Bank of Montreal Assessment Tests

Bank Of Montreal Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are an accounts assistant. The month-end file is due at 9am and you are an hour behind at 8am. The only way to make it is to skip the second review of the intercompany balances, which has caught an error twice this year. Nobody checks whether that review was done. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the file at 9am with a note saying the intercompany review has not been done, so the deadline is met and the gap is stated.
   2. Do the intercompany review properly and send the file when it is finished, without telling anybody in advance that it will be late.
   3. Message your manager at 8am to say the file will be late by about an hour because the intercompany review is outstanding, and ask whether to hold or send.
   4. Skip the intercompany review to make the 9am deadline, and keep to yourself that the review everybody assumes has happened was not done this month.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Message your manager at 8am to say the file will be late by about an hour because the intercompany review is outstanding, and ask whether to hold or send.

   Least effective: D. Skip the intercompany review to make the 9am deadline, and keep to yourself that the review everybody assumes has happened was not done this month.

   A: Meets the deadline and leaves the risk live: a note does not perform the review, and the error it catches twice a year is still in the file.

   B: Chooses correctly and says nothing: the review gets done, and whoever is waiting at 9am has no idea why nothing has arrived.

   D: Hides a missing check behind an on-time file: the file looks exactly like every other month, and the one fact that would tell anybody otherwise is held by the only person who knows.

   The most effective response is to message your manager at 8am to say the file will be about an hour late because the intercompany review is outstanding, and ask whether to hold or send: an hour late with the review done is probably the right trade, but it is her trade to make, and 8am is early enough. It beats sending the file at 9am with a note saying the review has not been done, because a note does not do the review. It beats doing the review properly and sending it late without warning, because the right answer delivered unannounced still leaves people waiting on nothing. The least effective response is skipping the review to make 9am and keeping that to yourself: a check with a track record of catching real errors is dropped, and the fact is kept from everybody who would want to know. That is concealment rather than a defensible trade. The principle: the choice between late and unchecked belongs to your manager, and they need it early.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a purchase ledger clerk. A supplier will stop a delivery unless a £12,000 invoice is paid today. It needs your manager’s approval and she is in hospital appointments all day. Her deputy is not set up in the system. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Process the £12,000 invoice today without waiting for any approval at all, since the delivery stops otherwise and your manager would certainly have approved it if she had been reachable.
   2. Let the delivery be stopped and process the invoice tomorrow when your manager is back, since the approval genuinely cannot be given today at all.
   3. Ask the deputy to approve it verbally and process it on her say-so, then have your manager confirm the approval in the system when she returns tomorrow.
   4. Telephone your manager between her appointments to ask how she wants it handled, and tell the supplier what is happening and when you will be coming back to them with an answer.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Telephone your manager between her appointments to ask how she wants it handled, and tell the supplier what is happening and when you will be coming back to them with an answer.

   Least effective: A. Process the £12,000 invoice today without waiting for any approval at all, since the delivery stops otherwise and your manager would certainly have approved it if she had been reachable.

   A: Releases a payment the control says must be approved: £12,000 moves on one person's confidence about what somebody else would have said, which is the exact judgement an approval exists to take out of your hands.

   B: Accepts the consequence without testing it: nobody has asked your manager whether she can take two minutes between appointments.

   C: Records an approval that has not been given: the deputy is not set up precisely so that her say-so is not an approval.

   The most effective response is to telephone your manager between her appointments to ask how she wants it handled, and tell the supplier what is happening and when you will come back: two minutes of her time settles it, hospital appointments have gaps, and the supplier can be managed meanwhile. It beats letting the delivery be stopped and processing it tomorrow when she is back, because nobody has tried to reach her. It beats asking the deputy to approve it verbally and having your manager confirm it in the system tomorrow, because a verbal say-so from somebody without system access is not an approval. The least effective response is processing the £12,000 invoice today with no approval at all: money leaves without the approval the control requires, on one person’s confidence about what somebody else would have said. That is setting the control aside rather than working around its edges. The principle: when the approver cannot be reached, the deadline is what gives way, never the control.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are an onboarding analyst. Your team of three is down to two for a fortnight and your caseload has gone from twelve clients to nineteen. Four of the new ones have deadlines this week. Your team leader has asked everybody to “absorb it where you can”. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. List the four deadlines you cannot meet, take that to your team leader today with what you can cover, and ask which of the four should move.
   2. Reply to your team leader that the caseload is not realistic and ask for the extra seven clients to be reallocated somewhere else this week.
   3. Work to the four deadlines this week and leave the other fifteen clients entirely untouched until the fortnight is over.
   4. Hand the four clients with deadlines over to a colleague on another team, since your own caseload is full and somebody with spare capacity ought to be picking them up.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. List the four deadlines you cannot meet, take that to your team leader today with what you can cover, and ask which of the four should move.

   Least effective: D. Hand the four clients with deadlines over to a colleague on another team, since your own caseload is full and somebody with spare capacity ought to be picking them up.

   B: Hands the problem back whole: the team is two people, so there is nowhere obvious for seven clients to go, and no proposal comes with it.

   C: Protects the visible four: fifteen clients hear nothing for two weeks, and some of them will have needs that surface in that time.

   D: Passes the hardest cases to somebody with no history on them: four deadlines this week land with a colleague who has never seen the files, and the caseload problem is not raised with anybody who could fix it.

   The most effective response is to list the four deadlines you cannot meet, take that to your team leader today with what you can cover, and ask which should move: it accepts the instruction, does the analysis he cannot do from where he sits, and turns an impossible caseload into a specific choice between four dates. It beats replying that the caseload is not realistic and asking for the seven extra clients to be reallocated, because handing back seven with no proposal is not absorbing anything. It beats working to the four deadlines and leaving the other fifteen untouched, because fifteen clients going dark for a fortnight creates the next problem. The least effective response is handing the four clients with deadlines to a colleague on another team: the hardest cases go to somebody who has never seen them, in the week they are due, and the team leader who could have moved a date is never asked. That is offloading the problem rather than allocating it badly. The principle: when you cannot do it all, say which parts and say it while there is still a choice.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a reporting analyst. You and a colleague disagreed sharply last week about whose figures were wrong; yours turned out to be right. He now needs the data extract you produce as a favour each Friday, which nobody has ever asked you to do. His deadline is Monday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send him the extract on Friday as usual, and separately say that the disagreement is finished as far as you are concerned so it does not sit between you.
   2. Tell him you will send the extract but only if he acknowledges that his figures were the ones that were wrong last week.
   3. Stop producing the Friday extract now that he has been shown to be wrong, so that you do not have to deal with him every week about a job nobody asked you to do.
   4. Send him the extract on Friday exactly as usual and say nothing at all about last week, on the basis that being proved right is enough and the whole thing will fade by itself soon enough.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Send him the extract on Friday as usual, and separately say that the disagreement is finished as far as you are concerned so it does not sit between you.

   Least effective: C. Stop producing the Friday extract now that he has been shown to be wrong, so that you do not have to deal with him every week about a job nobody asked you to do.

   B: Makes the work conditional on an apology: it turns a settled factual question into a price, and he will pay it resentfully or not at all.

   C: Withdraws a favour after winning an argument: his Monday deadline fails, and the timing makes the reason unmistakable to everybody who sees it.

   D: Avoids the difficult conversation: the work continues and he is left guessing whether you are still aggrieved about it.

   The most effective response is to send him the extract on Friday as usual, and separately say the disagreement is finished as far as you are concerned: it protects his deadline, separates the work from the argument, and says the thing that lets both of you drop it. It beats sending the extract exactly as usual and saying nothing at all about last week, because silence leaves the grievance alive on both sides. It beats telling him you will send it only if he acknowledges his figures were wrong, because trading work for an admission poisons the next six months. The least effective response is stopping the Friday extract now that he has been shown to be wrong: a favour is withdrawn in the week he lost the argument, so his Monday fails and the reason is obvious. That is retaliation rather than an awkward or graceless way of moving on. The principle: winning the argument does not license withdrawing the help.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a client services associate. A client emails asking why a charge on her statement is £45 rather than the £30 she expected. Charges are calculated by another team, but the tariff is on a page you can see, and it takes two minutes to read. She has asked twice already. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Read the tariff, reply today explaining exactly how the £45 is made up, and offer to raise it with the charges team if the breakdown still looks wrong to her.
   2. Reply asking her to send you last month's statement as well, so that you can compare the two before saying anything about how the charge was calculated.
   3. Send her email over to the charges team without reading the tariff yourself, and close the query on your side so that it no longer shows on your own list.
   4. Reply with a general explanation of how monthly charges can vary, and offer to look up the exact breakdown for her if she still wants it after that.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Read the tariff, reply today explaining exactly how the £45 is made up, and offer to raise it with the charges team if the breakdown still looks wrong to her.

   Least effective: C. Send her email over to the charges team without reading the tariff yourself, and close the query on your side so that it no longer shows on your own list.

   B: Asks the customer for work you do not need: the tariff explains this month's figure on its own, and she is given a task instead of an answer.

   C: Passes the question on for a second time: she has asked twice, the answer is two minutes away on a page in front of you, and she is handed to a team she has no relationship with.

   D: Answers a specific question with a general one: she asked how £45 was arrived at, and she has to ask a third time to get it.

   The most effective response is to read the tariff, reply today explaining exactly how the £45 is made up, and offer to raise it with the charges team if the breakdown still looks wrong: the answer is two minutes away, she has asked twice, and the offer keeps the door open without promising an outcome. It beats replying with a general explanation of how monthly charges can vary, because that does not explain £45. It beats asking her to send last month’s statement for comparison, because nothing in it is needed to read this month’s tariff. The least effective response is sending her email to the charges team unread and closing the query on your side: the question she has now asked three times moves to another team, and she waits again for something you could have answered today. That is handing it on rather than answering it poorly. The principle: if the answer is within reach, reach for it.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a compliance analyst. A department head asks you whether his team’s new process “has been approved”. Your review is half done and the parts you have seen are fine, but two sections are untouched. He wants to start using the process on Monday and is pressing for an answer today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him exactly which parts you have reviewed and which you have not, say when the remaining two will be done, and be clear that it is not approved yet.
   2. Tell him to raise it with your manager, since a question about whether something is approved should come from somebody more senior than you.
   3. Tell him the review is not finished and that you cannot say anything further about it until it is, without giving him any sort of date for the remaining two sections.
   4. Tell him it is fine to go ahead on Monday, since everything you have looked at so far has been perfectly in order and the rest is very unlikely to differ.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell him exactly which parts you have reviewed and which you have not, say when the remaining two will be done, and be clear that it is not approved yet.

   Least effective: D. Tell him it is fine to go ahead on Monday, since everything you have looked at so far has been perfectly in order and the rest is very unlikely to differ.

   B: Passes a question you can answer: you know exactly what has and has not been reviewed, and he now waits for a diary slot.

   C: Withholds the timing: he is planning a Monday start and a date is the one thing that would let him plan around it.

   D: Gives an approval you have not reached: he starts a process on Monday believing it is signed off, and two unreviewed sections carry his name and yours.

   The most effective response is to tell him exactly which parts you have reviewed and which you have not, say when the remaining two will be done, and be clear it is not approved yet: it is precise about what is done, honest about the status, and gives him a date he can plan against. It beats telling him the review is not finished and that you cannot say more, because a refusal without a date leaves him no better off. It beats telling him to raise it with your manager, because you hold the facts and she would only repeat them. The least effective response is telling him it is fine to go ahead on Monday: an approval is given for two sections nobody has read, and a department starts using the process on the strength of it. That is asserting something untrue rather than being unhelpfully vague. The principle: report the status precisely and give a date, never round it up to yes.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a settlements assistant. A change next month means one client’s trades will settle a day later than they do now, which will cost them a small amount of interest each time. The change is decided and cannot be altered. Nobody has told the client. Their relationship manager is on leave for two weeks. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell the client that nothing about their settlement arrangements is changing, since the difference is small and the relationship manager can explain it properly when she is back.
   2. Telephone the client yourself today and explain the change, since somebody should tell them and you are the person who understands the detail.
   3. Wait for the relationship manager to come back and give her the details then, so the client hears it from the person who deals with them.
   4. Write up what changes, what it costs the client and when it starts, and send it to the relationship manager's cover today so the client can be told before it happens.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Write up what changes, what it costs the client and when it starts, and send it to the relationship manager's cover today so the client can be told before it happens.

   Least effective: A. Tell the client that nothing about their settlement arrangements is changing, since the difference is small and the relationship manager can explain it properly when she is back.

   A: Denies a change you know is coming: the client plans on it, and when the first trade settles late they will have been told the opposite by name.

   B: Bypasses the relationship: a cover exists, and a client hearing a cost increase from an unfamiliar voice will ask questions you cannot answer.

   C: Delays past the event: two weeks is most of the notice available, and the change may land before she returns.

   The most effective response is to write up what changes, what it costs the client and when it starts, and send it to the relationship manager’s cover today: the cover can act now, the client gets notice before the first late settlement, and the person with the relationship still delivers it. It beats waiting for the relationship manager to come back and giving her the details then, because two weeks of the notice period is spent waiting. It beats telephoning the client yourself today, because a cold call about a cost increase raises questions you are not placed to handle. The least effective response is telling the client nothing about their settlement arrangements is changing: they are told the opposite of what is about to happen, and plan around a fact you know to be false. That is a false statement rather than a poorly routed message. The principle: get the news to somebody who can deliver it, in time for it to be notice.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are an assurance trainee. A meeting note you wrote three weeks ago records that the client “would consider” a change. Your senior says the client has since told him they “agreed” it at that meeting, and asks you to amend the note to say agreed. You remember it as considered. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Refuse and tell him the note cannot be touched, without offering any way to capture what the client has now said.
   2. Amend the original note to say the client agreed, since your senior was in the meeting too and the client has now confirmed that is what happened.
   3. Take it straight to the engagement partner as a request to falsify a record, without first putting the alternative to your senior.
   4. Offer to add a dated line recording what the client has now said, and explain that you would rather not change what the original note recorded at the time.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Offer to add a dated line recording what the client has now said, and explain that you would rather not change what the original note recorded at the time.

   Least effective: B. Amend the original note to say the client agreed, since your senior was in the meeting too and the client has now confirmed that is what happened.

   A: Defends the record and drops the substance: the client's later position is real and needs recording somewhere.

   B: Alters a contemporaneous record: the note's whole value is that it says what was recorded on the day, and rewriting it removes the only evidence of the difference.

   C: Names it as falsification before asking: your senior may simply not have thought about it, and this is very hard to walk back.

   The most effective response is to offer to add a dated line recording what the client has now said, and explain that you would rather not change what the original note recorded at the time: it protects what the note is for, captures the new information properly, and gives your senior an easy way to accept. It beats refusing outright and offering no way to capture what the client has now said, because that later position still needs to be on file. It beats taking it straight to the engagement partner as a request to falsify a record, because an unheralded partner conversation is a large response to a request he may withdraw at once. The least effective response is amending the original note to say the client agreed: the record of what was said on the day is overwritten to match what people now believe, which destroys the one thing a contemporaneous note provides. That is altering a record rather than handling the request rigidly or dramatically. The principle: never rewrite the old record; add a new one with today’s date on it.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are an assurance trainee finishing three weeks at a client. The client team you tested offers you a leaving gift: a hamper worth about £120. They are warm about it and the whole team is watching. Your firm’s rule on gifts is that anything over £50 must be declared and may be refused. You have raised two findings against this team. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Thank them warmly, explain that anything over £50 has to be declared, and say you will do that today and let them know what the firm decides about keeping it.
   2. Accept the hamper and leave it in the office kitchen for everybody to share, so that nothing is refused and no individual benefits from it.
   3. Take the gift and say nothing about it, since refusing it in front of the whole team would be graceless and it was plainly meant as an ordinary goodbye.
   4. Refuse the hamper outright in front of the team, explaining that you cannot accept gifts from a client whose work you have been testing.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Thank them warmly, explain that anything over £50 has to be declared, and say you will do that today and let them know what the firm decides about keeping it.

   Least effective: C. Take the gift and say nothing about it, since refusing it in front of the whole team would be graceless and it was plainly meant as an ordinary goodbye.

   B: Solves the wrong problem: sharing it out disposes of the hamper but the declaration, which is what the firm's rule actually asks for, still has not happened.

   C: Takes a gift the role forbids: you have just raised findings against the people giving it, and the one process that would let anybody see that has been skipped.

   D: Answers a social moment with a rule: the point can be made without embarrassing people publicly, and the firm may well allow it once declared.

   The most effective response is to thank them warmly, explain that anything over £50 has to be declared, and say you will do that today and let them know what the firm decides: it is warm, it is honest about the rule, and it puts the decision where the firm has said it belongs. It beats refusing the hamper outright in front of the team, because a public refusal spends goodwill for nothing when the firm may permit it anyway. It beats accepting it and leaving it in the office kitchen for everybody, because the kitchen table is not a declaration and the rule is untouched. The least effective response is taking the gift and saying nothing about it: something worth more than twice the threshold is accepted from people whose work you have just criticised, and the only control that could have made that visible is bypassed. That is taking an advantage the role forbids rather than handling a delicate moment badly. The principle: declare it and let the firm decide, and be gracious while you do.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an onboarding analyst. A colleague in sales asks you to confirm to his prospect that their account can be live by the end of the month, which would win the deal. Accounts like this usually take six weeks and the checks are not yours. It is the eighteenth. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Tell him six weeks is typical, that you cannot commit to month end, and offer to ask the checks team today whether this one could be prioritised.
    2. Promise him the account will be live by month end, since he needs it to win the deal and there is a reasonable chance the checks come back quickly this time.
    3. Tell him the timing is nothing to do with you at all, and that he will have to ask the checks team himself if he wants a firm date for the prospect.
    4. Tell him you will find out and come back to him, without saying anything now about how long these accounts normally take.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Tell him six weeks is typical, that you cannot commit to month end, and offer to ask the checks team today whether this one could be prioritised.

    Least effective: B. Promise him the account will be live by month end, since he needs it to win the deal and there is a reasonable chance the checks come back quickly this time.

    B: Gives a promise about somebody else's process: the prospect signs on it, and when six weeks turns out to be six weeks the firm has broken a commitment it never made.

    C: Passes a colleague away from help you could give: you know the typical timescale and could ask, and he is left starting from nothing.

    D: Withholds the useful part: he is talking to the prospect today, and the six-week norm is the thing that would stop him promising anything.

    The most effective response is to tell him six weeks is typical, that you cannot commit to month end, and offer to ask the checks team today whether this one could be prioritised: it gives him the fact that matters now, refuses the commitment that is not yours, and offers the one action that might help. It beats telling him the timing is nothing to do with you and he must ask the checks team himself, because you hold information he needs and can ask a question he cannot. It beats saying you will find out and come back without giving him the usual timescale, because he may promise month end today while waiting. The least effective response is promising the account will be live by month end: a firm date is given for a process run by another team, and a prospect signs a deal on it. That is a commitment you cannot back rather than an unhelpful answer. The principle: give the norm, refuse the promise, and offer the ask.