Situational Judgement Test Questions – Online Access

You are a Project Leader and manage the coordination of four Team Members. Two Team Members won’t be able to meet the deadlines of the project. The Director of the organisation reminds you the importance of meeting deadlines. Which is the most likely course of action you would take?

A. Adapt the workload of all Team Members to respect the deadlines.

B. Discuss with the two Team Members that are having difficulties, identify the causes, evaluate the remaining workload and determine an action plan to finish the project.

C. Ask the two Team Members that are late, to work additional hours in order to respect the deadlines.

D. Inform your Director of the current situation of the Team Members that are having difficulties, so as to justify the status on the project, and ask for additional resources.

1. There are no right or wrong answers to SJT’s; however, your response will tell the employer how you are likely to perform in the role. In this particular question you are a ‘Project Leader’.

2. In order to decide the most effective way to answer this question you would have already studied and digested the core competencies for the role.

So, if one of the core competencies was ‘The ability to direct, lead and manage your team’s performance’, choosing option D would not be a good indication that you were capable of doing this.

However, if you were to choose option B (Discuss with the two Team Members that are having difficulties, identify the causes, evaluate the remaining workload and determine an action plan to finish the project), this shows that you are capable to managing the situation in order to come up with a positive solution.

Hopefully you are now beginning to see how important it is to learn, absorb and understand the competencies that are set out for the role you have applied for. If you learn them, we guarantee you will score far higher in the situational judgement test.

You have been assigned to work on a global project for your employer. You have to work with a member of another Unit. The Head of Unit has determined a fixed plan of action for each step. After a couple of weeks, you notice that your colleague on the project is not following the plan and his contribution is low, which is starting to have a negative effect on the project. Which is the most likely course of action you would take?

A. Wait for the contribution of your colleague on his work to pick up. In the meantime, you focus on your daily tasks.

B. Inform your Team Leader of the situation on the project, so that he reacts with the Team Leader of your colleague.

C. Send an email with a status report on the project, indicate what you did, with your Head of Unit in cc.

D. Discuss it with your colleague, ask him the reasons for the delay and fix up together a plan to continue on the project.

In order to demonstrate how to answer this question effectively, let’s assume that one of the core competencies for the role is:

“Responsibility – Individuals must be capable of managing their own time and projects in order to meet strict timeframes for projects that are set by Heads of Unit. It is the responsibility of each individual to work with the other members of the team to achieve all targets and projects.”

You will be able to concur from the above competency that the only correct answer to this SJT questions is D. By choosing this course of action you are working with the other member of the team to achieve the target for the project.