The pack includes:
- Study Guide
- SJT Tests
What Are SJT Tests?
First, SJT stands for Situational Judgment Test. This is important to know because many make the mistake of searching for “SJT test” on the internet. An SJT is a very fascinating aspect of the psychometric tests. As the name may suggest, a situational judgment test aims to know and evaluate the reaction of an applicant in certain working situations. The situational judgment tests also help employers to assess your supposed reaction and the effects that may be caused.
SJTs try to create specific difficult situations that are commonly found in the workplace and analyze how you react to it. SJT questions often differ from place to place. This is because each profession is peculiar to its situations and the test is best conducted when strictly tailored to the fixes you are likely to find yourself in such a line of duty. An SJT examines how you think and the approach you take for specific situations.
How Is an SJT Conducted?
A situational judgment test has no strict format that must be stuck to. It is however sure to be along with the problems you may get into while discharging your duties. The test scenarios are based on certain qualifications such as the mindset, skill, behavior, and morals that are required for success in the field. The questions are often characterized by the narration or presentation of a certain situation and the requirement of an applicant to select the best out of a number of likely options.
How Is an SJT Graded?
The human resources managers coin SJT questions and then put forward to certain professionals to choose what their line of action would be if they were in such or similar shoes. Such professionals are generally believed to have experienced such scenarios and handled them competently. Sometimes, the professionals may not have been in such fixes but have tackled certain critical scenarios and have therefore convinced the organization of their almost perfect and excellent sense of decision.
The options selected by these professionals are adopted as the correct template to be followed in such situations. Applicants with responses closest to the template are judged to have performed very well on the test.
It is worth mentioning that you may be required to arrange the given options from the most preferable to the least preferable. The template may not be of the professionals mentioned above at times; it may be of young employees who are at the same level and area of operation with you but have been deemed exemplifying due to their professionalism and ethics.
What May I Expect In A Situational Judgment Test?
Typically, an SJT presents candidates with real-time work scenarios that they are likely to encounter. This presentation may be visual, audio, audiovisual or written.
The best SJT preparation will be to read wide on possible problems you may encounter in your line of work and to engage in a lot of situational judgment test practice.
Start practicing today and improve your performance on the real tests.
However, there are several formats with little differences. We will, therefore, be examining some SJT practice questions and their appropriate solutions.
1. Assessing the Ethical Righteousness of Several Prospective Choices:
You are supposed to have a briefing meeting with the members of your team on a project you are to work on. An emergency that requires you at your child’s school has, however, come up and you do not think you will be able to make it to the meeting anymore. You have been informed that everyone is present already.
Using 1 – 4 as best to worst, grade how ethically right each of these actions is:
Call to inform you that you feel unwell and can no longer make it.
Delegate duties but are unsure of who’s capable of handling it.
Keep them waiting and quickly attend to the emergency.
Disperse the meeting, apologizing for the inconvenience and reschedule the meeting.
Solution:
1. Option D: This is the most appropriate option because it embodies the true features of a professional.
2. Option B: This option will have been the most appropriate if you have a capable deputy to delegate to.
3. Option A: As wrong as this option appears, it is better than wasting the precious time of others.
4. Option C: This is the worst option. You will be wasting the time of others and you may even be unable to finish the emergency early enough and be eventually forced to call to discharge.
2. Taking Cognizance of Your Likeliness to Complete Each of the Prospective Options:
Smoking is highly prohibited in your place of work. However, you catch a close colleague smoking in the ladies.
What would you do?
- Ignore her.
- Create a scene that attracts other colleagues.
- Advise her to obey the company’s rules and threaten to report her if you catch her some other time.
- Report her immediately to the appropriate quarters.
Solution:
This depends on your moral standing because contrary to other question types, you are asked of what you would do and not what you think is appropriate. However, the best response, in this case, is option D.
3. Recognizing the Most and Least Preferable Options:
Your company has recently effected a pay system that will pay workers strictly based on the number of hours spent, totally discarding the productivity rate. Also, you have to keep track of your hours yourself as you will be paid based on your report. You are, however not happy with this development because you consider it demotivating and unfair.
Please indicate the most and least preferable option from the following:
- Talk to other workers and discourage them from adapting to the system.
- Quietly obey the directive and ignore your observations.
- Meet the manager and air your complaints.
- Make the most of the directive by exploiting the weaknesses of the system.
Solution:
The most preferable: Option C. This option will give you the opportunity to express your views and possibly influence the pay system.
The least preferable: Option D. This option is obviously wrong. It will most likely cripple the company or lead to dismissal if caught.
4. Rating the Appropriateness Of A Number of Responses:
You answer the hotline to an irked customer who believes that she has been overcharged for a service rendered to her. You look into her case and finds her claims are not true, but she’s unwilling to listen to any explanations. With each passing second, she’s swearing, and you can sense it’s getting worse.
Please rate these prospective reactions in order of appropriateness with 1 and 4 being most and least appropriate respectively.
- Disconnect the call.
- Forward the case to another department you believe can handle the case.
- Report to the manager and ask for what to do.
- Try to pacify her and persist until she’s calm. Then promise to look into it critically and get back to her. Ensure that you keep your promise and get back to her.
Solution:
1. Option D. This option will make the customer feel wanted and cared for. Remember, customer satisfaction and loyalty make a business.
2. Option B. This option is more appropriate than the other two. Since you do know that you are not suitable for handling confrontations, you should transfer.
3. Option C. This option follows. Others might rate it above B, but ethically, only cases that cannot be handled by any departments should be reported to the manager. In this scenario, however, there is a unit that can handle the case, so why report at first?
4. Option A. This is apparently the worst. It will make customers feel worthless and portray a poor image of the company. This will eventually lead to customer dissatisfaction.
Be the Perfect Judge with Exclusive Practice Materials
The importance of using exclusive practice materials cannot be overlooked. Be the spotless situational judge by practicing the excellent SJT questions that are offered by these materials. If interested, you do not have to look far to get these materials.
We offer tailored practice materials that have been written by experts who are excellent at what they do. At affordable prices, you’ll get our tailored practice questions with their full answers.
How do You Prepare for a Situational Judgement Test?
The first step in preparing for a situational judgement test is to know the company. Take time out of your busy day to do some research on the company so you can prepare for both the situations and the company culture answers that would work best with each question.
While you’re researching, look up which provider the company is using. Each provider will have a different set of questions or be looking for different answers and knowing the provider can help you know how you should answer.
Understanding your role is going to clue you in to how you should answer! Computer programmers are going to have different standards for situation answers than HR representatives.
In order to understand your role, you also need to analyze the job description. This is where you’ll find all the clues you need to answer situational judgement test questions during the test!
What is a Good Score on Situational Judgement Test?
Test scores can make or break your next job! Trying to reach a certain score on situational judgement tests can cause you some serious anxiety and may not actually be what you need to do in order to score your dream job.
Situational judgement tests are all based on work-related scenario and show your competency in the workplace. Your scores are then compared to others who’ve taken the test and the benchmarks in that area.
The benchmarks for each area and role are different. So even if you answer 7 out of 10 questions correctly, others in your role may have set the benchmark at 8 out of 10 questions and you’ll be out of luck.
Research beforehand what the standard is for your position in this role and you’ll be able to scale your answers to reach the position.
Situational Judgement Test by position
1. Customer Service Roles
- Scenarios: Handling difficult customers, responding to complaints, prioritizing tasks.
- Assessed Qualities: Empathy, patience, problem-solving, communication skills.
2. Management Positions
- Scenarios: Resolving team conflicts, allocating resources, setting priorities, making tough decisions under pressure.
- Assessed Qualities: Leadership, decision-making, strategic thinking, delegation, conflict resolution.
3. Healthcare Professionals
- Scenarios: Dealing with patient concerns, managing time-sensitive tasks, working within interdisciplinary teams.
- Assessed Qualities: Empathy, ethical judgment, teamwork, prioritization, stress management.
4. Sales Positions
- Scenarios: Negotiating with clients, strategizing to meet sales targets, handling rejection.
- Assessed Qualities: Persuasiveness, resilience, adaptability, goal orientation.
5. IT and Technical Roles
- Scenarios: Prioritizing tasks in a project, dealing with technical challenges, collaborating with non-technical team members.
- Assessed Qualities: Problem-solving, teamwork, time management, communication skills.
6. Human Resources
- Scenarios: Navigating workplace disputes, making hiring decisions, dealing with ethical dilemmas.
- Assessed Qualities: Discretion, ethical judgment, communication, conflict resolution.
7. Entry-Level Positions
- Scenarios: Adapting to workplace culture, managing time effectively, seeking feedback.
- Assessed Qualities: Adaptability, eagerness to learn, time management, initiative.
8. Law Enforcement and Security
- Scenarios: Responding to emergencies, de-escalating conflicts, making split-second decisions.
- Assessed Qualities: Judgment, integrity, physical fitness, stress tolerance.
Situational Judgment Test (SJT) Practice FAQ
1. What is the passing score for the SJT?
There isn’t a universal passing score for Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) as these tests are often tailored to the specific needs and criteria of the organization administering them. Companies use SJTs to assess candidates’ judgment in work-related situations, and the scoring may be relative to the performance of other candidates. Typically, employers set a benchmark score or percentile rank that candidates need to exceed to move forward in the selection process.
2. Can you score 50 on SJT?
Yes, it is possible to score 50 on an SJT, but whether this is considered a good score depends on the scoring system used by the test provider and the employer’s requirements. Some SJTs use a percentile system where a score of 50 might represent the average performance, while others use raw scores out of a possible total. Understanding the specific scoring methodology of the SJT you are taking is crucial for interpreting your score correctly.
3. How to score high in SJT?
To score high on an SJT, consider the following tips:
- Understand the Competencies: Research the competencies and values that the company is looking for. This knowledge will help you choose responses that align with the company’s expectations.
- Practice Situational Judgment Tests: Regular practice can help you become familiar with the types of scenarios you might encounter and the best responses.
- Think Like an Employee: Try to answer questions as if you are already an employee at the company, considering how you would handle situations to best benefit the organization and its stakeholders.
- Prioritize Effective and Ethical Responses: Choose responses that demonstrate problem-solving skills, empathy, ethical judgment, and effective communication.
- Read the Questions Carefully: Understand the context and nuances of each question to make informed decisions.
4. Different styles of situational judgment tests
Situational Judgment Tests can vary significantly depending on the format and focus:
- Written Scenarios: These tests present written scenarios followed by a list of potential actions or responses. Candidates select the most appropriate and least appropriate actions from the options provided.
- Video-Based Scenarios: These tests present scenarios through video clips, often making them more realistic. Candidates watch the scenarios unfold and then choose the best course of action from a list of options.
- Ranking or Rating Scenarios: In these tests, candidates may be asked to rank or rate responses based on their effectiveness.
- Interactive Simulations: Some SJTs use interactive formats where candidates must navigate a scenario in real time, choosing actions as they go along.
5. Can you fail a situational judgement test?
Yes, it is possible to “fail” a situational judgment test in the sense that your performance may not meet the required standard set by the employer. Failing to meet these standards could mean not moving forward in the recruitment process. However, because SJTs are often used to gauge fit rather than assess right or wrong answers in a traditional sense, not passing the test typically indicates that your judgment in the given scenarios does not align with the company’s expectations or culture.