London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) Assessment Tests

London Stock Exchange Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a relationship support assistant. The weekly client report takes your team four hours because it is assembled by hand. A colleague in another team built a version that does it in twenty minutes but never rolled it out. Your team leader has asked for ideas to save time. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Suggest to your team leader that the weekly report ought to be automated somehow, without mentioning that a working version already exists in the other team or who it was that actually put it together.
   2. Say in front of the team that the four hours are entirely down to whoever designed this report in the first place, and that somebody should have sorted it out years ago.
   3. Rebuild the colleague's version yourself for your team's report, and present it to your team leader once it is working properly end to end.
   4. Tell your team leader about the colleague's version, name him as the person who built it, and offer to help get it working for your team's report.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell your team leader about the colleague's version, name him as the person who built it, and offer to help get it working for your team's report.

   Least effective: B. Say in front of the team that the four hours are entirely down to whoever designed this report in the first place, and that somebody should have sorted it out years ago.

   A: Offers the idea and withholds the asset: a suggestion to automate is worth far less than a tool somebody has already finished.

   B: Blames an absent designer in front of the team: the twenty-minute version already exists, and none of the people in the room hear about the thing that would actually fix it.

   C: Duplicates work that exists: the colleague has already built it, and rebuilding it quietly takes the credit with it.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader about the colleague’s version, name him as the person who built it, and offer to help get it working for your team: the fix already exists, she can act on it immediately, and naming the builder is both accurate and the thing that gets his help. It beats rebuilding his version yourself and presenting it once it works, because rebuilding a finished tool wastes time and credit. It beats suggesting the report ought to be automated without mentioning that a working version exists, because an idea is worth much less than a working version. The least effective response is saying in front of the team that the four hours are down to whoever designed the report: a real complaint becomes a public criticism, and the solution one team away never gets mentioned. That is personalising it rather than proposing it weakly. The principle: point at the fix that exists, and name whose it is.

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 branch adviser. A customer at the next desk raises his voice at a new colleague, saying she has “wasted an hour” of his time. Other customers are looking. Your colleague has gone quiet and is close to tears. The customer’s underlying problem is one you know how to fix. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Wait to see whether your colleague can manage it herself, and step in only if the customer's voice gets louder than it already is.
   2. Tell the customer in front of the others that speaking to staff like that is unacceptable, and that his behaviour is the reason his problem is still unresolved.
   3. Step across, offer to take the customer's problem yourself so your colleague can step away, and deal with him calmly at your own desk.
   4. Take your colleague aside straight away to check she is all right, and leave the customer at the desk until somebody else becomes free.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Step across, offer to take the customer's problem yourself so your colleague can step away, and deal with him calmly at your own desk.

   Least effective: B. Tell the customer in front of the others that speaking to staff like that is unacceptable, and that his behaviour is the reason his problem is still unresolved.

   A: Leaves a new colleague to absorb it: she has already gone quiet, and the test of whether she can cope is being run in front of a full branch.

   B: Makes it about the person in public: the branch now has two people raising their voices, the customer's problem is untouched, and your colleague is still at the centre of it.

   D: Solves half of it: she is looked after, and an angry customer is left unattended in a branch where everybody is watching.

   The most effective response is to step across, offer to take the customer’s problem yourself so your colleague can step away, and deal with him calmly at your own desk: it removes her from the exchange, gives him the one thing that will actually calm him, and moves it away from the audience. It beats waiting to see whether she can manage it herself, because she has already stopped coping and the branch is watching. It beats taking her aside to check she is all right and leaving him at the desk, because an abandoned angry customer gets louder, not quieter. The least effective response is telling him in front of the others that his behaviour is why his problem is unresolved: it answers a scene with a scene, the problem is no closer to being fixed, and she is left standing in the middle of a public argument about herself. That is personalising it rather than misjudging the timing. The principle: take the problem off them both, then deal with the behaviour privately.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a relationship support assistant. You disagreed with a colleague about how a client’s paperwork should be split, and your manager decided in their favour. Since then the colleague has been short with you. You have been sending them a weekly summary that nobody asked you to produce, and which their Monday call depends on. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Keep sending the summary and say nothing about the disagreement, on the basis that the atmosphere will settle by itself once a few weeks have passed.
   2. Tell your manager that the colleague has been short with you since the decision, and ask them to have a word about how it is affecting the work.
   3. Stop sending the weekly summary now that the paperwork has been decided their way, and let them work out for themselves what their Monday call is missing.
   4. Keep sending the summary, and find a quiet moment to say that the paperwork decision is settled as far as you are concerned and you would rather not have it sitting between you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Keep sending the summary, and find a quiet moment to say that the paperwork decision is settled as far as you are concerned and you would rather not have it sitting between you.

   Least effective: C. Stop sending the weekly summary now that the paperwork has been decided their way, and let them work out for themselves what their Monday call is missing.

   A: Avoids the difficult conversation: the work continues and the colleague is left guessing whether you are still aggrieved.

   B: Escalates before speaking to the person: a two-minute conversation has not been tried, and involving the manager who just decided it raises the stakes considerably.

   C: Withdraws help after losing an argument: the summary was never owed, which is exactly what makes stopping it now read as payback rather than as a change of workload.

   The most effective response is to keep sending the summary, and find a quiet moment to say the paperwork decision is settled as far as you are concerned and you would rather not have it sitting between you: it protects work somebody relies on, separates the decision from the relationship, and says the one thing that lets them drop it too. It beats keeping the summary going and saying nothing about the disagreement, because silence leaves them guessing and the atmosphere is what is actually in the way. It beats telling your manager they have been short with you since the decision, because the manager is the last resort, not the first, and has just ruled on this. The least effective response is stopping the weekly summary now the paperwork has been decided their way: a Monday call quietly loses what it depends on, the person affected is left to discover it, and a settled disagreement is reopened as a grievance. That is retaliation rather than a poor way of moving on. The principle: a decision that went against you does not license withdrawing what other people depend on.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a reporting analyst. In front of the team, a director says you will “of course” have the new board pack ready for Monday. You have never built this pack, the person who normally does it has left, and Monday is three working days away. The director has moved on to the next item. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Spend the three days working it out from the previous packs entirely on your own, and raise it on Monday only if you have not managed to produce something usable.
   2. Speak to the director straight after the meeting, say plainly what you do and do not know how to build, and ask who can walk you through it tomorrow.
   3. Send the request on to another team on Monday morning, explaining to them then that building this pack was never something you could realistically have done.
   4. Contradict the director in the meeting, saying that you have never built the pack and that Monday is not realistic for somebody in your position.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Speak to the director straight after the meeting, say plainly what you do and do not know how to build, and ask who can walk you through it tomorrow.

   Least effective: C. Send the request on to another team on Monday morning, explaining to them then that building this pack was never something you could realistically have done.

   A: Gambles the deadline on self-teaching: if three days are not enough, Monday is the first anybody hears and there is no time left.

   C: Moves the problem on at the deadline: three days in which somebody could have taught you or reassigned it are spent, and another team is handed an overdue pack cold.

   D: Answers a public commitment in public: the point is right and the setting turns it into a disagreement rather than a request for help.

   The most effective response is to speak to the director straight after the meeting, say plainly what you do and do not know how to build, and ask who can walk you through it tomorrow: it is immediate, private, and asks for the specific thing that would make Monday possible. It beats contradicting him in the meeting, because the same point lands far better outside the room. It beats working it out from the previous packs alone and raising it only if you fail, because discovering on Monday that three days were not enough leaves nobody any options. The least effective response is sending the request to another team on Monday morning: the three days that could have solved it are spent in silence and the pack is handed on the morning it is due. That is offloading it rather than raising it clumsily or too late. The principle: ask for the help that makes the deadline possible, and ask today.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a settlements assistant. Yesterday you cleared one desk’s items first and another desk’s items missed the cut-off. In this morning’s stand-up the second desk’s supervisor asks, in front of everybody, why theirs were left. Your reason was that the first desk’s items had a client deadline. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain the reason briefly in the stand-up, acknowledge the impact on his desk, and offer to agree a standing rule for when the two clash again.
   2. Say you will explain it to him separately after the stand-up, so the detail does not take up everybody else's time this morning.
   3. Say in front of the others that his desk sends its items late every day, and that this is really a problem with how his team works rather than with your ordering.
   4. Apologise and undertake to clear his desk's items first tomorrow, so that the complaint is settled quickly and the meeting can move on.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Explain the reason briefly in the stand-up, acknowledge the impact on his desk, and offer to agree a standing rule for when the two clash again.

   Least effective: C. Say in front of the others that his desk sends its items late every day, and that this is really a problem with how his team works rather than with your ordering.

   B: Leaves the question hanging in the room: everybody heard the challenge and nobody hears that there was a reason.

   C: Answers a fair question with a criticism of his team in public: the ordering is never explained, and the stand-up becomes an argument between two desks.

   D: Buys peace with a commitment you should not give: tomorrow's ordering depends on tomorrow's deadlines, not on who complained today.

   The most effective response is to explain the reason briefly in the stand- up, acknowledge the impact on his desk, and offer to agree a standing rule for when the two clash: the reason is good, it takes fifteen seconds, and the standing rule turns a complaint into something useful. It beats saying you will explain it to him separately afterwards, because the challenge was public and the answer should be too. It beats apologising and undertaking to clear his desk’s items first tomorrow, because promising tomorrow’s order to whoever complained loudest is how the next failure happens. The least effective response is saying in front of the others that his desk sends its items late every day: a reasonable question is answered by criticising his team, and the ordering itself is never justified. That is personalising it rather than answering it in the wrong place. The principle: give the reason where the question was asked, then fix the rule.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a relationship support assistant. In a client meeting your colleague gives a figure you know is a month out of date. The client writes it down. The meeting has twenty minutes left and the figure matters to what the client decides today. Correcting it means saying so while they are both sitting there. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Correct the figure by blaming his preparation in front of the client, saying that this is exactly why the numbers ought to be checked before anybody walks into a meeting.
   2. Say plainly that the figure has moved since then, give the current one, and take up how it came to be quoted with your colleague after the meeting.
   3. Pass your colleague a note about the figure and leave it entirely to him to decide whether he corrects it in front of the client or not.
   4. Say nothing at all while the meeting is still running and send the client a corrected figure by email afterwards, so that nothing has to be said in front of your colleague.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Say plainly that the figure has moved since then, give the current one, and take up how it came to be quoted with your colleague after the meeting.

   Least effective: A. Correct the figure by blaming his preparation in front of the client, saying that this is exactly why the numbers ought to be checked before anybody walks into a meeting.

   A: Makes a stale figure a verdict on a colleague in front of a client: the correction lands, and what the client remembers is that your firm's people do not trust each other.

   C: Gives the decision to the person least able to take it: he has just given the number and would have to unsay it himself, mid-meeting.

   D: Leaves the client deciding on a stale number: they have twenty minutes and a decision, and the email arrives after both.

   The most effective response is to say plainly that the figure has moved since then, give the current one, and take up how it came to be quoted after the meeting: the client is about to decide on it, a month-old figure is a fact rather than a fault, and taking the preparation up afterwards keeps it between the two of you. It beats saying nothing and emailing the client a corrected figure afterwards, because the decision happens inside the twenty minutes. It beats passing him a note and leaving it to him to correct in front of the client, because asking him to unsay it himself in the room is the hardest possible way to fix it. The least effective response is correcting it by blaming his preparation in front of the client: the number is fixed and the firm looks divided. That is personalising it rather than mistiming it or misrouting it. The principle: correct the fact in the room, and take the person outside it.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are an assurance trainee. A confirmation from the client’s bank is three weeks late and the file cannot close without it. Firm policy is that only the engagement manager contacts third parties. She is on holiday until Monday and the file is due Wednesday. You have the bank contact’s details. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Telephone the bank contact yourself today to chase the confirmation, since the manager is away and one telephone call is all that stands between the file and closing on time.
   2. Ask the engagement manager's cover today whether she will chase the bank, and set out that the file is due Wednesday and the confirmation is three weeks late.
   3. Ask the client to chase their own bank for the confirmation, since they hold the relationship and it would reach the bank far faster coming from them than from you.
   4. Wait for the engagement manager to come back on Monday and ask her to chase the bank then, which still leaves two clear days before the file is due on Wednesday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Ask the engagement manager's cover today whether she will chase the bank, and set out that the file is due Wednesday and the confirmation is three weeks late.

   Least effective: A. Telephone the bank contact yourself today to chase the confirmation, since the manager is away and one telephone call is all that stands between the file and closing on time.

   A: Contacts a third party the policy reserves to somebody else: an unauthorised approach on an audit confirmation puts the evidence itself in question, whoever ends up receiving it.

   C: Routes the evidence through the client: a confirmation the client has chased is exactly the independence that a direct request from the audit team exists to protect.

   D: Spends three of the five remaining days: a bank that has taken three weeks is unlikely to answer inside two.

   The most effective response is to ask the engagement manager’s cover today whether she will chase the bank, setting out that the file is due Wednesday and the confirmation is three weeks late: a cover exists precisely for a week like this, the request is squarely within her authority, and it costs a message. It beats waiting for the engagement manager on Monday and asking her to chase then, because that leaves two days for a bank that has taken three weeks. It beats asking the client to chase their own bank, because a confirmation the client has chased is no longer independent of the client. The least effective response is telephoning the bank contact yourself: a third party is contacted by somebody the policy does not permit to contact them, which is the one thing that can make the confirmation worthless. That is breaching the policy rather than applying it too slowly. The principle: the cover exists so the rule and the deadline do not have to fight.

9. Question 9 of 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. Question 10 of 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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