Bloomberg Assessment Tests

Bloomberg Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a reconciliations clerk. A £12,000 difference on a client account has appeared and cleared twice in three weeks, each time within a day. It is showing again today. Raising it formally freezes the account and the client is mid-transaction. Your supervisor is on leave and her cover has told you not to raise things that resolve themselves. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Follow the cover's instruction and leave it, noting the recurrence in your own file so there is a record if it appears a fourth time.
   2. Raise it formally today without going back to the cover, since a £12,000 difference recurring three times is plainly the sort of thing the process exists for.
   3. Tell the cover today that this is the third time, ask for a decision on raising it, and record that you have asked and what you were told.
   4. Tell the cover that the difference has cleared and the account is reconciled, so that nothing gets raised and the client's transaction is not interrupted.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell the cover today that this is the third time, ask for a decision on raising it, and record that you have asked and what you were told.

   Least effective: D. Tell the cover that the difference has cleared and the account is reconciled, so that nothing gets raised and the client's transaction is not interrupted.

   A: Keeps the record where nobody will look: a private note is not the same as putting a third recurrence in front of the person who can act on it.

   B: Escalates past the person covering the decision: the account freezes mid-transaction and the one person accountable this week was not asked.

   D: States as settled something you know is open: the difference is showing today, and the person deciding whether to raise it is given a fact that is not true.

   The most effective response is to tell the cover today that this is the third time, ask for a decision on raising it, and record that you asked and what you were told: a third recurrence is new information they have not had, the decision is genuinely theirs, and recording it protects everybody including you. It beats raising it formally today without going back to the cover, because freezing a client mid-transaction is a decision the person accountable this week should make. It beats following the instruction and noting the recurrence in your own file, because a private note is not raising it with anybody. The least effective response is telling the cover the difference has cleared and the account is reconciled: the one person who could decide is told something untrue, so their instruction rests on a fact you supplied and know to be wrong. That is a false statement rather than a misjudged escalation. The principle: take the new fact to the person who owns the decision, and write down what they said.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are an audit junior on a client site. The testing you were given for this week will take two more days than the budget allows, and your manager is at another client until Thursday. The client’s team leaves at 5pm on Friday for a fortnight. You have not worked at this pace before and you are falling behind. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reduce the sample sizes so that the testing fits the days that are left, and record the work as complete for the areas the programme asked you to test.
   2. Test the areas you can finish properly and leave the rest for after the client's team returns, noting in the file that those areas are outstanding.
   3. Work late every night this week to close the gap yourself, and raise it with your manager on Thursday only if you have not managed to catch up by then.
   4. Message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client's team is still available this week.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client's team is still available this week.

   Least effective: A. Reduce the sample sizes so that the testing fits the days that are left, and record the work as complete for the areas the programme asked you to test.

   A: Records work that was not done as done: the file will say the areas were tested to the required depth, and everybody reading it afterwards will believe that, including the reviewer.

   B: Accepts a fortnight's delay without asking: the client is away for two weeks, and whether the file can wait that long is your manager's call.

   C: Absorbs a shortfall that is not yours to absorb: your manager loses three days in which they could have moved resource or spoken to the client.

   The most effective response is to message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client’s team is still available: a two-day gap is a resourcing decision, they can only make it if they know, and the client’s availability this week is the thing that expires. It beats working late every night to close the gap yourself and raising it on Thursday, because three nights of your own time removes your manager’s chance to fix it properly. It beats testing what you can and noting the rest as outstanding, because a two-week slip may or may not be acceptable, and that is not yours to decide alone. The least effective response is reducing the sample sizes so the testing fits and recording the work as complete: the file asserts testing that did not happen, which the reviewer, the client and anybody relying on the audit will take at face value. That is a false record rather than a bad way of handling pressure. The principle: surface the shortfall to the person who can resource it, while the opportunity is still open.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a customer service adviser. You and a colleague set up a daily handover at 2pm and run it together. She disagreed with you sharply in front of the team on Monday and it has been awkward since. Nobody else attends, and the afternoon shift works from what comes out of it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stop turning up to the handover so that you do not have to face her every afternoon, and leave the afternoon shift to work out for themselves that it has stopped.
   2. Keep going to the handover and say nothing at all about Monday, on the basis that these things fade if nobody picks at them.
   3. Ask your team leader to take the daily handover over from the two of you entirely, without explaining to her that Monday is the reason you would rather not be running it.
   4. Keep going to the handover, and tell her plainly that Monday is finished as far as you are concerned so that it does not sit between you every afternoon.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Keep going to the handover, and tell her plainly that Monday is finished as far as you are concerned so that it does not sit between you every afternoon.

   Least effective: A. Stop turning up to the handover so that you do not have to face her every afternoon, and leave the afternoon shift to work out for themselves that it has stopped.

   A: Withdraws from a shared commitment to avoid somebody: the afternoon shift loses the handover it works from, and the people who pay for Monday are the ones who were not in the room.

   B: Waits out an atmosphere: the handover keeps running and both of you keep having it in a silence neither can break.

   C: Hands off a working arrangement without the reason: your team leader inherits it not knowing why, and the disagreement is still there underneath.

   The most effective response is to keep going to the handover and tell her plainly that Monday is finished as far as you are concerned: the handover matters to a shift that was not part of the argument, and saying it is closed is the smallest thing that lets both of you carry on. It beats keeping going and saying nothing at all about Monday, because an unspoken disagreement makes every handover harder. It beats asking your team leader to take the handover over without explaining why, because handing it upward without the reason solves nothing and loses the arrangement. The least effective response is stopping turning up to the handover so you do not have to face her: a commitment you set up yourself is dropped to avoid somebody, and the afternoon shift finds out by missing it. That is withdrawal as payback rather than an awkward or evasive response. The principle: never let the people outside the argument pay for it.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an accounts assistant. A supplier payment run has to be approved by 3pm or the supplier will not be paid until Monday, and they have said they will hold a delivery until they are. It is 2:15pm. A colleague asks you to reformat last month’s expenses spreadsheet, which is wanted for a meeting next week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Start on the expenses spreadsheet and leave the payment run alone until it is done, on the grounds that somebody more senior would have said something if the 3pm deadline really mattered today.
   2. Ask a colleague to take the payment run so that you can make a proper start on the expenses spreadsheet while the request is still fresh in your mind.
   3. Get the payment run approved before 3pm, then tell your colleague you will reformat the expenses spreadsheet afterwards and give them a time when it will be with them.
   4. Work on the expenses spreadsheet and the payment run in turn through the afternoon, giving each of them a few minutes at a time, so that your colleague sees progress and the payment is not left untouched.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Get the payment run approved before 3pm, then tell your colleague you will reformat the expenses spreadsheet afterwards and give them a time when it will be with them.

   Least effective: A. Start on the expenses spreadsheet and leave the payment run alone until it is done, on the grounds that somebody more senior would have said something if the 3pm deadline really mattered today.

   A: Assumes the deadline away: nobody has been asked and nothing has been checked, so a delivery is put at risk on the strength of a silence that means nothing at all.

   B: Hands off the urgent job: the deadline stays yours, and the harder task goes to somebody who has not been following it, to protect work that is not wanted until next week.

   D: Splits effort so nothing finishes: the payment run needs a clear run at it before 3pm, and alternating is the one approach that risks missing a deadline nothing else in the day competes with.

   The most effective response is to get the payment run approved before 3pm, then tell your colleague you will reformat the expenses spreadsheet afterwards and give them a time: 3pm is the only fixed point in the day, the spreadsheet is wanted next week, and a word means they are not left wondering. It beats working on both in turn through the afternoon, because dividing the next forty-five minutes is exactly how the payment run misses 3pm. It beats asking a colleague to take the payment run so you can start the spreadsheet, because moving the urgent work to somebody unfamiliar with it buys time on a task nothing is waiting for. The least effective response is starting on the expenses spreadsheet and leaving the payment run on the assumption that somebody would have said if 3pm mattered: it puts a delivery at risk on a premise nobody was asked to confirm. That is avoidance rather than a defensible ordering of work. The principle: protect the deadline the outside world is holding you to, and tell the person whose work waits.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a financial crime analyst. A colleague asks you to take twelve of her cases this week because she has “a lot on”. She asked the same last month and you agreed. Your own queue is full but manageable. Your team leader allocates cases and does not know about either request. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her you cannot take any of them this week, and leave it there without suggesting anything about the allocation.
   2. Tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader rather than rearranging it privately.
   3. Take a few of them without saying anything, since you managed last month and she would not ask twice without a reason for it.
   4. Send the twelve cases straight over to your team leader to reallocate, without telling your colleague that you have done so or that you were asked.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader rather than rearranging it privately.

   Least effective: D. Send the twelve cases straight over to your team leader to reallocate, without telling your colleague that you have done so or that you were asked.

   A: Refuses without a route: she still has a queue she cannot manage and nothing has been raised with anybody who could change it.

   C: Prioritises harmony over honesty: a few cases move, the allocation stays hidden from the person who owns it, and the pattern is set for a third time.

   D: Hands the request to a manager behind the colleague's back: she asked you directly, and the first she hears is a reallocation she did not expect.

   The most effective response is to tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader: it helps a little, names the pattern honestly to her face, and takes the question to the person whose job it is. It beats taking a few without saying anything because you managed last month, since absorbing it twice hides a real allocation problem. It beats telling her you cannot take any this week and leaving it there, because a flat refusal leaves her exactly where she was. The least effective response is sending the twelve cases to your team leader to reallocate without telling her: the request is escalated over her head, so she is blindsided and the conversation you could have had is now a management one. That is going around a colleague rather than being too soft or too hard. The principle: say it to her, then take the allocation where it belongs, together.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a compliance analyst. A monitoring sample you signed off last week was drawn from the wrong month. The report went to your manager on Friday and nobody has queried it. Redrawing the sample takes an afternoon, and the quarterly summary that uses it is not written until next month. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Redraw the sample now and send your manager the corrected report with no covering note, so the right version simply replaces the wrong one.
   2. Redraw the sample quietly this week and hope it will not be noticed that the report your manager already has was built on the wrong month.
   3. Tell your manager today that the sample was drawn from the wrong month, say it will take an afternoon to redo, and ask whether to start now or after the current work.
   4. Wait until the quarterly summary is written next month and correct the sample then, since that is the first point at which the figures are actually used.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell your manager today that the sample was drawn from the wrong month, say it will take an afternoon to redo, and ask whether to start now or after the current work.

   Least effective: B. Redraw the sample quietly this week and hope it will not be noticed that the report your manager already has was built on the wrong month.

   A: Corrects without explaining: a second report with different numbers and no note leaves your manager unsure which is current or why.

   B: Covers your own error: the report in your manager's hands is wrong today, and the person who could correct anything built on it is deliberately left out.

   D: Delays the decision: a wrong report sits with your manager for a month and may be quoted somewhere before anybody looks at it again.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager today that the sample was drawn from the wrong month, say it will take an afternoon to redo, and ask whether to start now or after the current work: he holds a report built on the wrong month, an afternoon fixes it, and the timing is a question about his priorities rather than yours. It beats redrawing the sample and sending the corrected report with no covering note, because a silently replaced report leaves the reader guessing. It beats correcting it when the quarterly summary is written next month, because a month is long enough for the wrong figures to be used. The least effective response is redrawing it quietly this week and hoping nobody notices: the error is put right where nobody can see it while the person holding the wrong report stays unaware. That is concealment rather than a poorly explained correction. The principle: a quiet fix is not a correction if the person relying on the old version never hears about it.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a personal banking assistant. A long-standing customer wants his daily transfer limit raised to £20,000 today so he can send a deposit to someone he has met online but never in person. He is certain and slightly impatient. The limit change is within what you can do. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Raise the limit to £20,000 as he has asked, since it is within what you are allowed to do and he is a long-standing customer who has been clear about what he wants.
   2. Explain plainly why sending a large deposit to someone he has never met carries a real risk, ask him a few questions about the arrangement, and only then discuss the limit.
   3. Tell him the limit cannot be raised today and that he will need to come back another time, without going into why you are uncomfortable with the transfer.
   4. Refer him to the fraud team and take no part in the conversation yourself, since deposits to people met online are exactly what they are there for.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Explain plainly why sending a large deposit to someone he has never met carries a real risk, ask him a few questions about the arrangement, and only then discuss the limit.

   Least effective: A. Raise the limit to £20,000 as he has asked, since it is within what you are allowed to do and he is a long-standing customer who has been clear about what he wants.

   A: Decides which parts of the job count: the limit is within your authority, but so is the conversation about why the money is moving, and skipping it is the whole of what the role is for here.

   C: Uses a false obstacle instead of the real reason: he leaves without the information that might actually change his mind, and may simply try another route.

   D: Escalates before speaking to him: an impatient customer handed to a specialist team without a word from you is likely to disengage entirely.

   The most effective response is to explain plainly why sending a large deposit to someone he has never met carries a real risk, ask a few questions about the arrangement, and only then discuss the limit: it treats him as an adult, supplies the thing he does not have, and keeps the limit question open rather than making the conversation a refusal. It beats telling him the limit cannot be raised today without going into why, because inventing an obstacle sends him elsewhere with the same plan and no new information. It beats referring him to the fraud team and taking no part yourself, because a cold referral loses the only person he is currently willing to listen to. The least effective response is raising the limit to £20,000 as he asked because it is within what you may do: the transfer is enabled without any of the conversation the situation calls for, purely because the button was within reach. That is treating an authority as the whole job rather than a clumsily handled warning. The principle: authority to do something is not a reason to do it without the conversation that goes with it.

8. Question 8 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.

9. Question 9 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.

10. Question 10 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.