BNP Paribas Assessment Tests

BNP Paribas Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are an audit associate. Two schedules are due to your manager by Friday and each takes a day. It is Wednesday morning. A colleague uses the first one on Thursday to start his own testing; the second is only read at the Friday review. Nobody has told you which order to do them in. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do the schedule your colleague needs first so that his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second one on Thursday in good time for the Friday review.
   2. Ask your manager on Thursday morning which of the two she would rather have first, and work on neither of them until she has come back to you.
   3. Start with the schedule for the Friday review and leave the other until Thursday afternoon, without telling your colleague that his testing will not be able to start.
   4. Split Wednesday and Thursday between the two schedules so that both of them are partly done by the time the Friday review comes round.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Do the schedule your colleague needs first so that his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second one on Thursday in good time for the Friday review.

   Least effective: C. Start with the schedule for the Friday review and leave the other until Thursday afternoon, without telling your colleague that his testing will not be able to start.

   B: Spends a day of a two-day budget on a question with an evident answer: one schedule has somebody waiting on it and the other does not.

   C: Costs a colleague a day without warning him: he plans Thursday around a schedule that will not arrive, and the person who knew that on Wednesday says nothing.

   D: Splits effort so nothing finishes: two half-schedules on Friday morning are worth less than one complete one, and his Thursday is lost either way.

   The most effective response is to do the schedule your colleague needs first so his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second on Thursday for the Friday review: only one of the two has a person waiting behind it, both still land by Friday, and nothing is lost. It beats asking your manager on Thursday morning which she would rather have first, because a whole day goes on a question whose answer is on the page. It beats splitting Wednesday and Thursday between the two, because two unfinished schedules help nobody. The least effective response is starting with the Friday review schedule and not telling your colleague his testing cannot start: he loses a day he has planned around, and the one person who could have told him on Wednesday says nothing. That is silence about something he needed rather than a defensible ordering. The principle: when your order costs somebody else a day, they hear about it before the day starts.

2. Question 2 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.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a risk assistant. In a meeting, a manager from another team says your report was late and “not worth reading”, in front of eight people. The report was two days late because their team sent data late, which you can show. The meeting has ten minutes left and the chair is waiting for the next item. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Point out in front of the others that their own team sent the data two days late, and that this is not the first time their delays have been described as somebody else's problem.
   2. Say that you will take the quality point away and look at it, note that the timing depended on data that arrived late, and offer to go through both with them afterwards.
   3. Say nothing in the meeting and send the manager the dates afterwards, so that the correction is made privately and the meeting can move on.
   4. Ask the chair for time now to go through the timeline properly, so that the meeting can see exactly when the data arrived and when the report followed.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Say that you will take the quality point away and look at it, note that the timing depended on data that arrived late, and offer to go through both with them afterwards.

   Least effective: A. Point out in front of the others that their own team sent the data two days late, and that this is not the first time their delays have been described as somebody else's problem.

   A: Answers a criticism with a criticism in the room: the substance of both points is lost, and eight people watch a dispute between two teams instead of the next item.

   C: Leaves an unchallenged claim standing: eight people heard the report called not worth reading and none of them will see the private correction.

   D: Spends a contested ten minutes on your own position: the meeting has other business, and a timeline walk-through reads as defensiveness whatever it shows.

   The most effective response is to say you will take the quality point away and look at it, note that the timing depended on data that arrived late, and offer to go through both afterwards: it concedes what might be fair, corrects the factual point briefly in front of the same eight people, and moves the argument somewhere it can be had properly. It beats saying nothing in the meeting and sending the manager the dates afterwards, because a private correction never reaches the audience that heard the claim. It beats asking the chair for time now to go through the timeline properly, because taking the meeting’s last ten minutes to litigate it costs more than it recovers. The least effective response is pointing out in front of the others that their own team sent the data two days late and that this is not the first time: it turns a criticism of a report into a public dispute about another team’s reliability, and the room leaves remembering the row. That is personalising it rather than pitching the response badly. The principle: take the point, correct the fact briefly, and move the argument off the floor.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an onboarding analyst. Two colleagues are in dispute about a missed client deadline, and your team leader is deciding between their accounts. You saw the email that settles it: one of them did send the information on time. That colleague is the one you get on with least. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Keep what you saw to yourself and let your team leader decide on the two accounts, since it is not your dispute and you have no wish to be drawn into it.
   2. Forward the email to your team leader with no explanation, so the facts are available without you appearing to take a side.
   3. Tell your team leader today that you saw the email and when it was sent, and offer to forward it so the decision rests on the record rather than on recollection.
   4. Tell the colleague you get on with least that you saw the email, and leave it to him to raise it with your team leader himself.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell your team leader today that you saw the email and when it was sent, and offer to forward it so the decision rests on the record rather than on recollection.

   Least effective: A. Keep what you saw to yourself and let your team leader decide on the two accounts, since it is not your dispute and you have no wish to be drawn into it.

   A: Withholds the fact that settles it: a colleague is blamed for something the record shows he did not do, and the one person who could correct that has chosen not to.

   B: Supplies the document and not the context: an unexplained email in a dispute is easy to misread and invites a question you have avoided answering.

   D: Routes the evidence through the interested party: it arrives as his claim rather than as your observation, which is exactly what is in doubt.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader today that you saw the email and when it was sent, and offer to forward it: it puts the decisive fact in front of the person deciding, in your own words, and offers the document behind it. It beats telling the colleague you get on with least and leaving him to raise it, because evidence relayed by the person it helps carries less weight. It beats forwarding the email with no explanation, because a bare forward leaves your team leader guessing what it shows. The least effective response is keeping what you saw to yourself because it is not your dispute: a colleague is found at fault for something the record disproves, because the only witness preferred not to be involved. That is silence rather than an awkward or indirect way of speaking up. The principle: if you hold the fact that settles it, say so plainly, whoever it helps.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a client services associate. A client emails at 9am insisting that a routine quarterly statement is sent to her today rather than next week, and will not say why. Producing it early takes about forty minutes. Your other work today has no fixed deadline. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply that the statement will follow on the usual date next week, and assume that a client who will not explain the urgency does not really have any.
   2. Reply asking her to explain why she needs it today, and produce the statement once she has told you what the underlying deadline actually is.
   3. Produce the statement today and send it without any covering message, so that she has what she asked for and nothing more is made of it.
   4. Produce the statement today, and when you send it ask whether there is a deadline behind the request so the timing can be built in from next quarter.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Produce the statement today, and when you send it ask whether there is a deadline behind the request so the timing can be built in from next quarter.

   Least effective: A. Reply that the statement will follow on the usual date next week, and assume that a client who will not explain the urgency does not really have any.

   A: Declines to find out: forty minutes of uncommitted time is available, and the reason she will not explain is treated as evidence that there is no reason.

   B: Makes help conditional on an explanation: she has already declined to give one, and forty minutes of your time is not worth the standoff.

   C: Solves today and not next quarter: the same scramble happens again because nobody ever asked what sits behind the date.

   The most effective response is to produce the statement today and ask, when you send it, whether there is a deadline behind the request: she gets what she asked for inside a day that has room for it, and the question is asked at the point where it costs nothing. It beats replying to ask why she needs it today before producing anything, because forty spare minutes is not worth a standoff over an explanation. It beats producing it today and sending it without any covering message, because asking once prevents the same request arriving urgently every quarter. The least effective response is replying that the statement will follow on the usual date next week: a client is refused something the day plainly had room for, on an assumption about her motives that nobody tested. That is avoidance rather than an unhelpful way of helping. The principle: do the cheap thing, and ask the question that stops it recurring.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are an assurance trainee. Your senior has told you to drop a test she says the client “sorted out verbally”. Firm policy is that evidence goes on the file. She is the person you report to, she reviews your work, and she has been supportive. The file is signed off next Tuesday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Assure her that the test is complete and the evidence is on the file, and leave it as it is so that nobody has to reopen the question before Tuesday.
   2. Ask her directly to point you at what she was told and by whom, so you can put it on the file, and say you are not comfortable leaving it with nothing recorded.
   3. Do as she asked and drop the test, but write a note in your own records that you were told to drop it, so your own position is documented if it ever comes up.
   4. Take it to the engagement partner this week, since a missing test on a file being signed on Tuesday is exactly what a partner should know about.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Ask her directly to point you at what she was told and by whom, so you can put it on the file, and say you are not comfortable leaving it with nothing recorded.

   Least effective: A. Assure her that the test is complete and the evidence is on the file, and leave it as it is so that nobody has to reopen the question before Tuesday.

   A: Tells your reviewer something untrue: she signs a file believing a test was done, and the fabrication is now hers to defend as well as yours.

   C: Documents rather than resolves: the file still lacks the evidence, and a private note protects you and nobody else.

   D: Escalates before asking: she has given a reason, you have not tested it, and going straight past her is hard to walk back if the answer is innocent.

   The most effective response is to ask her directly to point you at what she was told and by whom so you can put it on the file, and say you are not comfortable leaving it with nothing recorded: it treats her explanation as probably genuine, asks for the thing policy requires, and says where you stand without making it an accusation. It beats taking it to the engagement partner this week, because going over her before asking is unrecoverable if her answer is fine. It beats dropping the test but writing a note in your own records, because a private note leaves the file exactly as wrong as before. The least effective response is assuring her the test is complete and the evidence is on the file: your reviewer is told something untrue and signs on the strength of it. That is a false statement to the person relying on you, a different kind of wrong from the other two, which at least leave the facts intact. The principle: ask the person first, plainly, for the thing the policy needs.

7. Question 7 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.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a customer service adviser. A colleague tells you she gave a customer the wrong information last week and the customer has since complained. She asks you to say, if anybody asks, that you both remember the call differently. You were not on the call. Complaints are reviewed by a separate team. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Report the conversation to your team leader today without telling her that you are going to, since what she asked for is serious enough to raise.
   2. Agree to keep it between the two of you and say you remember it differently if the review team asks, since she is a good colleague and one mistake should not follow her around.
   3. Tell her you cannot say anything about a call you were not on, and that it will go far better for her if she tells the review team what happened first.
   4. Tell her you will stay out of it and say nothing to anybody, leaving her to decide for herself what she wants to tell the review team.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell her you cannot say anything about a call you were not on, and that it will go far better for her if she tells the review team what happened first.

   Least effective: B. Agree to keep it between the two of you and say you remember it differently if the review team asks, since she is a good colleague and one mistake should not follow her around.

   A: Escalates before saying no: she has not yet been told plainly that you will not do it, and the first she hears is from her team leader.

   B: Joins a cover-up: a review that exists to find out what happened is given a false account by two people, and a single mistake becomes a deliberate one shared between them.

   D: Avoids the difficult conversation: neutrality reads as permission, and she is left thinking the plan is still open.

   The most effective response is to tell her you cannot say anything about a call you were not on, and that it will go far better for her if she tells the review team what happened first: it refuses clearly, and gives her the one route that actually improves her position. It beats telling her you will stay out of it and say nothing to anybody, because silence leaves the suggestion alive. It beats reporting the conversation to your team leader without telling her, because she deserves to hear the refusal from you before it becomes somebody else’s conversation. The least effective response is agreeing to keep it between you and to say you remember it differently: two people give a review a false account, which turns a wrong answer on a call into something much harder to explain, for both of you. That is agreeing to hide it rather than handling the refusal badly. The principle: refuse plainly, then point at the route that helps them.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a financial crime analyst. A colleague has closed eleven alerts in one afternoon with the same one-line reason. Some of those alerts look to you as though they needed more work. He is well regarded and closed them within policy. Your team leader reviews a sample of closures monthly. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reopen the eleven alerts yourself and work them properly, without raising it with him or your team leader at all.
   2. Say nothing and let the monthly sample review pick it up, since that is exactly what the sampling process exists to catch.
   3. Ask him first what the one-line reason covers, and if the answer does not satisfy you, put the eleven closures to your team leader as something to look at.
   4. Tell your team leader the eleven closures were properly reasoned and consistent with policy, so that nothing has to be reopened and your colleague is not put under suspicion.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Ask him first what the one-line reason covers, and if the answer does not satisfy you, put the eleven closures to your team leader as something to look at.

   Least effective: D. Tell your team leader the eleven closures were properly reasoned and consistent with policy, so that nothing has to be reopened and your colleague is not put under suspicion.

   A: Redoes a colleague's work in silence: he learns nothing, the duplication is invisible, and nobody decides whether the closures were wrong.

   B: Leaves it to a sample: eleven closures in an afternoon may well not be sampled at all, and the specific thing you noticed is not what sampling looks for.

   D: Vouches for work you have not verified: your team leader relies on it when choosing the monthly sample, and the one signal that something needed another look is removed by the person who saw it.

   The most effective response is to ask him first what the one-line reason covers, and if the answer does not satisfy you, put the eleven closures to your team leader: he may have a perfectly good answer, asking costs nothing and is recoverable, and the route onward is clear if the answer is thin. It beats saying nothing and letting the monthly sample review pick it up, because a monthly sample is unlikely to land on these eleven. It beats reopening the alerts yourself and working them properly, because quietly redoing them decides nothing and duplicates everything. The least effective response is telling your team leader the closures were properly reasoned and consistent with policy: she is told they were sound by the one person who thought otherwise, so the sample is chosen on a false picture. That is asserting something you have not checked rather than under-reacting. The principle: ask the person, then take a real doubt to the person who samples.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a payments assistant. A colleague in another office asks you to confirm that a batch of supplier payments went out this morning so that he can tell the suppliers. You can see the batch was submitted, but not whether the bank has accepted it, and acceptance sometimes fails. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Assure him that the payments went out this morning, since the batch was submitted and these batches are accepted almost every time without any trouble at all.
    2. Tell him nothing can be confirmed until the end of the day, and leave it there so that no partial information goes out to the suppliers.
    3. Tell him you cannot help with the batch and suggest he asks the bank liaison team, who will be able to see whether acceptance has come back yet.
    4. Tell him the batch was submitted but not yet confirmed as accepted, say when you will know, and ask him to hold the supplier calls until then.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Tell him the batch was submitted but not yet confirmed as accepted, say when you will know, and ask him to hold the supplier calls until then.

    Least effective: A. Assure him that the payments went out this morning, since the batch was submitted and these batches are accepted almost every time without any trouble at all.

    A: Gives an assurance you have not checked: he telephones suppliers on the strength of it, and a failed batch turns your convenience into his broken promise.

    B: Withholds the useful half: knowing the batch was submitted lets him plan his calls, and he is left with less than you actually know.

    C: Sends a colleague elsewhere for something you hold: you can see the submission and will see the acceptance, and he now has two people to chase.

    The most effective response is to tell him the batch was submitted but not yet confirmed as accepted, say when you will know, and ask him to hold the supplier calls: it separates what you know from what you do not, gives him a time, and stops calls going out on an unconfirmed batch. It beats telling him you cannot help and suggesting the bank liaison team, because the information is yours and routing him adds delay. It beats saying nothing can be confirmed until the end of the day, because he can use the submission fact if you give it to him. The least effective response is assuring him the payments went out this morning: a confirmation is given for something that has not been confirmed, and suppliers are told on the back of it. That is asserting a fact you have not checked, a different kind of wrong from the other two, which merely tell him less than they could. The principle: say exactly what you know, exactly what you do not, and when the gap closes.