Experian Assessment Tests

Experian Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are an audit associate. A colleague is meeting the client’s financial controller tomorrow to ask for a schedule. Last week the same controller told you sharply that she had already sent it and would not be sending it twice. Your colleague does not know this and has not asked. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send him a message tomorrow morning just before he goes into the meeting, so that the warning is at least fresh in his mind when he walks in there.
   2. Go and ask the controller yourself whether she ever sent the schedule, without telling your colleague that you are doing it.
   3. Tell your colleague today what the controller said last week, and check together whether the schedule did arrive before he goes and asks for it again.
   4. Let him go into the meeting without mentioning what she said, since he has not asked and she may well be in a better mood about it tomorrow.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell your colleague today what the controller said last week, and check together whether the schedule did arrive before he goes and asks for it again.

   Least effective: D. Let him go into the meeting without mentioning what she said, since he has not asked and she may well be in a better mood about it tomorrow.

   A: Times it too late to act on: checking whether the schedule arrived takes longer than the walk to the meeting room.

   B: Duplicates the approach: she now hears from two of you about the same schedule, which is precisely what annoyed her.

   D: Lets a colleague walk into it: a two-minute warning would have changed how he opens the meeting, and the client's goodwill is spent for nothing.

   The most effective response is to tell your colleague today what the controller said last week, and check together whether the schedule did arrive: it gives him the warning while there is still time to check, and checking is what prevents the second ask altogether. It beats messaging him tomorrow morning just before he goes into the meeting, because that leaves no time to look. It beats going to ask the controller yourself whether she ever sent it, because a second approach from a different person is the thing she objected to. The least effective response is letting him go into the meeting without mentioning what she said: he walks in without a fact you hold that would have changed how he ran it. That is withholding it rather than giving it late or acting on it clumsily. The principle: warn the person early enough that the warning is still useful.

3. Question 3 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.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a research assistant. For the fourth time this month a manager has sent you a “quick” change at 5pm that takes three hours. You have stayed late each time. Tonight you have plans. He is not your line manager and does not know about the previous three. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him in front of the team that he clearly cannot organise his own deadlines and that other people are not there to absorb the consequences.
   2. Stay late again tonight and raise the pattern with your own line manager tomorrow, rather than having the conversation with him directly.
   3. Reply that you cannot do it tonight and leave, without mentioning the previous three or proposing anything about future changes.
   4. Tell him tonight that this is the fourth 5pm change this month, that you cannot do it this evening, and ask to agree a cut-off time for changes.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell him tonight that this is the fourth 5pm change this month, that you cannot do it this evening, and ask to agree a cut-off time for changes.

   Least effective: A. Tell him in front of the team that he clearly cannot organise his own deadlines and that other people are not there to absorb the consequences.

   A: Makes a workload problem a public attack on a colleague: the pattern he does not know about is never explained, and what he remembers is being criticised in the open.

   B: Escalates without asking: he does not know he is doing it, and a fourth late night funds the delay.

   C: Refuses the instance and leaves the pattern: tomorrow's 5pm change is exactly as likely as it was this morning.

   The most effective response is to tell him tonight that this is the fourth 5pm change this month, that you cannot do it this evening, and ask to agree a cut-off time for changes: it declines tonight, gives him the information he genuinely does not have, and proposes the one thing that stops it recurring. It beats staying late again and raising the pattern with your own line manager tomorrow, because he cannot fix a habit nobody has told him about. It beats replying that you cannot do it tonight and leaving without mentioning the previous three, because refusing once changes nothing about next week. The least effective response is telling him in front of the team that he clearly cannot organise his own deadlines: a legitimate complaint is delivered as a public character judgement, so the pattern goes unaddressed and the relationship is damaged as well. That is personalising it rather than under-reacting. The principle: name the pattern to the person causing it, and propose the fix.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a management accounts assistant. Your brother runs a small contracting firm. Your department is about to invite quotes for work he does, and you know roughly what the budget is. He has asked you, casually, what he should pitch. Nobody at work knows you are related. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell your brother you cannot discuss it and say nothing at work about the relationship, since he now has no advantage and there is nothing left to declare.
   2. Declare the relationship to your manager but ask to stay involved in the quotes, since you know the work best and can be trusted to be objective about it.
   3. Tell your manager today that your brother's firm may well bid for the work and that the two of you are related, and take yourself out of anything to do with the quotes.
   4. Give your brother the budget figure in exchange for a favour he owes you, and say nothing at work about the fact that the two of you are related.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell your manager today that your brother's firm may well bid for the work and that the two of you are related, and take yourself out of anything to do with the quotes.

   Least effective: D. Give your brother the budget figure in exchange for a favour he owes you, and say nothing at work about the fact that the two of you are related.

   A: Refuses the leak and hides the conflict: if he bids and wins, the undeclared relationship is what will be asked about.

   B: Declares and then asks to keep the conflict: the point of the declaration is that somebody else decides, and you have pre-empted the decision.

   D: Trades confidential information for a personal favour: the budget is the firm's, the benefit is yours, and the relationship that makes it possible has been kept off the record.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager today that your brother’s firm may well bid and that the two of you are related, and take yourself out of anything to do with the quotes: it puts the relationship on the record before any bid exists, and stepping back is the only thing that makes the process defensible afterwards. It beats telling your brother you cannot discuss it and saying nothing at work, because declining to leak does not cure an undeclared conflict. It beats declaring the relationship but asking to stay involved in the quotes, because staying involved is the very thing a declaration exists to let somebody else refuse. The least effective response is giving him the budget figure in exchange for a favour he owes you: confidential information is traded for a personal benefit while the relationship behind it is concealed. That is self-dealing rather than an incomplete disclosure. The principle: declare the relationship early, and step out of the decision.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a research assistant. The team’s shared model has an error in one formula that overstates a total by about 2%. You know how to fix it. Four colleagues have live client work open in copies of that model, and the model is version controlled by another team. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Fix the formula in your own copy only, and say nothing to anybody else since their work is theirs to check.
   2. Tell the owning team and your four colleagues today what the error is and what it does, and let the owning team issue a corrected version properly.
   3. Correct the formula in the shared model yourself this afternoon, so that everybody is working from the right figures from now on without any fuss.
   4. Raise it at the team meeting in a fortnight's time, when the owning team is present and the change can be discussed properly with everybody in the room at once.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell the owning team and your four colleagues today what the error is and what it does, and let the owning team issue a corrected version properly.

   Least effective: C. Correct the formula in the shared model yourself this afternoon, so that everybody is working from the right figures from now on without any fuss.

   A: Keeps the fix to yourself: four people continue to produce client work with a 2% overstatement you have already identified.

   C: Changes a controlled artefact outside its control: four colleagues' open work shifts under them mid-task, and the change has no version, no notice and no owner.

   D: Delays a live error: a fortnight of client work goes out on a formula you know is wrong.

   The most effective response is to tell the owning team and your four colleagues today what the error is and what it does, and let the owning team issue a corrected version: everybody exposed hears today, and the correction is made by the people who own the version history. It beats fixing the formula in your own copy and saying nothing, because four colleagues keep shipping a known error. It beats raising it at the team meeting in a fortnight, because that is a long time for a live overstatement. The least effective response is correcting the formula in the shared model yourself this afternoon: a controlled model is edited outside its control while four people have work open in it, so their figures move mid-task with nothing to explain why. That is bypassing the control rather than acting too narrowly or too slowly. The principle: tell everyone exposed today, and let the owner make the change.

7. Question 7 of 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a client services associate. A client asks whether their account will be open by the end of next week, because they want to move money in before a deadline of their own. The checks sit with another team, whose queue you cannot see. The client has been waiting three weeks already and is plainly losing patience. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell the client that the checks team handles the timing and give them the address to write to, so they can ask about the date from the people who actually hold the queue themselves.
   2. Reassure the client that the account will certainly be open by the end of next week, because three weeks is already longer than these checks usually take to finish.
   3. Tell the client you cannot commit to a date yet, explain that you are asking the checks team today, and agree a time tomorrow when you will come back to them either way.
   4. Tell the client you will let them know as soon as there is news, and chase the checks team when you next have a reason to be in touch with them.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell the client you cannot commit to a date yet, explain that you are asking the checks team today, and agree a time tomorrow when you will come back to them either way.

   Least effective: B. Reassure the client that the account will certainly be open by the end of next week, because three weeks is already longer than these checks usually take to finish.

   A: Sends the client to chase your own firm: the relationship is yours, and a client three weeks in should not have to find the right internal door.

   B: Gives a certainty you cannot back: the queue belongs to another team and you cannot see it, so the client makes a decision about their own deadline on the strength of a guess.

   D: Leaves the client with no fixed point: "as soon as there is news" gives somebody planning around a deadline nothing they can actually plan with.

   The most effective response is to tell the client you cannot commit to a date yet, explain that you are asking the checks team today, and agree a time tomorrow when you will come back either way: it is honest about what you do not know, it does the one thing that can produce an answer, and it gives them a fixed time to expect contact. It beats telling them the checks team handles timing and giving them an address to write to, because a client should not be routed around your own firm after three weeks. It beats saying you will let them know as soon as there is news, because an open-ended promise is no use to somebody working to a date. The least effective response is reassuring them the account will certainly be open by the end of next week: it converts a queue you cannot see into a commitment they will act on, and when it slips they will have moved money against it. That is a false assurance rather than a weak way of handling the ask. The principle: never sell certainty you do not own, and replace it with a time you will come back.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a financial crime analyst. A colleague on your team has forty alerts outstanding against a five-day limit, and some are now eight days old. They have said twice that they are on top of it. Your own queue is clear. The weekly figures your team leader sees do not show individual backlogs. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Offer to take a share of the older alerts today, and say that if the backlog is still there at the end of the week you will both need to raise it with your team leader.
   2. Send a note over to your team leader asking them to look at your colleague's queue, and offer none of your own spare capacity while somebody senior decides what to do.
   3. Work through a few of the oldest alerts yourself and mention it to your colleague afterwards, so the backlog comes down without an awkward conversation about it now.
   4. Take them at their word that they are on top of it and leave the alerts with them, since it is their own queue to manage and they have now said twice that it is under control.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Offer to take a share of the older alerts today, and say that if the backlog is still there at the end of the week you will both need to raise it with your team leader.

   Least effective: B. Send a note over to your team leader asking them to look at your colleague's queue, and offer none of your own spare capacity while somebody senior decides what to do.

   B: Hands the colleague to their manager instead of helping: your queue is clear, the alerts are eight days old today, and the first they know of it is a conversation with their team leader.

   C: Helps quietly and leaves the cause: the queue comes down this week, the reason it built up is never discussed, and it builds up again next month.

   D: Accepts a reassurance the facts contradict: forty alerts against a five-day limit, some eight days old, is not a queue under control.

   The most effective response is to offer to take a share of the older alerts today, and say that if the backlog is still there at the end of the week you will both need to raise it: the alerts have a limit already breached, you have capacity, and naming the escalation point makes the offer honest rather than a favour. It beats working through a few of the oldest yourself and mentioning it afterwards, because silently clearing somebody’s queue fixes this week and nothing else. It beats taking them at their word and leaving the alerts with them, because the numbers contradict the reassurance. The least effective response is asking your team leader to look at your colleague’s queue while offering none of your own capacity: help that costs you nothing is withheld, the alerts are no closer to being worked, and a colleague who has twice said they are managing hears about it from above. That is passing a colleague on rather than a slower way of helping. The principle: offer the help you can actually give, and be open about when it stops being enough.

10. Question 10 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.