Situational Judgement

Overview

What is a Situational Judgement Test?

Discover, Draft, Approve, Launch.

A Situational Judgement Test—otherwise known as an SJT or Situational Strengths Test—is a kind of psychometric test that measures the skills and behaviours of prospective employees, such as their soft skills, common sense, non-academic behaviours and practical intelligence.

SJTs produce this information by presenting individuals with a variety of different work-related situations which they may experience when performing the functions of the job for which they are applying. For each situation put forward, a respondent will need to select one of the four answer options available, basing their answer on which they believe to be the most effective course of action to take if they were faced with the situation in a professional setting. This type of reasoning test always uses multiple-choice questions – individuals are unable to submit personalised responses.

When assessing SJTs, employers will be looking for correct answers, as undoubtedly, they will have a preferred course of action in mind. However, irrespective of a test-taker’s choice, the ability to see which course of action a prospective employee would take in a situation of your choosing will offer unique insight into their decision-making processes, competencies and personality traits. Additionally, you will learn more about their values and behaviours when faced with a work-based task.

Off-the-shelf SJTs can be an effective general practice for employers. However, to gain maximum value, we can create bespoke Situational Judgement Tests to the specifications of your organisation and its unique challenges. By working closely with you, we create SJT questions custom-built to the characteristics, values and culture of your company.

What are situational judgement tests?

Situational Judgement Tests are engaging psychometric tests, they allow candidates to learn more about the requirements of the position for which they are applying.

Cost Effective

How it works?

Not only will Situational Judgement Tests prove to be incredibly valuable to your organisation, but they are also extremely cost-effective and the process of their creation is highly efficient and painless. We set up our custom-built SJTs in four simple steps:

Discover

A Skillsarena consultant will learn about your company culture, the scenarios you would like to assess and the roles that you are recruiting for.

Draft

Based on our findings from the discover stage, our consultant will draft scenarios and example questions for you and your team to review.

Approve

After your team has reviewed the content, we will take any tweaks and suggestions on board and make any adjustments required.

Launch

A practice test will be completed on multiple members of your current team to ensure that the content aligns with your organisation’s mission.

Sample Questions

Situational Judgement Test

The below is an example of a Situational Judgement Question from a generic SJT Assessment.

You have just had your monthly review; your manager has praised you for your work and you feel happy with the outcome. You are delighted that your manager has not noticed that you are still unable to use one of the IT applications required for your role.

Response One

Remain delighted and thankful for the praise, agreeing with the positive feedback from your manager. After the meeting, arrange a training session with your colleague so that you will be able to complete all aspects of the role efficiently.

Response Two

Recognise that you are using up other people’s time and being dishonest with both yourself and your line manager. Set aside time for self-development to build these skills.

Response Three

Focus on your line manager’s praise and plan to avoid future roles in which the areas you are less capable may be exposed.

Response Four

Tell your line manager that you are grateful for the praise but you feel that you require more training on the IT application in question.

Up until now, you have been able to ask a colleague to do this on your behalf. You know that this must improve but you only have another 6 weeks remaining on this placement.

Why use a Situational Judgement Test?

By using real-life work scenarios, Situational Judgement Tests offer both an applicant and employer a chance to understand how the individual will operate when faced with the situation in a professional setting. In this way, Situational Judgements Tests are extremely beneficial for individuals on both sides of the recruitment process.

Why Situational Judgement Tests are beneficial for employers?

Situational judgement tests are a perfect way to assess a potential employee’s core competencies in relation to the role which they will be performing. By placing them in simulated situations based on what they may experience at work, employers are offered a unique insight into a potential employee’s job-related judgment calls, cognitive ability and problem-solving abilities.

As well as being very cost-effective, well-designed and convenient to deploy, SJTs allow employers to save time and resources by easily prioritising the top talent from a large pool of applicants.

Additionally, this test-taking can form part of a standardised recruitment process if the role is regularly open. This can be especially effective when hiring for positions for which candidates are likely to have little to no work experience, such as entry-level positions or graduate schemes.

Why Situational Judgement Tests are beneficial for job candidates?

Taking ability tests, aptitude tests, or any other kind of situational judgement test as an applicant can be hugely beneficial both for serving as a window into the inner workings of an organisation and for the candidate’s personal development.

When an SJT has been created to bespoke specifications, it will undoubtedly reflect an organisation’s company culture, values and ethics, offering candidates a high-level indication of what it would be like to work in that environment. As candidates will receive a realistic job preview, employee retention is much more likely.

Additionally, as SJTs are engaging psychometric tests, they allow candidates to learn more about the requirements of the position for which they are applying.

Results from bespoke assessments will be far more applicable and useful in your recruitment process and are more likely to produce hires of a higher quality.

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