EE Assessment Tests

EE Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a test analyst. An overnight test run failed and somebody asks you in the morning stand-up what went wrong. You know the run stopped after a change to the test data, but you have not established whether the change caused it. The likeliest explanation, from past experience, is that the shared environment ran out of space. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say the environment probably ran out of space, and add that you have not looked yet, so that the room has both your guess and the fact it is a guess.
   2. Say the run stopped after a change to the test data and that you do not yet know whether it caused the failure, so that nobody leaves with an unchecked cause.
   3. Say the environment ran out of space, even though you know the run stopped after a change to the test data, since that is what it usually turns out to be.
   4. Say you do not know yet and will report back when you have looked, without mentioning the test-data change until you know whether it is relevant.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Say the run stopped after a change to the test data and that you do not yet know whether it caused the failure, so that nobody leaves with an unchecked cause.

   Least effective: C. Say the environment ran out of space, even though you know the run stopped after a change to the test data, since that is what it usually turns out to be.

   A: Labels a guess and still supplies it: the room takes the likeliest cause away with them, and the test-data change goes unmentioned entirely.

   C: Offers the cause you assume instead of the fact you have: the room leaves believing a cause nobody has checked, and the real lead is never mentioned.

   D: Withholds the one lead you have: somebody in the room may know immediately whether that change could have done it.

   The most effective response is to say the run stopped after a change to the test data and that you do not yet know whether it caused the failure. You have one real observation and one open question, and giving the room both is more useful than any conclusion you could offer this morning. It beats saying the environment probably ran out of space and adding that you have not looked yet, because a caveat does not stop a guess travelling and it still leaves out the only fact you have. It beats saying you do not know yet and will report back, because somebody in the stand-up may know at once whether that change could have caused it. The least effective response is naming the environment as the cause because that is what it usually turns out to be: it is worse than either of the other two, because one flags the uncertainty and the other says nothing untrue, while this asserts a cause nobody has investigated and buries the observation that might have led somewhere. The principle: report what you observed and what you have not yet established, and never let the usual explanation stand in for the one you have not checked.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a junior developer. After three weeks of long days you have found what you believe is the cause of a recurring fault, with evidence from the logs. A developer of fifteen years’ standing says in the team channel that it cannot be that, and gives no reason. Two others agree with him and the discussion moves on. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Post the log evidence in the channel, ask him directly what he thinks it shows, and say you may well be wrong but would like to know why, so that it is settled on the logs.
   2. Let it go for now and raise it again if the fault recurs, since three weeks of long days is not the state to be arguing in and the evidence will keep.
   3. Take the evidence to your manager and ask her to look at it, since the channel has already moved on and three people have taken a view.
   4. Accept that fifteen years of knowing this system beats three weeks of your log reading, and drop it, since two other people took the same view as he did.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Post the log evidence in the channel, ask him directly what he thinks it shows, and say you may well be wrong but would like to know why, so that it is settled on the logs.

   Least effective: D. Accept that fifteen years of knowing this system beats three weeks of your log reading, and drop it, since two other people took the same view as he did.

   B: Postpones on the strength of your own tiredness: the fault recurs on customers meanwhile, and the evidence you found stays unexamined.

   C: Escalates before the argument has happened: he has not seen your logs, so there is nothing for a manager to arbitrate yet.

   D: Puts loyalty to long service above the logs: they either show what you think or they do not, and nobody in the channel has yet looked at them.

   The most effective response is to post the log evidence in the channel, ask him directly what he thinks it shows, and say you may well be wrong. He gave no reason, which means the disagreement has not actually happened yet, and this makes it about the logs rather than about either of you. It beats letting it go for now and raising it again if the fault recurs, because it keeps recurring for customers while you wait, and being tired is a reason to be careful rather than to withdraw. It beats taking the evidence to your manager, because she cannot arbitrate evidence the other party has not seen. The least effective response is accepting that fifteen years of knowing the system beats three weeks of your log reading: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep the evidence alive, while this discards it because of how long somebody has worked here. The principle: when you are exhausted and outranked, put the evidence in front of the person and invite them to show you what you have missed.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a release coordinator. A customer emails you directly because yesterday’s release changed a screen her staff use all day and she cannot find a setting they rely on. She has written to you because your name was on the release note. You know where the setting has moved to. The support queue is running at three days. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply to her today telling her where the setting has moved, and raise a ticket yourself so that the change gets documented for everybody else who will hit it.
   2. Reply asking her to raise it through the support portal, where her question will be picked up by whoever is on the queue that day.
   3. Reply with where the setting has moved to and leave it there, since her question is answered and the release note is somebody else's document to maintain.
   4. Forward her email to the team who wrote the screen and ask them to reply to her directly, as they will explain the change far better than you could.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Reply to her today telling her where the setting has moved, and raise a ticket yourself so that the change gets documented for everybody else who will hit it.

   Least effective: B. Reply asking her to raise it through the support portal, where her question will be picked up by whoever is on the queue that day.

   B: Passes the problem on without owning it: she wrote to the one person who knows the answer, and is sent to a three-day queue to be told what you could say now.

   C: Answers her and stops: the next twenty customers hit the same wall, and the note that caused it stays exactly as wrong as it was this morning.

   D: Adds a hop she did not ask for: they may well explain it better, and she is now waiting on people who have not agreed to write to her.

   The most effective response is to reply to her today telling her where the setting has moved, and raise a ticket so the change gets documented. She needs one sentence you already have, and the fact that she had to ask is evidence the release note is missing something others will need. It beats replying with where the setting has moved and leaving it there, because that leaves the same gap for everyone behind her, and the note carries your name. It beats forwarding her email to the team who wrote the screen, because they have not agreed to write to customers and she gets no faster answer. The least effective response is asking her to raise it through the support portal: it is worse than either of the other two, because both end with her being told something, while this sends the person who reached the only individual holding the answer into a three-day queue. The principle: when a customer reaches the person who knows, answer, and fix the thing that made her have to ask.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a security analyst. A password reset system stopped working overnight and a manager asks you in the corridor what happened. You know a certificate expired at midnight. You have not confirmed that this caused the failure. Certificates expiring is the usual cause of this kind of outage, and he is on his way to tell his team something. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him a certificate expired at midnight and that this is almost always the cause, so that he has something definite to give his team on his way past.
   2. Tell him a certificate expired at midnight and that you have not yet confirmed it caused this, and say when you will know, so that he can tell his team that much.
   3. Tell him the expired certificate caused the outage, even though you cannot yet show that it did. That is nearly always what this turns out to be.
   4. Tell him you cannot say anything until the investigation is finished, and ask him to hold off telling his team until there is a confirmed answer.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell him a certificate expired at midnight and that you have not yet confirmed it caused this, and say when you will know, so that he can tell his team that much.

   Least effective: C. Tell him the expired certificate caused the outage, even though you cannot yet show that it did. That is nearly always what this turns out to be.

   A: Hands over a likely cause as a settled one: the qualification will not survive the retelling, and his team hears a confirmed explanation.

   C: States as fact the cause you assume: nobody has established the link, and an entire team is told a confirmed explanation that may be wrong.

   D: Withholds a fact you are sure of: the certificate did expire at midnight, and that alone is something his team can be told.

   The most effective response is to tell him a certificate expired at midnight and that you have not yet confirmed it caused this, and say when you will know. You have one certain fact and one open question, and separating them lets him tell his team something true. It beats telling him the expiry is almost always the cause so he has something definite, because that qualifier will be dropped in the retelling. It beats telling him you cannot say anything until the investigation is finished, because the expiry itself is confirmed and worth passing on. The least effective response is telling him the expired certificate caused the outage: it is worse than either of the other two, because one qualifies it and the other says nothing untrue, while this supplies a causal link nobody has established to a manager on his way to brief his team. The principle: separate what you know from what you assume, give both, and put a time on when the second becomes the first.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a build engineer. Last night’s release has left customers unable to log in, and the team has worked since six this morning on the theory that a supplier’s change caused it. You have just realised the cause is a setting you altered on Tuesday and did not record. The room is tired, tempers are short, and your manager has spent the morning defending the team. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Test your theory quietly first and raise it only once you are certain, so that you do not send an exhausted team down a second wrong path this morning.
   2. Say now, to the whole room, that a change you made on Tuesday is the likely cause, give them the detail they need to check it, and stay to help fix it.
   3. Tell your manager privately and let her decide what to say to the room and when, since she has been the one holding the line for the team all morning.
   4. Let the team carry on with the supplier theory and hope nobody has noticed the Tuesday change. The fix will be found either way before very long.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Say now, to the whole room, that a change you made on Tuesday is the likely cause, give them the detail they need to check it, and stay to help fix it.

   Least effective: D. Let the team carry on with the supplier theory and hope nobody has noticed the Tuesday change. The fix will be found either way before very long.

   A: Delays the one fact that would stop the search: while you are making sure, five other people are still spending the morning on a supplier who did nothing.

   C: Hands the difficult telling to somebody else: she now carries your error into a tired room, and the delay while she decides how is time the team is still losing.

   D: Conceals your own fault: it is the only option that spends other people's morning to protect you, and every hour it survives makes the eventual discovery worse.

   The most effective response is to say now, to the whole room, that a change you made on Tuesday is the likely cause, give them the detail to check it, and stay to help fix it. The expensive thing in the room is not embarrassment, it is five people searching in the wrong place, and only you can stop that. It beats testing your theory quietly first and raising it once you are certain, because certainty costs time the team is spending on a false trail. It beats telling your manager privately and letting her decide what to say, because the delay is more of the same lost morning and it makes her carry something that is yours. The least effective response is letting the team carry on with the supplier theory: it is worse than either of the other two, because both get the fact to the people who need it, slowly or indirectly, while this keeps a tired team on a supplier who did nothing. The principle: under pressure, the cost of your own mistake is what other people are spending on it, and that stops the moment you speak.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a test analyst. A set of automated checks has been failing on and off for a fortnight. They were written by somebody who has since moved to another team and nobody has been given them. Two people on your own team now scroll past the failures out of habit, which means a genuine failure would be scrolled past too. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Fix the checks yourself over the next few evenings and say nothing about it, so the failures stop and everybody quietly goes back to trusting them again.
   2. Ask the person who wrote them whether she would mind taking a look, even though she moved teams a while ago and has a full workload of her own now.
   3. Say in the stand-up that the checks have no owner and that people have stopped believing them, so that somebody is given them instead of everybody ignoring them.
   4. Scroll past the failures as the others do, and assume that anybody who genuinely needed these checks would have been given them at some point by now.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Say in the stand-up that the checks have no owner and that people have stopped believing them, so that somebody is given them instead of everybody ignoring them.

   Least effective: D. Scroll past the failures as the others do, and assume that anybody who genuinely needed these checks would have been given them at some point by now.

   A: Repairs the symptom in private: the checks work again and still belong to nobody, so the same gap reopens the next time they break.

   B: Asks somebody with neither the time nor the remit: it feels like the right door and it is the one person who no longer has any reason to answer.

   D: Assumes the job away: a fortnight of nobody being given them is evidence against the assumption, and it makes you the third person the failures no longer reach.

   The most effective response is to say in the stand-up that the checks have no owner and that people have stopped believing them. The real damage is not the failing checks, it is that the team has learned to ignore a signal, and the only fix is an owner. It beats fixing the checks yourself over the next few evenings and saying nothing, because repairing them silently leaves them ownerless, so the next break restores this situation. It beats asking the person who wrote them to take a look, because she has moved teams and has neither the time nor any remaining responsibility. The least effective response is scrolling past the failures as the others do: it is worse than either of the other two, because both try something about a signal nobody trusts, while this adds a third person to the habit and rests on an assumption a fortnight has disproved. The principle: when a shared signal has stopped being believed, the thing to raise is the ownership, not the failure.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are an incident coordinator. You promised the on-call handover pack by Friday and it will now be Tuesday. The person who runs the weekend rota is building this weekend’s cover around it and is on annual leave until Thursday. Her deputy is at his desk today and has the rota open in front of him. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Email her now so that she reads it on Thursday when she is back, and carry on with the pack in the meantime without troubling anybody else.
   2. Say nothing until she is back on Thursday. She owns the rota, and one working day either way will not change very much about what she decides.
   3. Tell her deputy today that the pack will be Tuesday rather than Friday, so that this weekend's cover is built on the real date, and email her as well.
   4. Tell the deputy the pack may be a little late without giving him the new date, so that he is warned and she is not alarmed while she is away.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell her deputy today that the pack will be Tuesday rather than Friday, so that this weekend's cover is built on the real date, and email her as well.

   Least effective: B. Say nothing until she is back on Thursday. She owns the rota, and one working day either way will not change very much about what she decides.

   A: Sends the warning to the one person who cannot act on it: she is on leave until Thursday and the cover is being built this week.

   B: Stays silent while the plan is built: the weekend cover is assembled around a Friday pack that is not coming, and only you know that.

   D: Warns without the number he needs: he cannot rebuild a weekend rota around might be late, and Tuesday is the only fact that would let him.

   The most effective response is to tell her deputy today that the pack will be Tuesday rather than Friday, and email her as well. He is at his desk with the rota open, the weekend is being planned now, and emailing her means nothing is done behind her back. It beats emailing her now so she reads it on Thursday, because she cannot act until then and the cover is assembled this week. It beats telling the deputy the pack may be a little late without giving him the new date, because a vague warning cannot be planned around. The least effective response is saying nothing until she is back on Thursday: it is worse than either of the other two, because both reach somebody with something, while this leaves a weekend rota being built around a pack that is not coming. The principle: when your slip lands inside somebody else’s plan, tell whoever is holding it today, with the date.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a graduate software engineer. Your team has been told that nothing goes out between Friday and Tuesday, because the finance team is closing the year and the system must not move under them. A one-line fix you have written would remove an error message that confuses about a dozen users a day. It is small and you are confident about it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Put the one-line fix out now, since the freeze was plainly written for large changes and a dozen confused users a day is a real cost nobody is counting.
   2. Ask the finance team directly whether they would mind, and go ahead if they say it is fine, since they are the people the freeze exists to protect anyway.
   3. Leave it until Wednesday and say nothing to anybody, since four days of an error message will not hurt and the instruction you were given is perfectly clear.
   4. Raise it with your team lead today and say what the fix does and what the message costs users, so that whoever owns the freeze decides on the exception.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Raise it with your team lead today and say what the fix does and what the message costs users, so that whoever owns the freeze decides on the exception.

   Least effective: A. Put the one-line fix out now, since the freeze was plainly written for large changes and a dozen confused users a day is a real cost nobody is counting.

   A: Decides which rules count: the freeze protects a team closing a year, and this is the option that reads a rule with a stated reason as advice about size.

   B: Gets permission from the wrong people: finance can say whether they mind, but they did not set the freeze and cannot see what else is riding on it.

   C: Treats a clear rule as a reason to stay quiet: following the freeze is right, but nobody learns that it is costing a dozen users a day while it runs.

   The most effective response is to raise it with your team lead today and say what the fix does and what the message costs users. Whether a freeze admits exceptions is a question for the person who set it, and the size of the fix and the cost is what lets them answer. It beats asking the finance team whether they would mind and going ahead if they say it is fine, because they are who the freeze protects, not who imposed it, and their agreement does not cover the risks they cannot see. It beats leaving it until Wednesday and saying nothing, because obeying the freeze is right but silence means the cost of obeying is never weighed. The least effective response is putting the one-line fix out now: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the decision with somebody other than you, asked wrongly or not asked at all, while this takes a rule with a stated purpose and decides it does not apply. The principle: when a rule blocks something worth doing, take the case to whoever owns the rule, and never grade yourself an exception.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a support analyst. You agreed to sit with a customer’s new starter at eleven to set up her account, after two written guides confused her. At half past ten you are asked to join a call about next month’s rota, expected to last an hour. A colleague is free at eleven and has never met her. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say you have an eleven o'clock with a customer who has already been confused twice, and ask whether the rota call can take you afterwards instead.
   2. Join the rota call and email her now offering twelve o'clock instead, apologising for moving an appointment at half an hour's notice.
   3. Ask a colleague to take the eleven o'clock instead, since he is free at that time and she at least gets somebody at the hour she was promised.
   4. Start the setup at eleven and leave the rota call after twenty minutes, so that both of them get some of your time this morning.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Say you have an eleven o'clock with a customer who has already been confused twice, and ask whether the rota call can take you afterwards instead.

   Least effective: C. Ask a colleague to take the eleven o'clock instead, since he is free at that time and she at least gets somebody at the hour she was promised.

   B: Moves the customer rather than the internal call: it is honest, and the person who has already been failed twice absorbs the inconvenience again.

   C: Passes the customer to somebody with no context: two guides have already failed her, and this makes the third attempt another fresh start.

   D: Splits an hour neither task can spare: she gets a hurried start and the rota discussion loses you before it reaches next month.

   The most effective response is to say you have an eleven o’clock with a customer who has already been confused twice, and ask whether the rota call can take you afterwards. The rota call is about next month, the eleven o’clock is a third attempt at something that has failed twice, and the person who called the meeting cannot weigh that without being told. It beats joining the rota call and offering her twelve o’clock instead, because moving her again is cheapest for the team and most expensive for her. It beats starting the setup at eleven and leaving the rota call after twenty minutes, because a hurried setup is the same failure as the two guides. The least effective response is asking a colleague to take the eleven o’clock: it is worse than either of the other two, because one tells her honestly and the other keeps the person she needs, while this hands somebody confused twice to a colleague who has never met her. The principle: when a customer commitment collides with an internal meeting, take the collision to whoever called the meeting, with the history that makes it one.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an operations analyst. Your team’s monthly figure counts incidents closed within four hours. One incident has run eleven hours and is still open. A colleague suggests closing it and opening a new one for the remaining work, which he says is what everybody does at month end. The customer is still without the service. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Mark the incident as done at four hours and open a fresh one for the rest, as your colleague suggests, which is apparently the accepted practice across the team at month end.
    2. Leave the incident open and say nothing about what your colleague suggested, since the figure is his problem and the incident is the thing that matters.
    3. Leave it open and raise it privately with your colleague, so that he stops doing it without anybody else in the team needing to be involved.
    4. Leave the incident open, and tell your manager the four-hour figure is being met by reopening incidents at month end, so that the measure itself can be looked at.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Leave the incident open, and tell your manager the four-hour figure is being met by reopening incidents at month end, so that the measure itself can be looked at.

    Least effective: A. Mark the incident as done at four hours and open a fresh one for the rest, as your colleague suggests, which is apparently the accepted practice across the team at month end.

    A: Records an incident as resolved while it is running: the customer is still without the service, and the measure will report that it was handled in four hours.

    B: Fixes your own record and leaves the practice: if this is what everybody does at month end, the measure has been wrong for a while and nobody has said.

    C: Corrects one person and not the measure: a four-hour target that everybody works around is a problem with the target, not with him.

    The most effective response is to leave the incident open, and tell your manager the four-hour figure is being met by reopening incidents at month end. The incident stays honest, and the more important fact is that a target is being met by a technique rather than by performance. It beats leaving the incident open and saying nothing about what your colleague suggested, because if everybody does this at month end then the figure has been misleading for some time. It beats raising it privately with him so nobody else is involved, because a practice described as normal is not one person’s habit. The least effective response is marking the incident done at four hours and opening a fresh one for the rest: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep the record true, while this reports an eleven-hour incident as resolved in four while the customer is still without the service. The principle: keep the record honest, and take a measure that everybody is working around to whoever owns the measure.