Ericsson Assessment Tests

Ericsson Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a product assistant. Five weeks ago a customer asked for a change to how a report is filtered. You logged it and never went back to her. She has not chased. Today you are choosing which four requests go into next month’s work, and hers is one of eleven candidates with no recent activity against it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Email her today asking whether the request still matters and how much, and use the answer when you choose the four rather than guessing from the silence.
   2. Put her request into next month's four on the basis that five weeks is too long to have waited, whether or not she still needs it now.
   3. Leave hers out of the four, since five weeks without a chase almost certainly means she found another way round it or it was never that important.
   4. Ask the support team whether she has raised it again through any other route, and decide about next month once you hear back from them.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Email her today asking whether the request still matters and how much, and use the answer when you choose the four rather than guessing from the silence.

   Least effective: C. Leave hers out of the four, since five weeks without a chase almost certainly means she found another way round it or it was never that important.

   B: Buys back the delay with the wrong currency: a place in next month's four may go to something she no longer wants, and three other customers lose it.

   C: Assumes the silence away: she stopped chasing because nobody replied, and the request is now dropped on the strength of your own failure to answer.

   D: Checks the wrong side of the silence: she can tell you today whether it still matters, and the support team can only tell you whether she asked twice.

   The most effective response is to email her today asking whether the request still matters and how much, and use the answer when you choose the four. Only she can say whether it is still live, one email settles it, and next month’s four should be chosen on what customers currently need. It beats putting her request into next month’s four because five weeks is too long to have waited, since a slot given out of guilt may go to something she has stopped wanting while three others lose their place. It beats asking the support team whether she has raised it again elsewhere, because they can only report whether she asked, and she can tell you whether she needs it. The least effective response is leaving hers out because five weeks without a chase means she found another way round it: it is worse than either of the other two, because both act on the request, while this reads her silence as her having stopped needing it, when the likelier cause is that nobody answered her. The principle: five weeks of silence after you failed to reply is evidence about you, not about how much the customer wants it.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are an automation tester. You and a colleague who has been here eleven years disagree about whether a failing test is a real defect or a fault in the test itself. You have the evidence from three runs; he has not looked at it. He has told the team it is a test fault and the team has accepted that. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the three runs to your manager and ask her to decide, since the two of you are not going to agree and the team has already moved on from it.
   2. Accept his view. Eleven years of knowing this system is worth more than three runs, and the team has already settled on the answer he gave them.
   3. Post the three runs in the team channel so everybody can see the evidence, and let the team revisit its conclusion in its own time.
   4. Show him the three runs directly and ask what he makes of them, and take it to the team together if the two of you still disagree afterwards.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Show him the three runs directly and ask what he makes of them, and take it to the team together if the two of you still disagree afterwards.

   Least effective: B. Accept his view. Eleven years of knowing this system is worth more than three runs, and the team has already settled on the answer he gave them.

   A: Escalates before he has seen the evidence: he has not looked at the three runs yet, so the disagreement has not really been had.

   B: Puts loyalty to seniority above the evidence: the three runs either show a defect or they do not, and length of service cannot change what they show.

   C: Puts evidence in front of an audience rather than the person: he is the one who has not seen it, and the channel makes it a public correction.

   The most effective response is to show him the three runs directly and ask what he makes of them, and take it to the team together if you still disagree. He formed his view without seeing your evidence, so the first step is to show it to him, and going together keeps a factual question factual. It beats taking the three runs to your manager to decide, because the disagreement has not properly happened yet and she cannot settle what neither party has examined. It beats posting the runs in the team channel for everybody to see, because that corrects him publicly when a direct conversation was available. The least effective response is accepting his view because eleven years of knowing the system outweighs three runs: it is worse than either of the other two, because both put the evidence somewhere, while this decides a question about test runs on the basis of how long somebody has worked here. The principle: a factual disagreement is settled by looking at the evidence together, and length of service is not an argument about what the runs show.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are an incident coordinator. A weekly report that goes to twenty people has not been produced for three weeks. The person who used to produce it has left and nobody has been given it. You have the access and it would take you about an hour. You have two pieces of your own work due this week, neither at risk if you spend the hour. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Produce this week's report and tell your manager it has been missing for three weeks, so that it gets a proper owner rather than falling to whoever notices next.
   2. Produce the report quietly every week from now on and say nothing about it, since it only takes an hour, twenty people get something from it, and nobody need be troubled.
   3. Leave it where it is. It was never assigned to you, and somebody senior will certainly notice if twenty people genuinely need a report every week.
   4. Ask in the team channel whether anybody knows who owns the report now, and wait to see whether somebody claims it before you do anything further.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Produce this week's report and tell your manager it has been missing for three weeks, so that it gets a proper owner rather than falling to whoever notices next.

   Least effective: C. Leave it where it is. It was never assigned to you, and somebody senior will certainly notice if twenty people genuinely need a report every week.

   B: Takes on unowned work permanently and silently: the gap closes but nobody knows it existed, so the hour is now yours for good and invisible in your workload.

   C: Assumes the job away: three weeks of nobody noticing is evidence against the assumption, and the one person who has both the access and the spare hour is you.

   D: Puts a question where nobody has to answer it: a channel has no owner either, so the likely outcome is a fourth week with no report and no decision.

   The most effective response is to produce this week’s report and tell your manager it has been missing for three weeks. The hour is genuinely free, so the report gets produced, and the same conversation puts the missing owner in front of the person who can appoint one. It beats producing it quietly every week and saying nothing, because the vacancy is never filled and the hour quietly becomes yours. It beats asking in the team channel who owns the report now, because a question does not produce a report and three weeks of silence says nobody will claim it. The least effective response is leaving it where it is because it was never assigned to you: it is worse than either of the other two, because each does something about twenty people going without, while this relies on somebody senior noticing a gap that has already gone unnoticed for three weeks. The principle: when work has no owner and you have the hour, close this week’s gap and hand the ownership question upwards in the same move.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a delivery coordinator. A customer’s staff were being logged out at random all last week. Nothing has been changed, but the logouts stopped on Friday and nobody knows why. The customer’s operations manager rings to ask whether the problem is fixed, because she must decide today whether to train forty new staff on the system next week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her the logouts have stopped but nobody has found the cause, so you cannot call it fixed, and offer to have somebody watching the system while she trains.
   2. Tell her it has stopped, and advise her to put the training back a fortnight so there is time to be certain before forty people depend on the system.
   3. Explain that you cannot comment until the engineers have finished looking, and offer to ring her back as soon as there is something definite to report.
   4. Tell her it is sorted and the training can go ahead, since nothing has gone wrong for four days and she is asking you for an answer today.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell her the logouts have stopped but nobody has found the cause, so you cannot call it fixed, and offer to have somebody watching the system while she trains.

   Least effective: D. Tell her it is sorted and the training can go ahead, since nothing has gone wrong for four days and she is asking you for an answer today.

   B: Substitutes your own judgement for the customer's: the delay may cost her more than the risk does, and she is the only person here who knows which.

   C: Delays a decision she has to make today: it is accurate and it is useless to her, because the deadline she is working to does not move to suit yours.

   D: Gives an assurance you cannot support: four quiet days with an unknown cause is not a fix, and she will commit forty people on the strength of your word.

   The most effective response is to tell her the logouts have stopped but nobody has found the cause, so you cannot call it fixed, and offer to have somebody watching while she trains. It gives her the two things she has to weigh and adds cover so her decision is cheaper to get wrong. It beats telling her it has stopped and advising a fortnight’s delay, because the cost of that delay sits with her business, so the choice is hers on full information. It beats explaining that you cannot comment until the engineers have finished, because she cannot wait for certainty and refusing to characterise what you do know leaves her deciding on less. The least effective response is telling her it is sorted and the training can go ahead: it is worse than either of the other two, because each leaves her with a true picture, however unwelcome, while this hands her a false certainty and forty people are trained on it. The principle: tell a customer what is known and what is not, and let the person carrying the risk decide.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a release coordinator. A fortnight ago you emailed a supplier asking them to confirm that their system would accept a new file format from Monday. They have not replied and nobody has asked you about it since. In today’s planning meeting somebody asks whether the supplier has confirmed, and Monday’s plan depends on the answer. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say you will check after the meeting and come back to everybody later, rather than spending the room's time on a supplier detail while other items are waiting.
   2. Confirm that the supplier is ready without checking again. Silence from them usually means agreement, and saying otherwise would stall a plan that is sound.
   3. Say you asked a fortnight ago and have had no reply, and offer to chase them straight after the meeting, since Monday is not safe on what you have now.
   4. Say you have had no reply and ask whoever owns the supplier relationship to take it from here, since they will almost certainly get an answer more quickly.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Say you asked a fortnight ago and have had no reply, and offer to chase them straight after the meeting, since Monday is not safe on what you have now.

   Least effective: B. Confirm that the supplier is ready without checking again. Silence from them usually means agreement, and saying otherwise would stall a plan that is sound.

   A: Delays a fact the room needs now: the plan being made in front of you rests on this answer, so checking afterwards means it is built on nothing in the meantime.

   B: States as fact something nobody has told you: the room will now plan Monday around a confirmation that does not exist, and no one else can see that it does not.

   D: Passes an open item you own to somebody else: the room is told the truth, but the chase you started a fortnight ago now has no one committed to finishing it.

   The most effective response is to say you asked a fortnight ago and have had no reply, and offer to chase them straight after the meeting. The room needs to know the confirmation is missing before it plans around it, and offering to chase keeps the open item with the person who opened it. It beats saying you will check after the meeting and come back later, because the plan is being made now. It beats saying you have had no reply and asking whoever owns the supplier relationship to take it from here, because handing the chase over in the same breath leaves nobody committed to a fortnight-old question. The least effective response is confirming the supplier is ready without checking again: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the room with an accurate picture, late or incomplete, while this supplies a confirmation that was never given. The principle: when you are asked whether something was confirmed, answer about what actually arrived, and take the chase back yourself.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a release coordinator. You are twenty minutes from a release window that closes at noon and cannot reopen until next week. A customer who has been passed between two teams this morning rings you directly. From the notes you can see her question is about a change that went out yesterday, and you happen to know the answer. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Finish the release first, since the window is the only thing here that cannot be reopened, and ring her back at noon once the checks are safely done.
   2. Give her the answer now, which takes two minutes, then finish the release checks with the eighteen minutes that are left before the window closes.
   3. Ask her to hold on the line while you work through the checks, and come back to her question as soon as the release is safely out of the door.
   4. Transfer her back to the team who own customer calls, since the window closes in twenty minutes and their queue is where a question like hers belongs.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Give her the answer now, which takes two minutes, then finish the release checks with the eighteen minutes that are left before the window closes.

   Least effective: D. Transfer her back to the team who own customer calls, since the window closes in twenty minutes and their queue is where a question like hers belongs.

   A: Ranks the fixed deadline above a two-minute answer: the window is real, but twenty minutes is ample for both, and she has already waited through two teams.

   C: Splits attention across a task that needs neither half: the checks want your full attention and she wants two minutes, and holding gives each of them less.

   D: Passes the problem on without owning it: it makes her third transfer of the morning the answer to a question you could have closed in two minutes.

   The most effective response is to give her the answer now, which takes two minutes, then finish the release checks in the eighteen that are left. Two minutes against twenty is not a real conflict, and you are holding an answer two other teams did not have. It beats finishing the release first and ringing her back at noon, because that costs her another hour for no gain when the window is in no danger from two minutes. It beats asking her to hold while you work through the checks, because a release check done while somebody waits on hold is the kind that misses things. The least effective response is transferring her back to the team who own customer calls: it is worse than either of the other two, because both get her the answer today from the person who has it, while this returns her to a queue after a morning of queues. The principle: when you are holding the answer and it costs two minutes, holding it is not prioritisation.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are an access administrator. You are handing a customer’s account migration to the evening shift before a week off. Everything is ready except that two of the customer’s own staff have not confirmed which of them keeps the senior permissions, and they have disagreed about it twice. The migration is scheduled to run tonight at eleven. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Hand the migration over with the checklist and leave the permissions question with the customer, whose disagreement it is and who will have to settle it themselves.
   2. Postpone the migration until you are back in a week, so that nothing runs tonight with an open question hanging over who gets which permissions.
   3. Write the permissions question into the handover note with the history, and go, so that the evening shift has it in front of them when they start.
   4. Tell the evening shift directly what is unresolved and that the two of them have already disagreed twice, and give the customer a time by which it must be settled tonight.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell the evening shift directly what is unresolved and that the two of them have already disagreed twice, and give the customer a time by which it must be settled tonight.

   Least effective: A. Hand the migration over with the checklist and leave the permissions question with the customer, whose disagreement it is and who will have to settle it themselves.

   A: Passes the problem on without naming it: the evening shift runs a migration believing it is ready, and the one unresolved thing sits with two people who have already failed twice.

   B: Buys certainty with a week of the customer's time: the disagreement may settle tonight, and only the customer can judge whether waiting is worth it.

   C: Puts a live problem into a document: a note read at seven is better than nothing and it is not the same as the shift knowing what it is walking into.

   The most effective response is to tell the evening shift directly what is unresolved and that the two of them have already disagreed twice, and give the customer a time by which it must be settled. Two things have to happen before eleven and only you can supply either. It beats postponing the migration until you are back in a week, because that is a real cost to the customer and they should weigh it against a question that may settle in an hour. It beats writing the permissions question into the handover note with the history, because a note describes the problem while a conversation makes sure it has been received. The least effective response is handing the migration over with the checklist and leaving the permissions question with the customer: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the risk visible to somebody, while this hands over a migration described as ready. The principle: name the unresolved thing to the people who inherit it, and give whoever must decide a time to decide by.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a technical support adviser. A member of the public rings after reading about a problem at your company and asks whether her details were affected. The security team is still working on it and has published nothing. Nobody has told the support desk what to say, and yours is the first call of this kind. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her you are not allowed to comment and that she should watch the company's website for an announcement when one is published.
   2. Take her details and promise that somebody from the security team will ring her back today with an answer about her own records specifically.
   3. Tell her an investigation is running and nothing is ruled in or out, take her details, and tell your manager the desk needs a line, since more of these will come.
   4. Tell her that her details are almost certainly fine, since nothing has been confirmed as taken and there is no point worrying somebody over a maybe.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell her an investigation is running and nothing is ruled in or out, take her details, and tell your manager the desk needs a line, since more of these will come.

   Least effective: D. Tell her that her details are almost certainly fine, since nothing has been confirmed as taken and there is no point worrying somebody over a maybe.

   A: Refuses a caller you could partly help: that an investigation is running is itself true and sayable, and she is left with nothing to do.

   B: Commits another team to a call they have not agreed to: the security team is mid-investigation and has no capacity to ring individual callers.

   D: Gives an assurance nobody has authorised: no one has established what was taken, and she will make decisions about her own accounts on your word.

   The most effective response is to tell her an investigation is running and nothing is ruled in or out, take her details, and tell your manager the desk needs a line. She gets the truthful state of play, her details are captured, and the fact that this is the first such call is something your manager needs because it will not be the last. It beats telling her you are not allowed to comment and that she should watch the website, because the existence of an investigation is safe to say and gives her something real. It beats promising that somebody from the security team will ring her back today, because they have not agreed to that and cannot mid- investigation. The least effective response is telling her that her details are almost certainly fine: it is worse than either of the other two, because both stop short of telling her anything untrue, while this reassures a member of the public about her own data on an investigation that has not concluded. The principle: give the honest state of play, capture the caller, and tell your own manager that a line is needed before the second call arrives.

9. Question 9 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.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an automation tester. A fortnight of long days has left you behind, and a colleague’s slow answers to your questions are part of the reason. Yesterday you were sharp with her in front of two other people and you know it showed. This morning the delivery coordinator asks you in passing how the testing is going and why it is running late. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Say the testing is late, give the reasons including your own part in it, ask for either more time or fewer tests, and apologise to your colleague for yesterday.
    2. Say only that it is behind and that you have it in hand, and sort the delay out with your colleague yourself before anybody else needs to be involved in it.
    3. Raise her pace with the delivery coordinator behind her back, and let him decide whether she should stay on this piece of work for the rest of the fortnight.
    4. Say the delay comes from waiting on answers, without saying whose answers they were, so that the pressure comes off you without her being named to anybody.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Say the testing is late, give the reasons including your own part in it, ask for either more time or fewer tests, and apologise to your colleague for yesterday.

    Least effective: C. Raise her pace with the delivery coordinator behind her back, and let him decide whether she should stay on this piece of work for the rest of the fortnight.

    B: Absorbs a problem that has grown past you: a fortnight of long days is not something you can fix privately, and the person who could reprioritise has just asked.

    C: Personalises the pressure: it turns a workload problem into a judgement on a colleague, delivered to somebody with power over her and without her in the room.

    D: Points at a cause you will not name: it is fair to you and useless to him, because he cannot act on a bottleneck that has been described but not located.

    The most effective response is to say the testing is late, give the reasons including your own part in it, ask for either more time or fewer tests, and apologise to your colleague for yesterday. It gives the coordinator the real cause and the choice between time and scope, and it deals with yesterday rather than leaving it under everything else. It beats saying only that it is behind and that you have it in hand, because a fortnight of overrun is exactly what the person asking is there to resolve. It beats saying the delay comes from waiting on answers without saying whose, because a cause described but not named cannot be acted on. The least effective response is raising her pace with the delivery coordinator behind her back: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep the conversation about the work, while this makes it about her, to somebody with power over her, in a conversation she is not in. The principle: under pressure, take the workload to whoever can change it, and take anything about a colleague to the colleague.