Mastercard Assessment Tests

Mastercard Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 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.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are an accounts assistant. A supplier payment run has to be approved by 3pm or the supplier will not be paid until Monday, and they have said they will hold a delivery until they are. It is 2:15pm. A colleague asks you to reformat last month’s expenses spreadsheet, which is wanted for a meeting next week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Start on the expenses spreadsheet and leave the payment run alone until it is done, on the grounds that somebody more senior would have said something if the 3pm deadline really mattered today.
   2. Ask a colleague to take the payment run so that you can make a proper start on the expenses spreadsheet while the request is still fresh in your mind.
   3. Get the payment run approved before 3pm, then tell your colleague you will reformat the expenses spreadsheet afterwards and give them a time when it will be with them.
   4. Work on the expenses spreadsheet and the payment run in turn through the afternoon, giving each of them a few minutes at a time, so that your colleague sees progress and the payment is not left untouched.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Get the payment run approved before 3pm, then tell your colleague you will reformat the expenses spreadsheet afterwards and give them a time when it will be with them.

   Least effective: A. Start on the expenses spreadsheet and leave the payment run alone until it is done, on the grounds that somebody more senior would have said something if the 3pm deadline really mattered today.

   A: Assumes the deadline away: nobody has been asked and nothing has been checked, so a delivery is put at risk on the strength of a silence that means nothing at all.

   B: Hands off the urgent job: the deadline stays yours, and the harder task goes to somebody who has not been following it, to protect work that is not wanted until next week.

   D: Splits effort so nothing finishes: the payment run needs a clear run at it before 3pm, and alternating is the one approach that risks missing a deadline nothing else in the day competes with.

   The most effective response is to get the payment run approved before 3pm, then tell your colleague you will reformat the expenses spreadsheet afterwards and give them a time: 3pm is the only fixed point in the day, the spreadsheet is wanted next week, and a word means they are not left wondering. It beats working on both in turn through the afternoon, because dividing the next forty-five minutes is exactly how the payment run misses 3pm. It beats asking a colleague to take the payment run so you can start the spreadsheet, because moving the urgent work to somebody unfamiliar with it buys time on a task nothing is waiting for. The least effective response is starting on the expenses spreadsheet and leaving the payment run on the assumption that somebody would have said if 3pm mattered: it puts a delivery at risk on a premise nobody was asked to confirm. That is avoidance rather than a defensible ordering of work. The principle: protect the deadline the outside world is holding you to, and tell the person whose work waits.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are an audit junior on a client site. The testing you were given for this week will take two more days than the budget allows, and your manager is at another client until Thursday. The client’s team leaves at 5pm on Friday for a fortnight. You have not worked at this pace before and you are falling behind. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reduce the sample sizes so that the testing fits the days that are left, and record the work as complete for the areas the programme asked you to test.
   2. Test the areas you can finish properly and leave the rest for after the client's team returns, noting in the file that those areas are outstanding.
   3. Work late every night this week to close the gap yourself, and raise it with your manager on Thursday only if you have not managed to catch up by then.
   4. Message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client's team is still available this week.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client's team is still available this week.

   Least effective: A. Reduce the sample sizes so that the testing fits the days that are left, and record the work as complete for the areas the programme asked you to test.

   A: Records work that was not done as done: the file will say the areas were tested to the required depth, and everybody reading it afterwards will believe that, including the reviewer.

   B: Accepts a fortnight's delay without asking: the client is away for two weeks, and whether the file can wait that long is your manager's call.

   C: Absorbs a shortfall that is not yours to absorb: your manager loses three days in which they could have moved resource or spoken to the client.

   The most effective response is to message your manager today with what is done, what is left and the two-day gap, and ask what to prioritise while the client’s team is still available: a two-day gap is a resourcing decision, they can only make it if they know, and the client’s availability this week is the thing that expires. It beats working late every night to close the gap yourself and raising it on Thursday, because three nights of your own time removes your manager’s chance to fix it properly. It beats testing what you can and noting the rest as outstanding, because a two-week slip may or may not be acceptable, and that is not yours to decide alone. The least effective response is reducing the sample sizes so the testing fits and recording the work as complete: the file asserts testing that did not happen, which the reviewer, the client and anybody relying on the audit will take at face value. That is a false record rather than a bad way of handling pressure. The principle: surface the shortfall to the person who can resource it, while the opportunity is still open.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a research assistant. A colleague has left for two weeks and his half-finished sector note is now yours, due Friday. You already have your own note due Friday. The two together are four days of work and there are three days left. Your manager is available this afternoon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Work on both notes in parallel and get as far as you can with each, so that neither is completely missing on Friday.
   2. Prioritise your own note and finish it properly on Friday, then make a start on his the following Monday once the week's pressure has come off.
   3. Take both notes and the four-days-in-three problem to your manager this afternoon, with a suggestion for which one should move and why.
   4. Say in front of the team that this is what happens when people go on leave with work half done, and that your own note will be late because of somebody else's planning.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Take both notes and the four-days-in-three problem to your manager this afternoon, with a suggestion for which one should move and why.

   Least effective: D. Say in front of the team that this is what happens when people go on leave with work half done, and that your own note will be late because of somebody else's planning.

   A: Splits effort so nothing finishes: two half-notes on Friday are worth less than one finished one, and the choice is still not made.

   B: Decides between two commitments alone: which note matters more is your manager's judgement, and his may be the one somebody is waiting for.

   D: Makes an absent colleague the subject instead of the work: the four days still do not fit into three, and the team hears a complaint rather than a choice that needs making.

   The most effective response is to take both notes and the four-days-in- three problem to your manager this afternoon, with a suggestion for which should move: four days do not fit in three, only she can drop one, and arriving with a proposal makes it a decision rather than a complaint. It beats working on both notes in parallel and getting as far as you can, because two unfinished notes help nobody. It beats prioritising your own note and starting his on Monday, because the ranking is not yours to make alone. The least effective response is saying in front of the team that this is what happens when people go on leave with work half done: it turns a scheduling problem into a public grievance about a colleague who is not there, and the decision is no closer. That is personalising it rather than ordering the work badly. The principle: take the arithmetic and a proposal to the person who can change the scope.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a management accounts assistant. Every month you rekey the same figures between two systems, which takes half a day and causes errors. You could write a small spreadsheet tool that does it automatically. Tools that move data between these systems have to be registered and reviewed by the systems team first. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Build a prototype, show your manager the half-day saving, and ask them to put it to the systems team for registration before anybody uses it for real.
   2. Ask the systems team to build the tool themselves, since they own the registration process and will know how it should be done.
   3. Carry on rekeying each month and raise the idea at the next systems team forum in three months, when there is a proper slot for suggestions like this one.
   4. Build the tool and start using it for this month's close, and register it with the systems team afterwards once it has proved that it works properly.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Build a prototype, show your manager the half-day saving, and ask them to put it to the systems team for registration before anybody uses it for real.

   Least effective: D. Build the tool and start using it for this month's close, and register it with the systems team afterwards once it has proved that it works properly.

   B: Hands away the part you are best placed to do: you know the process and the failure modes, and their queue is long.

   C: Delays the decision for a quarter: three more months of half-days and known errors, to wait for a meeting.

   D: Builds a workaround around a control: a month's reported figures come out of an unreviewed tool, and registration afterwards cannot undo that they already have.

   The most effective response is to build a prototype, show your manager the half-day saving, and ask him to put it to the systems team for registration before anybody uses it for real: the prototype makes the case concrete, he owns the priority, and registration happens before anything real depends on it. It beats carrying on rekeying and raising the idea at the systems forum in three months, because three months of known errors is a real cost. It beats asking the systems team to build the tool themselves, because handing it to a long queue loses the knowledge that makes it work. The least effective response is building the tool, using it for this month’s close, and registering it afterwards: a month’s figures are produced by a tool that the review exists to look at before it is trusted. That is going around a stated control rather than moving too slowly or too fast. The principle: build it, show it, and get it approved before anything real runs on it.

6. Question 6 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.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a customer service adviser. A customer has been told by a colleague that his claim would be settled this week. It will not be: it needs information from him that nobody has asked for, and that will take another fortnight. He is telephoning now, expecting good news. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him there has been a delay and that somebody will contact him with a new date once the file has been properly reviewed.
   2. Assure him it is still on track for this week, and leave the letter to correct him when it does not arrive, by which time somebody else will be handling it.
   3. Apologise at length for the wrong information, and offer to raise a complaint about the colleague who gave him the original date.
   4. Tell him plainly that it will take about a fortnight, apologise that he was told otherwise, and take the information you need from him on this call.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell him plainly that it will take about a fortnight, apologise that he was told otherwise, and take the information you need from him on this call.

   Least effective: B. Assure him it is still on track for this week, and leave the letter to correct him when it does not arrive, by which time somebody else will be handling it.

   A: Gives him a delay and no plan: the information you need is still not asked for, so the fortnight does not start today.

   B: Repeats a promise you know is wrong: he plans around a settlement that is not coming, and the correction is left to arrive by post from nobody in particular.

   C: Offers process instead of progress: he wants his claim settled, and a complaint about a colleague does not move it forward by a day.

   The most effective response is to tell him plainly that it will take about a fortnight, apologise that he was told otherwise, and take what you need from him on this call: it corrects the expectation, owns the firm’s error, and uses the call to start the fortnight rather than to schedule another one. It beats telling him there has been a delay and that somebody will contact him with a new date, because a vague delay leaves the clock stopped. It beats apologising at length and offering to raise a complaint about the colleague who gave the original date, because a complaint does not settle his claim. The least effective response is assuring him it is still on track for this week: a promise you know to be false buys a comfortable call, and he discovers the truth when nothing arrives. That is a false statement rather than an incomplete or misdirected response. The principle: give the real date, own the error, and start the clock on the call.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a payments assistant. A large client payment has failed and the client’s finance director needs to know within the hour. The approved route is through their relationship manager, who is on a flight. You have the finance director’s mobile number on a file you are not supposed to use for contact details. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Call the relationship manager's team now for another contact route, and tell your manager the clock so somebody with authority can decide how to reach the client.
   2. Take the finance director's mobile number from the file and telephone him directly, since he needs to know within the hour and the number is right there in front of you.
   3. Ask a colleague to telephone the client's main switchboard and try to reach the finance director without saying what it is about.
   4. Email the relationship manager and wait for her to land, since she is the approved route and the client is hers to contact.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Call the relationship manager's team now for another contact route, and tell your manager the clock so somebody with authority can decide how to reach the client.

   Least effective: B. Take the finance director's mobile number from the file and telephone him directly, since he needs to know within the hour and the number is right there in front of you.

   B: Uses a record for a purpose it is not permitted for: the restriction exists whatever the reason, and urgency is exactly the circumstance it was written to cover.

   C: Sends somebody to make a call they cannot explain: a vague approach from an unnamed colleague will not reach him inside an hour.

   D: Follows the route past the deadline: an hour is the whole window and a flight is longer than that.

   The most effective response is to call the relationship manager’s team now for another contact route, and tell your manager the clock so somebody with authority can decide how to reach the client: her team almost certainly has another route, and your manager can authorise whatever is needed if it does not. It beats emailing the relationship manager and waiting for her to land, because the flight is longer than the hour. It beats asking a colleague to ring the client’s switchboard without saying what it is about, because a call nobody can explain will not get through. The least effective response is taking the finance director’s mobile number from the file and telephoning him directly: contact details are used from a source you are specifically not permitted to use for that, on your own judgement that the circumstances justify it. That is breaching a stated restriction rather than being too slow or too indirect. The principle: when the approved route will not make the deadline, get authority for another one.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a settlements assistant. At the end of your shift one trade is unmatched because the counterparty’s reference does not match yours. You have worked out what is wrong but not fixed it. The night team will pick up the queue and does not usually see this counterparty. Your shift ends in five minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Write two lines on the handover saying what the mismatch is and what you think the fix is, and flag it to the night team lead before you leave.
   2. Email the counterparty explaining the reference problem, and leave the trade in the queue for the night team to pick up when the reply comes.
   3. Stay late and fix the mismatch yourself, since you understand it and the night team would take much longer to get to the same point.
   4. Put the unmatched trade over to the night team in the queue with the others, since it is their shift now and they will work through it the same way they work through everything else.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Write two lines on the handover saying what the mismatch is and what you think the fix is, and flag it to the night team lead before you leave.

   Least effective: D. Put the unmatched trade over to the night team in the queue with the others, since it is their shift now and they will work through it the same way they work through everything else.

   B: Starts something the next shift cannot finish: a reply arrives to an inbox nobody on tonight is watching.

   C: Absorbs a handover problem: it works tonight, and the night team is no better placed the next time this counterparty appears.

   D: Hands over the problem without the part only you know: the night team has never seen this counterparty, and the diagnosis you already have leaves the building with you.

   The most effective response is to write two lines on the handover saying what the mismatch is and what you think the fix is, and flag it to the night team lead: two lines transfer the diagnosis, the flag makes sure it is read, and they can act immediately. It beats staying late and fixing the mismatch yourself, because that fixes tonight and teaches nobody. It beats emailing the counterparty about the reference problem and leaving the trade in the queue, because a reply landing in your inbox overnight helps nobody on shift. The least effective response is putting the unmatched trade into the queue with the others: it is passed on stripped of the only thing that would let the next person solve it. That is offloading rather than handing over imperfectly. The principle: what you hand on is the problem plus what you learned about it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are an onboarding analyst. A client’s go-live has slipped by three weeks. The client’s project manager is relaxed about dates; your own sales colleague has a bonus tied to this quarter and has been telling people it will land. Both need to know today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Send both of them the same written note at the same time, without speaking to your sales colleague first about what it is going to say.
    2. Tell your sales colleague first so he is not blindsided, then send both him and the client the same written note setting out the new date and why.
    3. Tell the client first and blame your sales colleague for the dates, explaining that he has been giving out timings he was never in a position to commit the firm to.
    4. Tell your sales colleague today and leave him to decide when and how the client should be told about the three-week slip.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Tell your sales colleague first so he is not blindsided, then send both him and the client the same written note setting out the new date and why.

    Least effective: C. Tell the client first and blame your sales colleague for the dates, explaining that he has been giving out timings he was never in a position to commit the firm to.

    A: Treats two very different stakes identically: he reads about his quarter in a group email, which is the part that could have been handled.

    C: Criticises a colleague to the client: the slip is real, and what the client now knows is that your own firm's people contradict each other.

    D: Hands the client message to the person most likely to delay it: the client needs the date today.

    The most effective response is to tell your sales colleague first so he is not blindsided, then send him and the client the same written note setting out the new date and why: both get the same facts in writing, and the person with most at stake hears it from you first rather than in a group email. It beats sending both the same note at the same time without speaking to him first, because a two-minute warning costs nothing and matters a lot to him. It beats telling him today and leaving him to decide when the client hears, because the client’s date should not wait on his convenience. The least effective response is telling the client that your colleague has been giving out timings he could not commit the firm to: a delivery slip reaches the client as a criticism of your own side, so the firm looks divided and he is undermined in front of the account. That is personalising it rather than sequencing it badly. The principle: same facts to both, and warn the one who will take it hardest.