Situational judgement: guide and free practice

Situational judgement exercises ask you to compare possible responses to a workplace problem. Identify the objective, constraints and people affected before choosing an action.

Read the role and authority

The best response for a new team member may differ from the response for a manager. Check what you can decide yourself, which policies apply, and when escalation is appropriate. Do not invent authority or promise an outcome you cannot deliver.

Compare actions against the problem

  1. Identify immediate harm or service risk.
  2. Establish the facts you need.
  3. Choose an action within your role that addresses the issue.
  4. Communicate with the relevant person and follow through.

Avoid attractive extremes

Doing nothing, hiding mistakes, blaming others or bypassing a required control seldom addresses the full problem. Escalating every minor issue can also avoid responsibility. A proportionate response takes reasonable action and seeks help when the risk or authority limit requires it.

How to read our answers

These are original teaching scenarios. The recommended responses follow the stated policies and objectives; they are not universal personality judgements. Real employers may use ranking, ratings or multiple acceptable responses. Our single-best-action drill explains why one option fits the supplied facts better and should not be used to infer a hiring score or personal suitability.

Your first practice session

Choose the best first action under the stated policy and objective. These are contextual teaching recommendations, not official employer answers or a validated personality assessment.

Try 10 questions with explanations

Worked examples

  1. 1. You are authorised to correct figures in a client report. You notice a total is wrong minutes before it is due, and the source can be checked quickly. What is the best first action?
    1. Send it unchanged to meet the deadline
    2. Check the source, correct the error and tell the report owner about any timing impact
    3. Hide the affected row
    4. Blame the previous analyst publicly

    Reference: q-63cc3454-182 · Report this question

    Show answer and solution

    Answer: B. Check the source, correct the error and tell the report owner about any timing impact

    Within the stated correction authority, verify and correct the known risk while keeping the report owner informed. Sending or hiding an error undermines the report.
  2. 2. A customer asks you to waive a fee. Policy requires supervisor approval, which you do not have. What should you do first?
    1. Promise the waiver
    2. Explain the approval requirement and refer the request through the authorised process
    3. Delete the fee record
    4. Tell the customer no exception is ever possible

    Reference: q-29bec4c2-122 · Report this question

    Show answer and solution

    Answer: B. Explain the approval requirement and refer the request through the authorised process

    Use the stated approval route without making an unauthorised promise or falsely ruling out an exception.
  3. 3. Two urgent tasks have conflicting deadlines. You cannot finish both and your manager sets priorities. What is the best first action?
    1. Silently choose the easier one
    2. Explain the conflict, estimated work and consequences, and ask the manager to prioritise
    3. Mark both complete
    4. Ignore both until tomorrow

    Reference: q-bcb5b6b9-133 · Report this question

    Show answer and solution

    Answer: B. Explain the conflict, estimated work and consequences, and ask the manager to prioritise

    A clear early escalation lets the person with priority authority make an informed tradeoff.

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About this practice

These are independently written teaching questions. A practice score helps you review your answers; it is not a validated hiring prediction or an official employer score.