Student from questionable video interview gets job at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is doing video interviews. You should know this because we've written a lot about Hirevue, the digital interviewing system Goldman uses to sift its junior candidates. But what if, before you even reach the Hirevue stage, you were to make a little video about why you want to work for Goldman Sachs and why the firm should hire you, and then upload it to the internet? This is what Robert Du Val, a student at the University of Southern California did last summer.

Du Val's effort, shown below, was met with derision on forums like Wall Street Oasis, but it seems that he may have had the last laugh. Despite speaking like an automaton, despite having an large tie knot and slicked back hair, despite stressing the word "me" and saying things like, "If I’m going to go into banking I need to be one of the best bankers ...I need to be successful in every aspect of the game…. I want to succeed up to the point where I’m a managing director and making seven figures as a base salary and then possibly seven to eight figures in bonus depending on how many deals I’m able to close," Du Val joined Goldman Sachs' U.S. analyst class last month.

Goldman didn't respond to a request to comment on Du Val's arrival. Nor did Du Val himself respond to our overtures. However, Du Val is present on Goldman's U.S. switchboard, although his division is unclear. On LinkedIn, he says he's joined Goldman's natural resources group as an analyst.

This being the case, maybe Goldman likes people who interview like Du Val? Maybe you should study the recording below for some tips? In it, Du Val says his "tactical skills" are "unmatched," that he is "very persistent" with "great critical and analytical skills," and that he will, "constantly find ways to move up and advance and ways to add value to the firm which means I will never stop being useful."

Du Val also says he aspires to make partner within ten years and is enthusiastic about hard work. In his previous internship at a Los Angeles boutique, he says he met some of the "wealthiest and most successful people" around, each of whom pushed themselves very hard "on a daily basis." They arrived before him and left after him - even though he was working long hours as an intern. "The idea that you can keep willing yourself to do more and more and accomplish things you never thought you originally could is what drives me today, and has set the bar so high for me personally," Du Val enthuses. Goldman clearly likes this stuff.

https://streamable.com/csg1o

Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com