How to get a referral at Goldman Sachs
The reliable way into Goldman Sachs is an employee referral or a warm introduction through someone who knows both of you, and finding that person is a search most applicants never get around to.
By Jerry Feng, Growth at Happenstance. Updated August 31, 2026.
The short version
The dependable way to get a job at Goldman Sachs is a referral or a warm introduction from someone who works there, reached through a person you already know. You likely have that mutual without realizing it, perhaps an analyst from your first job who moved to Goldman Sachs, or a classmate whose older sibling is on the desk that's hiring. Finding them is the work, and it's a search over accounts you already have. Once you've got the person with the strongest tie, ask for an introduction or a referral in one short message that's easy to say yes to.
Why the warm path beats the queue at Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs is a global investment bank and hires across investment banking, markets, asset and wealth management, engineering, risk and operations. A firm of that size takes in far more applications than its recruiters can read closely, so the ones that get a proper look are usually those an employee has already attached a name to. That's the job a referral or a warm introduction does for you, and it happens before anyone has read a line of your resume.
The referral doesn't have to come from a close friend. It has to come from someone who can say, truthfully, how they know you or how they know the person vouching for you. An analyst from your first job who later moved to Goldman Sachs qualifies, and so does a classmate who introduces you to their older sibling there. Working out who those people are is a question your own accounts can answer.
Finding who you know at Goldman Sachs, and who knows them
Your inbox and calendar. Whoever you've emailed or shared a meeting with who's at Goldman Sachs now is a direct route, and the relationship is already on record. The difficulty is that memory offers no search for “people who joined Goldman Sachs after we fell out of touch”, so those names stay hidden.
LinkedIn's mutual connections. The firm's page and each individual profile show who you're both connected to, which is effective once you have a specific name to look up.
Happenstance. Happenstance runs over every account you connect, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, together with the networks of the friends you add. Ask it in plain English who you know at Goldman Sachs and it gives you the people, how well you know each one, which account the tie came from, and for anyone a friend knows, the friend who can introduce you. Sidedoor takes the job posting as its starting point: paste the link and it finds who in your network can refer you there. Happenstance is free. The free plan is the whole product, with usage limits on chat and web searches beyond your network. Pro raises the limits: unlimited web searches and results, higher chat limits, and CSV export. The job-search version of all this, from the first search to the offer, is on Happenstance for job seekers.
The ask
One message, under a hundred words, that names the role and then covers how you know each other and what you'd like them to do. If you're writing to a mutual rather than to someone at Goldman Sachs, ask for the introduction and include a paragraph they can forward without editing.
Subject: Referral to Goldman Sachs
What Happenstance can see
Email is read as headers only. Message content and attachments never reach our servers. Yes. Your connections are searchable only by you, the friends you accept, and the groups you join, and sharing is always mutual. Your public profile shows a constellation of named people you know by default, which you can turn off anytime. We never share, sell, or use your data to train AI models. Happenstance is SOC 2 certified and DTI Trust Level 2; the full list of what is stored and for how long is on the security page.
Frequently asked questions
Is a referral or a warm introduction better for a job at Goldman Sachs?
Both get your application in front of a human rather than a queue, and that's the entire advantage. A referral means a Goldman Sachs employee submits you through the firm's own process; a warm introduction means a mutual vouches for you to someone at Goldman Sachs, who may then refer you themselves. Take whichever of the two the person you've reached is comfortable giving.
What if I don't know anyone at Goldman Sachs?
You probably know somebody who does. Second-degree paths produce most introductions, whether it's an analyst from your first job whose old colleague is at Goldman Sachs or a classmate whose older sibling works there. Happenstance searches your own accounts and your friends' networks, so asking who you know at Goldman Sachs returns the people one introduction away and the mutual who can connect you.
How do I ask someone at Goldman Sachs for a referral?
Name the role and link the posting, remind them in one line how you know each other, and say what you'd like them to do, whether that's referring you or introducing you to whoever owns the role. Keep the whole thing under a hundred words and leave them room to decline. If the person is a mutual rather than a Goldman Sachs employee, ask for the introduction and include a forwardable paragraph they can send unedited.
How does Happenstance find people at Goldman Sachs?
Connect the accounts you already use, Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, and ask in plain English who you know at Goldman Sachs. Every result shows how well you know the person and which account the tie came from, and results through friends show the mutual who can introduce you. Sidedoor does the same from a job posting you paste in. Happenstance is free, and Pro raises the limits.
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