'Congratulations, you've become a Goldman Sachs partner'

The phone call lasts just a few seconds. The words "congratulations, you've become a partner", are just about all Lloyd Blankfein, the boss of Goldman Sachs, will have time to say to the 85 or so bank high-flyers he will ring next Wednesday to invite into one of the most prestigious and lucrative cliques on Wall Street.

It is a day of huge expectation for individuals spanning time zones from Sydney to New York who are waiting to hear that they have been given a role for which there is no job advert and no interview.

The whittling down of the candidates is under way this week in Goldman Sachs's head office in New York. Stretching across several days, a team of partners led by London-based Michael "Woody" Sherwood are deciding upon whom to bestow the glittering title of Goldman Sachs partner.

The decision comes at the end of a thorough, secretive and sometimes brutal decision-making process that happens only every two years. This year's deliberations began in the summer and include the selection of managing directors, one rung below partnership.

With the title of partner comes prestige that is, arguably, unrivalled in the financial world. It also brings vast wealth in the form of a partnership bonus pool that pays out millions of dollars each year. And it opens the door to high-profile career moves: former US Treasury secretary Hank Paulson was in the golden circle, as was one-time BBC chairman Gavyn Davies. Annual payouts can reach tens of millions of dollars – each – on top of annual salaries which are thought to start at almost $1m. Blankfein, for instance, took home more than $16m last year, according to Forbes, but received $68.5m (£43m) in 2007.

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