Situational Judgment Test Tips

These six tips are specifically useful for answering questions on Situational Judgement Tests. 

1. Before taking the test, read about the employer. Companies usually publish an agenda, or they highlight in their publications their views of service and sales. Try to determine the competencies that are highly valued by the employer in the position you are applying for.
2. In reality, the situations that appear on an SJT don't have right or wrong answers. Remember that you are being asked to choose the response that best suits the situation and that demonstrates competencies that are valued by the employer.
3. Keep in mind the context of the test and the scenario. Choose the response that best suit your position and the situation described.
4. Assume that the optional responses are all possible; you will not be presented with impossible responses.
5. The responses listed may not reflect all potential responses. What you believe is the best or most appropriate response may not be listed.
6. Responses may be appropriate in the short term versus the long term and vice versa. It is important to consider responses regardless of the time frame as a response may be appropriate, even if it is something that cannot be done right away.

During the test, you are presented with various challenging situations that employees may come across in the workplace. You are provided with several responses and asked to select the most or least effective ones, or to rank the effectiveness of all of the responses. Below are some tips to help you on the various question types found on the SJT.

1. If the question asks you to rank the responses, compare them to each other. However, keep in mind that all the responses may be effective or that they may all be ineffective. Your task is to rank the responses, not to decide if they are right or wrong.
2. On rating questions, consider each response independently of the others. Note that on some rating questions, a rating can be used several times or not at all (e.g., no response is "highly desirable").
3. Read the situation first and try to understand the dilemma you are facing: a professional one, a relational one, or both. Then, try to find a response that best resolves the dilemma/s.