Goldman Sachs expands hiring paths for veterans, returnees and athletes

Goldman Sachs is widening its hiring funnel beyond campus recruiting with internship-style programs for veterans, returnees and athletes, including 10-week paid placements and a separate 12-week Returnship for experienced professionals restarting after a career break. For candidates coming from military service, professional sport or time away from the workforce, the message is that Goldman now wants transferable skills to count as a hiring signal, not a detour.

That changes the odds compared with the traditional analyst route. Instead of competing only through the summer class and a campus pipeline, these candidates can enter through structured programs that offer hands-on experience, exposure to Goldman Sachs resources and mentorship from senior leaders. Goldman’s Alternative Pathways programme is aimed at high-achieving athletes transitioning out of professional sport, which makes clear that the firm is looking for discipline, resilience and performance under pressure, not just finance credentials.

The most established of the tracks is Returnship, which Goldman says launched in 2013. The bank describes it as a paid 12-week, full-time commitment for professionals who have been out of the workforce for more than two years, and its careers pages call it the firm’s preeminent program for people returning after a gap. Goldman’s India page says the same model is designed for women rejoining after an absence of two or more years, underscoring how the program has been adapted across regions and labor markets.

Goldman is also extending the same logic to other nontraditional pipelines. Its Neurodiversity Hiring Initiative is a paid internship for people who identify as neurodivergent and includes training, coaching and mentoring, along with a partnership with Specialisterne. Its Veterans Integration Program is a three-week virtual program meant to help military personnel transition to civilian work, sharpen skills and explore opportunities at the firm. In practice, these programs can matter as much for managers as for applicants: they bring in people with different career stages and life histories, but they also demand stronger onboarding and knowledge transfer once those hires arrive.

Goldman is already using participants to show the model can lead to permanent roles. Lori, a managing director and former Returnship participant, said the program helped her get up to speed and add value quickly after joining full time. Caroline joined through the Veterans Integration Program in 2014 after serving as a Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force, and Ashish spent 12 years as a Lieutenant Commander in the Indian Navy before joining Goldman as an associate in Global Banking & Markets. Goldman’s UK-facing pages show the same framework in motion in London and Birmingham, where Alternative Pathways and Veterans Integration Programme are 10-week paid placements, while Returnship remains 12 weeks. The broader recruiting shift is clear: Goldman is building year-round talent channels through summer, campus and experienced-hire routes because the old campus-only model is no longer enough.