Goldman Sachs Subjective Writing Ability Test 2025

September 27, 2024

Goldman Sachs has incorporated the subjective section into their Online Aptitude Test to analyze the skills of a candidate in comprehending a given situation and then answering what fits his/her discretion

For Goldman Sachs Subjective Writing Test 2025 you will be given 2 situational based questions which you have to answer in around 200 – 250 words. The time limit for the same will be 15 minutes approx.

Note:

According to Goldman Sachs Written Aptitude Test, Subjective Writing was included in the First and Second Round for previous years, but from this selection process (2025), it has been changed and will now be conducted in the Second Round only.

Goldman Sachs Subjective Writing

Details about Goldman Sachs Subjective Writing Test - 2025

Subjective Writing Test Goldman Sachs
Number of Questions 2
Time Limit 15 mins (approx)
Marking Scheme 10 marks per question
Difficulty Medium – high

What is Goldman Sachs Subjective Writing Ability Test 2025 ?

  • It is a Point Of View writing.
  • It bases its significance on a writer’s own understanding of a given a situation and observances.
  • It sheds light on the thinker’s opinions and experiences and not on stated facts or pre-examined data.
  • It reflects your thoughts and opinions
  • It helps the company to build a virtual image of your personality.

Goldman Sachs Subjective Writing Test - 2025

goldman sachs subjective writing

Subjective Writing: WHY?

  • A quick INSIGHT into the thoughts and interpretations of the writer.
  • It builds TENSION in the mind of the reader to assess the actions of the writer
  • It allows the variety of PERSPECTIVES to be born on the same underlying issue
  • It helps the writer to PERSUADE the reader into his own mind frame.
  • ENTERTAIN in a subtle way and also EMPHASIZE on one’s own opinion

Subjective Writing: HOW?

  • Express PERSONAL OPINION on the subject given to you
  • RESPOND to the situation smartly by not sounding vague
  • Use SIMPLE DICTION to not complicate it
  • Make GENERAL STATEMENT about your opinion
  • ANALYZE the situation before attempting to write the answer
goldman sachs subjective writing

Goldman Sachs Subjective Writing Ability - Guidelines and Steps

Read

Your first step is to read the situation atleast twice.  The question might seem confusing at first, but when you re read, it becomes easy.

Your first step is to read the situation at least twice. The question might seem confusing at first, but when you re-read, it becomes easy.

001 - ThinkingCreated with Sketch.

Register

Registering the situation that is given to you is
important to give you a clearer view of the
answer that is expected from you 

Registering the situation that is given to you is important to give you a clearer view of the answer that is expected from you 

Map

Mapping your answer’s structure prior to writing
it is very vital. This helps you to stick to the main
point and express your opinions clearly.

Mapping your answer’s structure prior to writing it is very vital. This helps you to stick to the main point and express your opinions clearly.

Write

Now is the time to write your thoughts down about your response to the given situation.
Be smart and idealistic.

Now is the time to write your thoughts down about your response to the given situation. Be smart and idealistic.

Analyze

Analyzing your answer is a vital step. You might have
missed a point or added unnecessary ones.
Make sure to be brief and to the point

Analyzing your answer is a vital step. You might have missed a point or added unnecessary ones.
Make sure to be brief and to the point

Support

Make sure that you support your opinion with
a strong point. It should be able to persuade
the reader and accept your views

Make sure that you support your opinion with a strong point. It should be able to persuade the reader and accept your views

Be Confident

Your answer should have the element of confidence in it. If you sound confused and lost, it might create a bad impression on the reader

Your answer should have the element of confidence in it. If you sound confused and lost, it might  create a bad impression on the reader

Brief

You will have around 250 words as a limit, so you
have to be brief and smart with your choice and
opinions. Explain, Emphasize and Persuade.

You will have around 250 words as a limit, so you  have to be brief and smart with your choice and opinions. Explain, Emphasize and Persuade.

Conclude

While concluding you must remember to give
a valid explanation of your choice. It shouldn’t
be vague or unrealistic

While concluding you must remember to give  a valid explanation of your choice. It shouldn’t be vague or unrealistic

Practice Questions for Goldman Sachs Subjective Writing:

Disclaimer:

Question 1: If you were given a new project that you were unfamiliar with, what would be your strategy to kick-start it?

If I were to be given a new project by my head and I was unfamiliar with it I would opt for a more strategic implementation than plainly jumping into it and landing nowhere. My steps would be systematic according to the flow of the task. First would be to eliminate any negative outlook. I get too anxious when it comes to doing a task and so I would calm myself down first and see the project as an opportunity to learn something new and acquire new skills. Following that would be the research and gathering of important data that I’ll need to come up with a good project. Next would be to get a partner if needed or a confidant who can guide me through it. Once I have all the needed data, I would start doing it. This is the key to doing something for the first time, you don’t know how it will end up. So it could either fall into place or reveal more loopholes in it, any way I would learn. Finally, after a couple of trials and errors, I know I will complete the project even above my expectation because when it comes to doing a task I have the required patience and organization skills.

TIP:

For a question like this that challenges you in any way, your immediate response shouldn’t be to get worked up and overwork your smartness. This may sound very superficial for the reader. You need to understand what the question
asks you to do and then follow some simple steps to build up your answer accordingly.

Question 2: Your mentor asked you to deliver something in 30 minutes, but you have something else due in too. What do you do?

In this situation, I would try to prioritize the two tasks according to their importance. If the task given by my mentor would be more important I would devote more time to it and try to finish up the other task in less time or delay it if that was possible. Same goes for the other task. If in any case both the tasks were equally important, I would organize my time and try to finish up both of them precisely within half an hour. It might seem not so easy but I will try my best to complete both of them without any error. I might also ask a friend to help me out if he/she could if it wasn’t a single man task. If possible, I would try to inform my mentor about what is going on and try to get 10-15 minutes more in hand so that I don’t rush into the tasks and end up spoiling them.

Question 3: Your professor accidentally sends you confidential information intended for another student. What do you do?

If my professor shares a document with me containing personal or sensitive information by mistake then first of all it’s my responsibility to not disclose any of the information to anyone else. It is considered to be a moral activity to go through anyone’s personal information. In a second case, I could also use the information for the person’s benefit if it states for instance, that his marks are not good in any particular subject, or he is facing any issue related to studies, I can offer him a helping hand in getting his doubts cleared without giving him the hint of my knowledge about his grades. I could suggest him to be my study partner and help him out instead. Adding to this, it is my responsibility to inform the professor about the mistake and delete the information from my data. If in case the information isn’t something related to studies and concerns the student’s dire secrecy then my first step would be to delete it and second to inform the professor and finally forget about it. Misusing someone’s private information is wrong.

Sample Questions for Goldman Sachs Subjective Writing Test 2025 :

  1. Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa).
  2. Tell me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get an important point across.
  3. Describe a time when you struggled to build a relationship with someone important. How did you eventually overcome that?
  4. Give me an example of a time when you did not meet a client’s expectation. What happened, and how did you attempt to rectify the situation?
  5. When you are working with a large number of customers, it is tricky to deliver excellent service to them all. How do you go about prioritizing your customers’ needs?
  6. What have you found to be the difficult part of being a member, not leader, of a team? How did you handle this?
  7. Tell me about a time you were under a lot of pressure. What was going on, and how did you get through it?
  8. Describe a time when you had to interact with a difficult client. What was the situation, and how did you handle it?
  9. Tell me about a situation when you felt honesty was inappropriate. Why? What did you do?
  10. Describe a leadership role of yours outside of work. Why did you commit your time to it? How did you feel about it?