Basic Information

Hi! I am Preethi, and I’m writing this during the summer following my third year. I am from the Department of ELectrical Engineering. I am currently (summer, ‘23) interning at Goldman Sachs (Bengaluru). It is an offline internship for a duration of 8 weeks. (It’s fun!)

Getting into the Internship:

I didn’t have a preference for any profile. I was unaware of my interests and strengths, and I was terrified of ending up as the only one in my close knit friend group without an intern. I thought of doing a core intern. However, I believed (still do) a core intern requires some amount of patience, and confidence. You must sit through the first few weeks of the intern season, see your batchmates and friends getting interns while the tension builds up (hopefully not), and finally after weeks, you might get an intern in the domain you like. (Disclaimer: this was my train of thought. Do talk to core-enthu people, before accepting this point of view). I didn’t want to go through this stress, and I didn’t have a strong personal preference toward core anyway. So, I started preparing for the software profile; I ended up getting a quant role in a finance firm. Fortunately, I love the work I’m doing and I feel it suits me better than any software role would have.However, such coincidences are rare, and I would suggest identifying your strengths and preferences and preparing for a relevant profile.

Anyway, I spent most of my 2nd year summer practicing DSA. I started writing “good code” - using functions appropriately, using proper variable names, taking care of time and space complexities etc. (Note: in coding tests and interviews, these are indeed important). I started practicing on leetcode, I even took up a Summer of Science project in DSA to keep me motivated. I had a few ML projects on my resume, and I was willing to take up an ML/AI role too, so I brushed up on those skills too.

Fast forward to the start of the intern season. The 5th semester started and so did a series of tests, and pre-intern talks and what not. The first week intern tests consisted of questions based on DSA or logical reasoning ability, or in some rare cases, questions on integrity. I applied for all job profiles other than finance! I didn’t think I had the ability to take risks that’s required in finance. Guess what, I’m now working in the Risk division of Goldman Sachs. The tests, along with the semester’s curriculum were a bit tedious, but manageable.

Then came the first weekend of the intern season. I was shortlisted for interviews in Google, Uber and Goldman Sachs, all for the software role. I spoke to seniors in Google and GS for tips. The first interview was for Google. I had 2 rounds, and the interview seemed to go well. I seemed confident in the interviews, and I thought the interviewers seemed pleased too. Similarly, for Uber. I had 4 rounds of interviews. In this case, I was sure the interviewers were happy. On the other hand, GS interviews seemed just okay. I had 4 rounds, in which I aced one, I totally messed one up, and the other 2 were okayish. The results came in late Sunday night, and my name was not to be seen in any company’s selections.

I was upset, I felt like I did my best, but failed. It was bad, because in my mind the interviews had gone well. I couldn’t help but feel angry about the interviewers, and the HR, and the PT cell, and everyone around me and myself. Eventually, me and my friends talked to each other, convinced ourselves that this was not the end of the world. Afterall, this was what I had expected. I dropped a course (thinking that would help me focus a bit more on intern prep, and the remaining courses), and ramped up my preparations (solved more DSA questions, started a bit of core prep - reviewed course notes for analog, digital and signal processing). Finally, 3 days after the day 1 interviews, the extended selections for the companies came in, and I was overjoyed to see my name in there. It was a huge relief.

During the internship:

My internship started on 15th May, in Bengaluru. The city is amazing, except for the transport, which is BAD. Luckily, I got a PG very close to my office, and I don’t have to spend hours in the traffic everyday.

My job, as I mentioned earlier, is in Risk, specifically - model risk management. I review historical data, and use (pre-existing) financial price prediction models to make sure the firm can survive stress periods. 3 weeks into the intern, we had a networking dinner at Radisson Blu with the MDs in the firm. It was enlightening. I now work in a team of 9 interns and 24 full time employees. The team is amazing! They include us in all team building activities - we have cricket matches on weekends, we had a promotions party recently, and an intern party, and each was fun in its own way. The team is open to any questions, related or otherwise to my project. I have started informally discussing puzzles with a vice president in the team, and exchanging books with another employee. I look forward to these informal interactions with my team everyday. The working hours are flexible. I generally login at 10am, and logout at 8pm. The best part is: my recruiters (people who interviewed me) are members of my team, and they were able to provide feedback on my interviews too. Coming to feedback, I get feedback from my manager on a daily (if not hourly) basis. Basically, I can approach him anytime during his work hours and he has always responded promptly. In conclusion, I would definitely recommend the company to anyone looking for a job in quant.

Finally, my advice is: talk to people - those who have been in your shoes before, those with whom you have to work, those who have a say in reviewing your work. These connections help in unexpected ways. Also, feel free to contact me for anything. I love gyaan baantna! All the best!