Capital One Assessment Tests

Capital One Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 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.

2. Question 2 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.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a customer service adviser. Two colleagues on your row have stopped speaking after an argument about who handled a complaint badly. Each has taken you aside to explain why the other was at fault. Calls are being transferred between them without a word, and a customer has noticed. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stay out of it entirely and take the transferred calls yourself whenever you can, so that customers stop being passed between two people who will not speak.
   2. Report both of them to your team leader today, setting out what each has said to you about the other and asking for the row to be dealt with formally.
   3. Tell each of them what the other has been saying about the complaint, so that they can both see how the argument actually looks from the outside.
   4. Tell each of them that you are not going to take a side, and say that the transfers are now visible to customers, so it needs sorting between them or with your team leader today.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell each of them that you are not going to take a side, and say that the transfers are now visible to customers, so it needs sorting between them or with your team leader today.

   Least effective: C. Tell each of them what the other has been saying about the complaint, so that they can both see how the argument actually looks from the outside.

   A: Absorbs the symptom: the calls stop being visible, which removes the one pressure that was going to force the dispute to be dealt with.

   B: Escalates before either has been asked to fix it: two colleagues who could still resolve this between them arrive at a formal conversation instead.

   C: Carries private remarks between two people in a dispute: each hears the worst version of the other, and a row about one complaint becomes a grievance about what was said behind a back.

   The most effective response is to tell each of them you are not going to take a side, and say the transfers are now visible to customers so it needs sorting between them or with your team leader today: it refuses the role each is trying to give you, names the thing that has to change, and leaves a route open. It beats staying out of it and taking the transferred calls yourself, because absorbing them hides the problem that was about to force a fix. It beats reporting both of them to your team leader today, because neither has yet been asked to sort it out. The least effective response is telling each of them what the other has been saying: it moves private accounts into the open, which turns a disagreement about a complaint into a personal grievance nobody can step back from. That is personalising the conflict rather than handling it clumsily. The principle: decline the role of go-between, and name the consequence that makes it urgent.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an accounts assistant. Your manager asks for the month’s travel spend for a call in ten minutes. You can see £41,000 posted, and you know two large invoices have not been entered yet which will add somewhere between £6,000 and £9,000. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her the month's travel spend is about £50,000, without setting out what is posted and what is still an estimate of the invoices to come.
   2. Tell her you cannot give a reliable figure until the two outstanding invoices have been entered, and offer to send the number through once the posting has all been completed later in the week.
   3. Tell her that £41,000 is posted so far and that two further invoices worth roughly £6,000 to £9,000 are still to come, so the month as a whole will land somewhere near £50,000.
   4. Present the month's travel spend as settled at £41,000, since that is what the system shows right now and the two outstanding invoices can be picked up in next month's figures instead.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell her that £41,000 is posted so far and that two further invoices worth roughly £6,000 to £9,000 are still to come, so the month as a whole will land somewhere near £50,000.

   Least effective: D. Present the month's travel spend as settled at £41,000, since that is what the system shows right now and the two outstanding invoices can be picked up in next month's figures instead.

   A: Presents an estimate as a figure: the number is close, and she cannot tell which part of it is measured and which part is not.

   B: Withholds a usable answer: she has a call in ten minutes and a range would serve her perfectly well.

   D: States a partial figure as the answer: she quotes £41,000 on the call, and the number she has given will move by up to £9,000 once the invoices land.

   The most effective response is to tell her that £41,000 is posted so far and two further invoices worth roughly £6,000 to £9,000 are still to come, so the month lands near £50,000: it gives her something to say on the call, separates what is posted from what is estimated, and lands on a usable total. It beats saying you cannot give a reliable figure until the outstanding invoices are entered, because a range in ten minutes is far better than a precise number next week. It beats telling her the spend is about £50,000 without setting out what is posted and what is estimated, because she cannot defend that without knowing which part is a guess. The least effective response is presenting the month as settled at £41,000: a figure that will move by up to £9,000 is handed over as the month’s spend, and she repeats it. That is asserting something as settled when it is not. The principle: give the range and say which part is measured.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a reporting analyst. A figure you circulated on Monday has been corrected, and the new number is materially lower. Two teams have been building next quarter’s plans on the old one since Tuesday, and one of them presents on Thursday. Correcting it publicly will be awkward for the colleague whose data caused the error. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send both teams the corrected figure today with a short note on what changed, so the team presenting on Thursday can rework its plan before it stands up.
   2. Send the corrected figure only to the team presenting on Thursday, and let the other team come across the change when they next look at the underlying report.
   3. Tell both teams that the original figure came from your colleague's data and that this is the second time their numbers have caused a problem like this one for you.
   4. Raise the correction at the reporting meeting next week, when the change can be explained properly to everybody who uses the figure at the same time.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Send both teams the corrected figure today with a short note on what changed, so the team presenting on Thursday can rework its plan before it stands up.

   Least effective: C. Tell both teams that the original figure came from your colleague's data and that this is the second time their numbers have caused a problem like this one for you.

   B: Tells half the audience: both teams are planning on the same wrong number, and the one without a deadline is the one that will build on it for longest.

   C: Blames a colleague in front of the people who need the number: the teams still do not know what the corrected figure is, and the correction becomes an argument about who is at fault.

   D: Delays the decision: Thursday comes first, so the team with the deadline presents a plan built on a number you already know is wrong.

   The most effective response is to send both teams the corrected figure today with a short note on what changed: the correction is only useful before Thursday, both teams are exposed, and the note lets each of them judge what to redo. It beats sending it only to the team presenting on Thursday, because the other team is planning on the same wrong figure with more time to invest in it. It beats raising the correction at next week’s reporting meeting, because that is after the presentation the correction exists to protect. The least effective response is telling both teams the original figure came from your colleague’s data and that this is the second time: it turns a correction into an accusation, in front of people who still do not have the right number, and the thing they need never arrives. That is personalising it rather than communicating it badly. The principle: get the corrected number to everybody using it, in time to be worth having.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are an accounts assistant. Two jobs are on your desk: a half-day reconciliation due Friday, and a five-minute approval that a colleague cannot start her own work without. It is Tuesday morning and she is waiting at your desk. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the approval over to your team leader to action on your behalf, so that you can stay on the reconciliation and your colleague still gets what she needs from you today.
   2. Do the five-minute approval now so your colleague can get on, then give the reconciliation a clear run for the rest of the morning.
   3. Carry on with the reconciliation and leave the approval alone until Friday, since the reconciliation is the job with a real deadline attached to it and the approval has none.
   4. Ask your colleague to come back after lunch, so that the morning's work on the reconciliation is not broken up before it has properly started.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Do the five-minute approval now so your colleague can get on, then give the reconciliation a clear run for the rest of the morning.

   Least effective: C. Carry on with the reconciliation and leave the approval alone until Friday, since the reconciliation is the job with a real deadline attached to it and the approval has none.

   A: Passes responsibility upward for five minutes of work: the approval is yours to give and moving it adds a step for no gain.

   C: Leaves a colleague blocked for three days: five minutes of your time is holding up somebody else's whole task, and nothing about Friday gets easier for having started earlier.

   D: Delays a trivial task at real cost: half a day of her time buys you an uninterrupted morning you did not need.

   The most effective response is to do the five-minute approval now so your colleague can get on, then give the reconciliation a clear run: five minutes releases somebody else’s whole day, and the reconciliation still has three days and an uninterrupted morning. It beats asking her to come back after lunch, because making her wait costs her far more than it saves you. It beats sending the approval to your team leader to action on your behalf, because routing a five-minute job through him adds a step and an explanation. The least effective response is carrying on with the reconciliation and leaving the approval until Friday: a colleague sits blocked because a job with slack was treated as the one that could not be interrupted. That is avoiding the small task rather than ordering the work badly. The principle: clear what is blocking somebody else before settling into your own work.

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 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.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are an audit junior. The client’s financial controller has asked you for a summary of the queries raised so far, which will take an hour. Your manager has asked for a section of testing by tonight, which will take the rest of the day. The controller is going on leave tomorrow for two weeks. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do the summary first because the controller is leaving, and tell your manager tonight if the testing has not been finished as a result of it.
   2. Ask the controller to send her questions by email so you can answer them from wherever you are while she is away on leave for the fortnight.
   3. Get on with the testing and leave the controller's summary until she is back in a fortnight, since your manager's work is the priority and nobody has said otherwise about the summary.
   4. Tell your manager that the controller leaves tomorrow and ask whether to spend the hour on her summary before she goes, since the testing can absorb an hour and the controller cannot.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell your manager that the controller leaves tomorrow and ask whether to spend the hour on her summary before she goes, since the testing can absorb an hour and the controller cannot.

   Least effective: C. Get on with the testing and leave the controller's summary until she is back in a fortnight, since your manager's work is the priority and nobody has said otherwise about the summary.

   A: Reorders your manager's work without asking: she may have a reason the testing cannot move that you do not know about.

   B: Solves the wrong problem: she asked for a summary of queries raised, not for a channel, and she wants it before she goes.

   C: Declines to raise a two-week window: the controller's leave is the fact your manager does not have, and the choice is made by not making it.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager that the controller leaves tomorrow and ask whether to spend the hour on her summary before she goes: your manager owns the ordering, the leave is the fact that makes the hour urgent, and asking takes a minute. It beats doing the summary first and telling your manager tonight if the testing slipped, because reordering her work without asking is her call to make. It beats asking the controller to send her questions by email while she is away, because a mailbox is not the summary she asked for. The least effective response is getting on with the testing and leaving the summary until she is back in a fortnight: a two-week window closes tomorrow and the person who could decide is never told it exists. That is avoiding the question rather than answering it wrongly. The principle: when a window is about to close, the person who owns the priorities needs to know today.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a payments assistant. A customer telephones because a £600 payment she sent yesterday has not arrived. You can see it was returned by the receiving bank and is back in her account, which she has not noticed. She has already been transferred twice this morning. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Tell her the payment was returned and is back in her account, check the details with her, and offer to send it again now with the correction.
    2. Take her details and promise to look into why the payment was returned, then call her back this afternoon once you have found out what went wrong with the original instruction.
    3. Transfer her over to the payments investigation team, since returned payments are their area and they will be able to see more of the detail behind the return than you can from where you are sitting.
    4. Tell her the payment was returned and suggest she checks the account details with the person she was paying before trying to send it again herself later on today.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Tell her the payment was returned and is back in her account, check the details with her, and offer to send it again now with the correction.

    Least effective: C. Transfer her over to the payments investigation team, since returned payments are their area and they will be able to see more of the detail behind the return than you can from where you are sitting.

    B: Investigates what is already known: the return is on the screen, so an afternoon callback delays a payment that could go today.

    C: Makes it a third transfer: she has already been passed twice, the answer is on the screen in front of you, and she is handed to a queue instead of being told her money is safe.

    D: Gives her the answer and then the work: she is on the telephone now, and re-sending it together is quicker than a second attempt on her own.

    The most effective response is to tell her the payment was returned and is back in her account, check the details with her, and offer to send it again now: she does not know her money is back, the cause is visible, and re-sending it on the call is the whole resolution. It beats telling her it was returned and suggesting she checks the details with the payee before trying again herself, because doing it together now is faster than sending her away to try again. It beats promising to look into why it was returned and calling back this afternoon, because there is nothing left to investigate. The least effective response is transferring her to the payments investigation team: a customer transferred twice already is transferred a third time, away from the person who can actually see the answer. That is passing her on rather than helping her slowly. The principle: when the answer is on your screen, the call ends with you.