Three Former Goldman Interns on What They Wish They Knew Starting Out

About 2,600 students around the world just kicked off their internships at Goldman Sachs, including 1,000 who gathered at the firm’s Manhattan headquarters for orientation.

For many of these students, this will be one of the most consequential summers of their lives. Wall Street internships are hard to get, and how they perform could determine the course of their careers, including whether they get an offer to work for Goldman after graduation.

Goldman’s chief executive, David Solomon, welcomed the 2025 class with a letter offering his advice to the interns, as BI previously reported. BI also sat down with three Goldman employees who started as interns themselves to ask what they wished they’d known when they were starting out.

We heard from a partner in asset and wealth management with about 25 years of experience, but also young professionals who were interns not long ago, like Anna Kouba, a sales and trading associate, and Shane Cote, a vice president in the firm’s investment bank.

Their advice ran the gamut, from finding a balance between hard work and socializing to demonstrating the right attitude and humility in the pursuit of knowledge. Here’s what they said interns should do to stand out and increase their chances of landing a full-time job.

Anna Kouba, associate

Sales & Trading
2019 summer analyst

Kouba recalled a period of adjustment when she was an intern in 2019.

“I came here from Missouri, so I was not used to the culture of New York, the culture of working on Wall Street,” she said.

A few weeks into the internship, a senior leader who was also from the Midwest, reached out for a coffee chat. To her surprise, he wanted to know how the transition to big city life was going.

“He sat down and he asked, ‘How are you doing? Because I know the transition from the Midwest to New York can be difficult.’ I remember that and thought it was so unique to have such a big community here. I really felt like I was home even though I wasn’t home.”

The sales and trading interns at Goldman split their summer into three “rotations,” allowing them to experience working on different teams in the division. Kouba started on the rates trading desk, and the Fed had just cut rates for the first time in 10 years.

“I felt so lucky to get to experience such a monumental day in the markets during my internship,” she said. “Sitting on the floor talking to the rates traders on that day about how they were talking to clients,
I learned so much.”

Her biggest tip for interns is something she says can’t be taught: “A positive attitude and an eagerness to learn.”

Taking full advantage of the opportunities given here and showing that you are a hard worker — I think that is unmatched when it comes to somebody who is a successful intern,” Kouba said.

She also ranked fresh ideas and the courage to speak up about them high on her list of qualities she looks for in an intern.

“Interns are coming in and they are seeing all of these processes and projects that have been in place for years — and they’re seeing them with fresh eyes,” she said. “So speaking up and questioning why things are done a certain way and giving their own perspective, I think, is where I’ve seen interns add quite a bit of value from day one.”

In the same vein, Solomon told interns to both “ask and listen” in his letter. “You’ll quickly learn that our people are eager to hear your views. I encourage you to stay curious, ask questions, but don’t forget to also listen to and absorb your colleagues’ perspectives.”

Shane Cote, vice president

Investment Banking
2015 summer analyst

During his internship a decade ago, Cote was in the financing group of the investment bank — a time he looks back on “with a lot of fondness.”

“I loved the experience of working on the banking floor — the atmosphere, the continuous buzz of groups working collaboratively, and it really did feel like we were part of a sports team,” he told BI.

Today, he works as a VP on the healthcare coverage team. His advice to the 2025 class:

“Run at every opportunity you can and raise your hand to get involved with as many things as you can,” he said. “The interns that take advantage of every opportunity will not only be the most successful, but I think they’re also going to get the most out of the program.”

He also advises interns to find a balance between working hard and participating in the many social opportunities the program has to offer.

“The internship really is only a handful of weeks, so you should work really hard, but your cultural fit within the firm and the group is important as well. So I would say take the time to step off the desk to network with your peers and colleagues,” he said, adding: “Get coffee with mentors and group leadership, go to group events — because a large part of this job really is about communication and emotional intelligence. Those are really great opportunities to be able to put those skills on display.”

He advised interns to be bold in asking for coffee meetings — even from senior employees.

“We have what we call a ‘coffee culture,’ where it’s totally normal and expected, frankly, for you to make that ask — all the way up to group heads,” he said, adding, “They’re very willing to do that kind of thing,” he said. “It’s important for your development and I think it shows well as well.”

The CEO’s memo offers a parallel piece of advice: to “engage with purpose,” telling the class to “participate in team meetings” and “contribute your ideas.”

When it comes to work, Cote advised interns to meet their deadlines versus trying to come up with ways to stand out.

“From my perspective, it’s about doing the thing you’re asked to do very well,” he said. “I think the best interns are the ones that you can trust. As a VP, if I have an intern and he or she says she’s going to do something, and they do it on time and correctly, that’s really the ideal candidate.”

Nicole Pullen Ross, partner

Asset & Wealth Management
1998 summer associate

Pullen Ross was a summer associate in private wealth management at Goldman in the late 1990s while pursuing her MBA at Columbia Business School.

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“You come into an organization like Goldman and you feel intimidated because of the reputation and the brand,” she said. “But one of my first impressions was, ‘Oh my God, I am welcome here.’ And there is a lot to learn and a lot that people want to teach.”

Today, she helps welcome the summer interns on behalf of her division, leads round-table discussions with them, and introduces them to businesses she helps run, including private wealth management and the firm’s sports and entertainment business.

Pullen Ross is head of the bank’s private wealth management business for the Northeast region and leads the PWM Sports and Entertainment Solutions offering, a money management service for athletes, entertainers, and team owners.

“We’re looking for leaders, which means we’re looking for people who are confident in sharing their perspective and asking questions,” Pullen Ross said. “And we’re really looking for folks who have a great attitude: They want to roll up their sleeves, they want to solve problems for our clients. They’re oriented around teamwork, and they’re there to help.”

Solomon also brought up the importance of teamwork in his letter to interns. “It’s good to work hard as an individual, but it’s even better to deliver results as a group. Here at Goldman Sachs, we have a “we” culture,” he said.

Standing out is not about demonstrating you know more than your peers, Pullen Ross added. It’s important for interns to “know what they don’t know,” she said.

“Be okay sharing, ‘I don’t know the answer, but I’ll find out,'” she said. “That’s the definition of the program, to get experience and to challenge yourself to not only acknowledge when you don’t know something, but to have the focus on finding the answer when you are in a new place or new space that you’re not familiar with.”