Situational judgement test examples

How SJT questions are set out

Every example below uses one of the formats employers use. The US Office of Personnel Management lists several, including what you would do, what you would be most and least likely to do, the best response, and the best and second-best responses (OPM Assessment Decision Guide). This guide also includes ranking and rating questions.

Read the instruction word. "Most effective" asks for the best action. "Most likely" asks what you would actually do, which should still be your honest, best judgment for the role.

Teamwork examples

Example 1: most and least effective. Two teammates disagree about how to build a shared tracking spreadsheet. The argument has gone on for a week and your project is now behind.

• A. Stay out of it, and note the delay in your next status update.
• B. Suggest a short meeting where each explains their approach against the project goal, and agree a decision, involving the team lead if you cannot.
• C. Tell the team lead straight away that the two of them are blocking the project.
• D. Pick the approach you prefer and start building it yourself.

Most effective: B. It moves the team toward a decision, keeps the focus on the goal rather than the people, and escalates only if needed. Least effective: D. Acting alone creates a third version and damages trust with both colleagues. C escalates before anyone has tried to solve it; A reports the delay but does nothing to end it.

Example 2: most effective. A colleague is off sick for two weeks. Your manager asks you to cover their tasks as well as your own, and you are already fully booked.

• A. Agree, and plan to work late every day.
• B. Agree to help, and ask your manager which of your own tasks can wait or be shared.
• C. Decline, because the work is not in your job description.
• D. Agree, then quietly do only the urgent parts of both jobs.

Most effective: B. It is cooperative and honest about capacity, and it lets your manager set the priorities. A is not sustainable for two weeks, C is unhelpful, and D drops work without telling anyone.

Customer examples

Example 3: most and least effective. A caller is shouting and swearing about a billing error. You check, and the error is real.

• A. End the call without warning; you do not have to accept abuse.
• B. Stay calm, acknowledge the error, say you will fix it, and politely explain you can help faster if the language stops.
• C. Transfer the call to your supervisor without explaining why.
• D. Explain that the bill was produced by the system, not by you.

Most effective: B. It fixes a real problem and sets a calm boundary. Least effective: A. The customer has a genuine complaint, and ending the call leaves it unsolved and the customer angrier. If your workplace has a policy on ending abusive calls, follow it; the calm boundary in B is the step before that. D is true but deflects instead of fixing.

Example 4: rate each response from 1 (very ineffective) to 4 (very effective). A customer wants to return a kettle 10 days after the 30-day return window closed. It has stopped working. Store policy lets a manager approve exceptions for faulty items.

• A. Refuse, because the return window has closed. Rating: 1 or 2. It follows the headline rule but ignores the exception the policy provides.
• B. Explain the options and ask a manager to approve an exception for a faulty item. Rating: 4. It uses the policy as written and keeps the customer informed.
• C. Refund it yourself to keep the customer happy. Rating: 1. It goes beyond your authority, however kind it seems.
• D. Tell the customer to contact the manufacturer. Rating: 2. It may be a real route, but it passes the problem on when the store could solve it.

The method for rating questions: judge each response on its own against the same test: does it solve the problem, honestly, within your authority?

Deadline example

Example 5: rank the responses from most to least effective. You are organizing an office move. The furniture supplier tells you the delivery will be five days late, after the agreed move date.

• A. Tell your manager today, explain the delay and suggest two options: borrowed furniture, or a later move date.
• B. Tell your manager today that the furniture will be late.
• C. Wait a few days to see whether the supplier can catch up before telling anyone.
• D. Say nothing and explain on moving day.

Ranking: A, B, C, D. A raises the problem early and brings solutions. B raises it early but leaves your manager to find the fix. C loses days that could have been used to plan. D hides the problem until nothing can be done.

The pattern: the earlier a risk is shared, the more options the people affected still have.

Ethics examples

Example 6: most and least effective. Your manager asks you to change the date on a safety inspection record so it looks as if the inspection was done on time.

• A. Change it; your manager is responsible for the decision.
• B. Politely decline, and suggest recording the real date with a note on why it was late.
• C. Change it, but keep a copy of the original record.
• D. Report your manager to the company's chief executive without speaking to them first.

Most effective: B. It refuses to falsify a record and offers an honest way forward. Least effective: A. It falsifies a safety record. C is still falsification. D may become right if the pressure continues, but it skips the step of declining and explaining.

Example 7: most effective. A friend in another department asks whether rumors about job cuts in their team are true. You have seen a confidential draft plan.

• A. Tell them what you saw, as a friend.
• B. Say you cannot discuss confidential information, and suggest they ask their manager.
• C. Deny the rumors to reassure them.
• D. Hint that they might want to update their resume.

Most effective: B. It protects confidential information without lying. A and D both leak it, and C is dishonest.

Management examples

Example 8: most and least effective. You have just been promoted to lead the team you used to work in. An experienced team member openly disputes your decisions in team meetings.

• A. Ask to meet them one to one, listen to their concerns and agree how disagreements will be raised in future.
• B. Disagree back firmly in the meeting so the team sees who is in charge.
• C. Ignore it and hope it fades as people adjust.
• D. Stop inviting them to the meetings.

Most effective: A. Their experience is valuable, and a private conversation addresses the behavior without a public contest. Least effective: D. It excludes a team member from work they need to be part of and makes the conflict worse.

Example 9: most effective. A normally reliable team member has missed two deadlines this month and seems distracted. You are their supervisor.

• A. Have a private, supportive conversation, ask whether anything is affecting their work, and agree a plan.
• B. Issue a formal written warning.
• C. Quietly move their work to other people.
• D. Give the whole team a general reminder about deadlines.

Most effective: A. A change in a good performer's work usually has a cause, and asking first is both fair and practical. B is too early, C avoids the issue, and D does not reach the person.

How SJTs are scored

An expert key. OPM describes SJT questions and options as typically built from real incidents gathered from people who do the job, with scores based on those experts' judgments of the best and worst options (OPM Assessment Decision Guide).

Points for matching. In one simple method OPM describes, experts choose the most and least effective response for each scenario, and you may earn a point for matching each of them (OPM). That means the least effective choice counts as much as the best one.

Fixed or branching. In a linear SJT everyone sees the same scenarios in the same order. OPM notes that some computer-based SJTs branch instead, so later scenarios depend on your earlier answers (OPM Assessment Decision Guide).

Publishers' own tests. Test publishers also offer SJTs; for example, SHL lists a situational judgment practice test among its free candidate practice tests (SHL Direct). The employer decides how your result is used alongside your application and interviews.

Why the right answer depends on the employer

Because the key comes from people in that job, the same scenario can have a different best answer in a different workplace.

An example. You notice a colleague's mileage claims list client visits on days you know they worked in the office with you. One employer's key may prefer that you report the facts to your manager. Another, with a strong "assume good intent" culture, may prefer that you first mention a possible mistake to the colleague privately.

What to do about it:

• Read the job description and the company's stated values before the test. They tell you what the experts were thinking about.
• Answer as the role. A team leader is expected to decide; a new starter is often expected to check with a manager first.
• Look for the response that solves the problem, not the one that only sounds polite.
• Distrust extremes. "Ignore it", "do it yourself without telling anyone" and "go straight to the top" rarely score well.

Our situational judgement test gives you ten more scenarios to practice this, and our psychometric tests guide explains where SJTs sit among other employer tests.