Why Goldman’s Interns Should Embrace Coffee Breaks

Turning an internship into a full-time job on Wall Street requires dedication and a voracious work ethic — working late nights, for example, comes with the territory.

At Goldman Sachs, it also means mustering up the courage to ask full-timers, including senior bankers, to grab a latte with you.

If that sounds intimidating, it is — but it’s also par for the course at the powerhouse investment bank, according to Goldman staffers who started out as interns.

“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,” said Shane Cote, a vice president on the healthcare coverage team of Goldman’s investment bank.

“They’re very willing to do that kind of thing,” he said, adding, “It’s important for your development, and I think it shows well as well.”

This year, Goldman is hosting about 2,600 interns across more than 60 global offices. The students who made it represent just 0.7% of the firm’s more than 360,000 applicants. That’s a record low acceptance rate and a record high number of candidates.

The interns may have an edge in landing one of the bank’s coveted investment banking analyst jobs after college, but it’s no guarantee—which is why Cote advises balancing hard work with building personal connections.

“A large part of this job really is about communication and emotional intelligence,” Cote said. “Get coffee with mentors and group leadership, go to group events,” he said, adding that these interactions “offer really great opportunities to be able to put those skills on display.”

Java runs can also help you demonstrate your compatibility with the organization, he said.

“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,” he said. “So I would say take the time to step off the desk to network with your peers and colleagues.”

Inside Goldman’s headquarters at 200 West Street, there are cafes on the third and fifth floors that are popular for coffee catch-ups. The 11th floor — also known as the Sky Lobby, pictured above — and the 12th floor, where the firm’s executive offices sit, tend to be busy around 2 p.m. with employees meeting and mingling.

Anna Kouba, a colleague of Cote’s in the sales and trading division, recalled an example of the coffee culture at work when she was an intern in 2019. For her, the beginning of the summer was a period of adjustment.

“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.

She was surprised when, a few weeks into the summer, a senior leader reached out for a coffee chat. As it turned out, he was also from the Midwest, and wanted to know how she was acclimating to big city life.

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“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.”