students to apply to 2 different regions so it is as simple as making that clear when you apply.

YOUR QUESTIONS

Sachin: If I haven't managed to secure an internship for my summer of penultimate year would it be better to apply for a summer internship in the summer of my final year, a graduate position or both!?

Sarah Harper: You should apply for the position you are eligible so if you are in your final year of university next year you should apply for a new analyst full time role.

Ian: Hi, I am planning to apply to the Investment Banking division at Goldman Sachs. Could you let me know when the application process will start? What would be your advice for an application to stand out among thousands of the applicants?

Sarah Harper: We will start reviewing applications from the first week in August and will be holding 'fast tracked' interview days in September before our main interview process at the end of October and throughout November. The official deadline for full time applications is 23rd October.

Vicky: I understand that 70% of your graduate roles will be offered to summer interns and the remaining 30% will go straight to campus. I graduated from a Master courses in Oct 2010 and have been working at a spread betting company since Dec 2010. Is it worth applying for a graduate role now as I am not a fresh graduate?

Many Thanks.

Sarah Harper: Yes it is certainly worth applying for a graduate role. If you come in for interviews and during that process it is felt that you would be better suited to a different role given you have some experience, we would manage that for you.

Joseph: If you don't achieve the expected grades to join Goldman Sachs, are there any courses that can be completed in order to help your application for employment?

Sarah Harper: We look for a number of things when we are reviewing applications - academic achievement is clearly one of them but we do not have a minimum requirement. We are looking for people who can bring a variety of things to the table so if you are able to demonstrate that you have achieved in other areas then it is still worth applying. In terms of other courses, there is nothing specific that we look for outside of the usual school and university courses so it would really be up to you to decide of you think an additional course would be right for you.

Calvin: I want to be a Quant. I am studying my MSc in statistics at Oxford with significant content in MC simulation and programming.

Is my qualification sufficient?

Sarah Harper: Yes, your degree sounds like the type of profile that we look for. We look to hire candidates into our Quant roles at all levels of education; Bachelors, Masters and PhDs. A quantitative angle to your degree is helpful but not essential. We would recommend that you have two of the following; strong mathematical ability, computer programming skills and/or understanding/interest in Finance.

Neil: I did not receive outstanding A-level results; however I did achieve a

first class honours degree. Would I be overlooked due to my A-level

results?

Sarah Harper: We look at all aspects of applications before we make a decision as to who we invite for interview. Academic achievement is of course one of those, but clearly you did very well in your degree which is great and would be viewed positively. If you have other achievements, whether they be leadership positions, sporting success, or involvement in

societies at university, these will also all help position you as the type of candidate we may want to hire.

Irakli: Do you favour EU candidates over non EU citizen during the graduate

recruitment process?

Sarah Harper: We recruit from all over the world for positions in our EMEA offices. We strongly believe that attracting and hiring a diverse talent pool is top priority.

Jainesh: If an applicant is entrepreneurial, has an excellent academic record, but is not as confident in his mathematical abilities, is there still a place for him in an investment banking / capital markets / front line role.

Sarah Harper: You do not need to have strong mathematical skills before you join

the firm. We hire many people into revenue producing roles who study

non finance / maths degrees. What you do need to have is an interest in

the markets and the industry and an appetite to learn some of the skills

you may not already have.