Merck (MSD) Assessment Tests

Merck Online Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a visitor services assistant at a museum. A family arrives having booked online for a dinosaur exhibition that closed permanently last week; the website page was taken down but their booking email still shows today’s date. They have travelled two hours and the children are visibly disappointed. Your supervisor is at lunch for another thirty minutes. Refunds require a supervisor. The museum’s other galleries are open. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain that the exhibition closed last week and that refunds have to be authorised by a supervisor, and ask them to come back to the desk in half an hour when she is off her lunch break.
   2. Apologise and process a refund from the till yourself, since the museum is plainly at fault and making the family wait for a supervisor would add insult to a wasted journey.
   3. Apologise, take their details and tell them the museum will investigate how the booking was allowed to go through and will write to them once the cause has been established.
   4. Apologise for the booking error, explain what is open today, offer to show them straight through to the other galleries, and take their details so the refund is processed when your supervisor returns.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Apologise for the booking error, explain what is open today, offer to show them straight through to the other galleries, and take their details so the refund is processed when your supervisor returns.

   Least effective: A. Explain that the exhibition closed last week and that refunds have to be authorised by a supervisor, and ask them to come back to the desk in half an hour when she is off her lunch break.

   A: Ignores the customer's actual need: a family two hours from home with disappointed children is given a rule and a wait. It offers them nothing they can do in the next half hour, which is the one thing the situation calls for.

   B: Breaches confidentiality or process: refunds need a supervisor for good reason, and the strength of the family's case is not authority to take money out of the till. The right outcome by the wrong route.

   C: Delays the decision: an investigation into the website answers a question nobody in front of you is asking. The family are standing in the foyer now with a day to rescue.

   The most effective response is to apologise, explain what is open today, show them straight through to the other galleries, and take their details for the refund: it fixes what can be fixed today, a day out that still happens, and sets the refund running through the proper route without making the family wait in the foyer for it. It beats processing a refund from the till yourself, because a supervisor’s authorisation is the control on money leaving the till, and however deserving the case, that is not yours to override. It beats promising to investigate how the booking went through and write to them, because that is the museum’s problem, not the family’s, and it gives four people standing in front of you nothing to do with their afternoon. The least effective response is asking them to come back in half an hour when the supervisor is off her lunch break: it is the only response that offers the family nothing at all in the meantime, after a two-hour journey, when the museum is at fault and other galleries are open. That is worse than refunding from the till, which errs by helping too freely, and worse than the investigation, which at least takes their details. The principle: rescue what can be rescued now, and route the part you cannot authorise through the person who can.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You work on the desk at a car rental branch. A customer returns a car four hours late and is charged an extra day under the rental terms. He is angry and says the branch told him on collection that a few hours’ grace was fine. There is no note of that on the booking. The colleague who handled the collection is off today. Your branch manager is available. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him that the charge stands, that the colleague he spoke to is off today, and that if he wishes to dispute it he should write to customer services with the details.
   2. Waive the extra day's charge immediately so the customer leaves satisfied, since the branch cannot prove what he was told on collection and the goodwill is worth more than one day's hire.
   3. Apologise for the confusion, tell him you will check with the colleague who handled the collection and with your manager, and agree a time today when you will call him back with an answer.
   4. Explain that the rental terms he signed charge a full day after two hours, and that without a note on the booking the branch has no record of any grace period being offered.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Apologise for the confusion, tell him you will check with the colleague who handled the collection and with your manager, and agree a time today when you will call him back with an answer.

   Least effective: A. Tell him that the charge stands, that the colleague he spoke to is off today, and that if he wishes to dispute it he should write to customer services with the details.

   A: Ignores the customer's actual need: it closes the matter in the branch's favour before anyone has checked, and sends the customer to write a letter about a question a manager standing nearby could settle today.

   B: Breaches confidentiality or process: it may well be the right outcome and it is not yours to decide alone. Waiving a charge because a claim cannot be disproved sets the branch's terms by whoever complains hardest.

   D: Treats missing evidence as proof: it answers with the contract and treats the absence of a note as proof he is wrong, when the only person who could confirm it is simply not at work today.

   The most effective response is to apologise for the confusion, say you will check with the colleague who handled the collection and with your manager, and agree a time today to call him back: there is a genuine factual question about what he was told, and it is answerable by asking. Committing to a time turns an argument at the desk into a process with an end. It beats explaining that the rental terms charge a full day after two hours and that nothing is noted on the booking, because the absence of a note is not evidence that nothing was said, and quoting the terms settles nothing while the one person who knows is uncontacted. It beats waiving the extra day’s charge immediately, because that decides a disputed fact by who complained, and it is the manager’s call, not yours. The least effective response is telling him the charge stands and that he should write to customer services: it rules against him before checking, uses his own witness being absent as the reason, and sends him away to write a letter about something answerable today. That is worse than waiving the charge, which resolves it, and worse than quoting the terms, which at least explains them. The principle: when a customer’s claim turns on a fact you can check, check it and commit to coming back, rather than settling it by contract or by goodwill on the spot.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You work behind the bar of a pub and cash up at the end of your shift. Tonight the till is £40 over. Your colleague says the float is often out, that putting the extra through as a correction creates paperwork for the landlord, and suggests you simply put the £40 in the staff tips jar since nobody will claim it. The landlord is upstairs and available. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Record the £40 surplus on the cash sheet and tell the landlord tonight, so the discrepancy can be investigated properly.
   2. Leave the £40 in the till without recording it, so the money stays in the business and the discrepancy will show up in the next cash count.
   3. Adjust the cash sheet so the takings balance exactly and set the £40 aside in the safe, so the paperwork is clean and the money is secure.
   4. Put the £40 into the staff tips jar as your colleague suggests, since the float is often out and nobody is going to come back for it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Record the £40 surplus on the cash sheet and tell the landlord tonight, so the discrepancy can be investigated properly.

   Least effective: D. Put the £40 into the staff tips jar as your colleague suggests, since the float is often out and nobody is going to come back for it.

   B: Hides the problem: leaving an unexplained surplus unrecorded keeps the money in the right place and removes the signal. A £40 discrepancy is exactly what the landlord needs to see to find its cause.

   C: Falsifies the cash record: the money is safe and the sheet now says something untrue, so the discrepancy that would have led the landlord to a mis-rung sale or a short-changed customer disappears.

   D: Misappropriates business takings: an unexplained surplus is the pub's money until it is accounted for, and moving it into the tips jar takes it and destroys the record that would have explained it. That is theft, not tidying.

   The most effective response is to record the £40 surplus on the cash sheet and tell the landlord tonight: a surplus means something went wrong, a mis-rung sale or a customer given the wrong change, and the cash sheet and the landlord are how that gets found. Recording it and telling him is the whole job. It beats adjusting the sheet to balance and setting the money aside in the safe, because that makes the paperwork tidy and erases the very signal that would identify the cause. It beats leaving the money in the till unrecorded so it shows up at the next count, because that is the same erasure with the money in a different place. The least effective response is putting the £40 into the staff tips jar because nobody will come back for it: it takes money belonging to the business, which is appropriation rather than a record-keeping shortcut. That is worse than the other two, which mishandle the record but keep the money in the business. The principle: record a discrepancy exactly as you found it and tell whoever can find out why.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a developer in a small software team. You and a colleague, Tomas, disagree about how to fix a bug affecting customers now. Your approach takes two days and fixes the cause; his takes two hours and treats the symptom. He has started implementing his version. The team lead is on holiday for a week and there is no other senior developer. Customers are hitting the bug daily. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Let Tomas finish his two-hour fix and start building your two-day fix alongside it, so both approaches exist and the team can choose when the lead is back.
   2. Implement your own two-day fix in parallel without telling Tomas, since it addresses the real cause and the better solution will speak for itself when it is finished.
   3. Ask Tomas to stop and wait for the team lead to return, since a two- day structural fix should not be ruled out by a decision taken while nobody senior is available.
   4. Agree with Tomas that his two-hour fix goes out now to stop customers hitting the bug, and that you write up the underlying cause for the team lead to decide on next week.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Agree with Tomas that his two-hour fix goes out now to stop customers hitting the bug, and that you write up the underlying cause for the team lead to decide on next week.

   Least effective: B. Implement your own two-day fix in parallel without telling Tomas, since it addresses the real cause and the better solution will speak for itself when it is finished.

   A: Splits effort so nothing finishes: two people building two fixes for one bug doubles the work and leaves the codebase carrying a symptom patch and a half-finished rewrite for a week.

   B: Personalises the conflict: it answers a technical disagreement by working secretly against a colleague on the same codebase, which wastes two days, risks conflicting changes and destroys the trust the team runs on.

   C: Delays the decision: it leaves customers hitting the bug every day for a week in order to protect a decision that can perfectly well be taken later, after the immediate harm has been stopped.

   The most effective response is to agree with Tomas that his two-hour fix goes out now to stop customers hitting the bug, and that you write up the underlying cause for the team lead to decide next week: customers are being harmed daily, so the fastest safe fix should go out now, and the deeper question does not have to be lost, it has to be documented and decided by the person who owns that call. Separating the urgent from the important resolves both. It beats asking him to stop and wait for the team lead to return, because holding everything for a week leaves customers hitting the bug every day to protect a decision that keeps perfectly well. It beats letting him finish while you build your two-day fix alongside it, because that doubles the effort and leaves the code carrying two competing changes with nobody senior to arbitrate. The least effective response is implementing your own fix in parallel without telling him: it works secretly against a colleague on shared code, which risks conflicting changes, wastes two days and damages the trust a small team depends on. That is worse than the other two, which handle the disagreement badly but openly. The principle: stop the harm with the quickest sound fix, and route the deeper disagreement to whoever owns it, in writing.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a quality inspector at a textile manufacturer. Checking a finished batch you notice the same small weaving fault on several rolls from one loom, and looking back at last week’s records you see it on that loom’s output too. Nobody has asked you to review previous batches. Last week’s output has already gone to a customer. Your quality manager is on site. The loom is running now. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reject the current batch and say nothing about last week's records, since that output has already been accepted by the customer and reopening it would cause unnecessary trouble.
   2. Reject the current batch and have the loom stopped for maintenance, then report it once the immediate production problem has been dealt with.
   3. Reject the current batch as faulty and record it in the quality log, since the fault is caught before dispatch and the log is where recurring issues are reviewed.
   4. Take the current batch and last week's records to your quality manager now, show her the fault is recurring on one loom, and let her decide about the loom and the customer.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Take the current batch and last week's records to your quality manager now, show her the fault is recurring on one loom, and let her decide about the loom and the customer.

   Least effective: A. Reject the current batch and say nothing about last week's records, since that output has already been accepted by the customer and reopening it would cause unnecessary trouble.

   A: Hides the problem: it knowingly withholds that a customer has already received cloth with the same fault, in order to avoid trouble. Choosing silence about goods already delivered is concealment, not discretion.

   B: Acts outside own authority on the wider issue: stopping the loom is reasonable and it leaves the shipped batch, which is the part with a customer at the other end, unaddressed and unreported.

   C: Delays the decision: rejecting this batch protects this shipment and the log is reviewed later, so a loom producing faulty cloth keeps running and last week's delivery stays with the customer unmentioned.

   The most effective response is to take the current batch and last week’s records to your quality manager now, show her the fault is recurring on one loom, and let her decide about the loom and the customer: the machine is running now and last week’s faulty output is already delivered, and only she can decide about both. Bringing the batch and the records together makes the pattern visible. It beats rejecting the batch and recording it in the quality log, because that leaves the loom running and the delivered goods unmentioned. It beats rejecting the batch and having the loom stopped for maintenance, because that addresses production while the customer who already has faulty cloth is still not considered. The least effective response is rejecting the batch and saying nothing about last week’s records: it deliberately withholds that faulty goods have already been delivered, to avoid trouble. That is worse than the other two, which act partially but do not conceal. The principle: when a fault turns out to have a history, take the history as well as the sample to whoever can act on both.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a school office administrator. A parent rings to say the minibus driver who takes pupils to swimming was, in her son’s account, using a mobile phone while driving yesterday. You have no other information. The same driver is booked to take a group this afternoon. The headteacher is in school and the transport contractor can be reached. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the parent's account in full and tell the headteacher now, so she can decide about this afternoon's trip before it leaves.
   2. Ring the transport contractor to pass on the parent's report and ask them to speak to the driver before this afternoon's trip.
   3. Log the parent's call and raise it at the next transport review, since it is one child's account, there is no other evidence and the driver has never given cause for concern.
   4. Speak to the driver when he arrives this afternoon to hear his account before deciding whether the report needs taking any further.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Take the parent's account in full and tell the headteacher now, so she can decide about this afternoon's trip before it leaves.

   Least effective: C. Log the parent's call and raise it at the next transport review, since it is one child's account, there is no other evidence and the driver has never given cause for concern.

   B: Passes responsibility to others: the contractor does need to know, and the decision about whether children travel with that driver this afternoon is the school's, not the contractor's, to take.

   C: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: an allegation of a driver using a phone with children aboard is about this afternoon's trip, and treating it as an agenda item defers it past the very journey it concerns.

   D: Acts outside own authority: it makes a single administrator the judge of a safety allegation about children, on the driver's own account, in the minutes before the trip departs.

   The most effective response is to take the parent’s account in full and tell the headteacher now, so she can decide about this afternoon’s trip: an allegation about a driver using a phone with children in the vehicle concerns a trip leaving in hours, she is in school and it is her decision whether pupils travel, and the full account gives her something to act on. It beats ringing the transport contractor to pass on the report and ask them to speak to the driver, because they should certainly be told, but whether the school’s pupils travel with that driver today is the school’s call. It beats speaking to the driver when he arrives to hear his account first, because putting the allegation to him minutes before departure makes an administrator the judge of a child safety report. The least effective response is logging the call and raising it at the next transport review: it defers an allegation about children’s safety so it is considered long after the journey it concerns. That is worse than the other two, which act on the wrong authority but act today. The principle: a safety allegation goes immediately to the person who can stop the thing it concerns, with the account you were given.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You work at the counter of a bank branch. A customer in her eighties comes in distressed because a standing order to her energy supplier has not gone out and she has had a warning letter. You can see on screen that the standing order was cancelled last month, but not by whom. She insists she never cancelled it. The branch is quiet and your supervisor is at the next desk. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Sit her down, tell her you will find out what happened to the standing order, check the account history with your supervisor, and explain what you find before she leaves the branch.
   2. Explain that the system shows the standing order was cancelled last month, and offer to set up a new one now so that next month's payment reaches the energy supplier on time.
   3. Tell her that standing orders are only ever cancelled by the account holder, so the instruction must have come from her, and advise her to check her own records at home.
   4. Give her the telephone banking number and suggest she rings the complaints team, who can look into the cancellation properly and write to her with an explanation.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Sit her down, tell her you will find out what happened to the standing order, check the account history with your supervisor, and explain what you find before she leaves the branch.

   Least effective: C. Tell her that standing orders are only ever cancelled by the account holder, so the instruction must have come from her, and advise her to check her own records at home.

   B: Ignores the customer's actual need: a new standing order fixes next month and leaves her holding a warning letter about this month, with no answer to the question she came in with.

   C: Acts on assumptions without checking: it tells a distressed customer she must be mistaken without opening the account history, and the screen does not in fact show who cancelled it. Blaming the customer on an unchecked assumption is a different order of wrong from the other options.

   D: Passes responsibility to others: she is standing in a quiet branch in front of someone who can see the account, and is sent to a phone queue to repeat a story she has just told.

   The most effective response is to sit her down and check the account history with your supervisor before she leaves the branch: she has a concrete problem, a warning letter, and an unanswered question, and everything needed to answer it is on the screen in front of you with a supervisor beside you. Settling it while she is here is both possible and what she came for. It beats offering to set up a new standing order now, because that solves next month while leaving this month’s letter and the cancellation unexplained. It beats giving her the telephone banking number for the complaints team, because sending her to a phone queue to retell the story makes her do the work when the branch could resolve it now. The least effective response is telling her that standing orders are only ever cancelled by the account holder: it asserts something the system does not actually show, tells an elderly customer she is mistaken on that basis, and sends her away with nothing. That is worse than the other two, which help partially, because it adds a false claim to an unmet need. The principle: when a customer’s problem can be investigated where they are standing, investigate it rather than redirecting or assuming.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a software tester. Two days before a release you find a defect that loses a customer’s unsaved form data in an uncommon but reproducible sequence. The developer who owns the area says it is an edge case and can wait for the next release in a month. The release manager decides what ships and is at her desk. The release notes are being finalised this afternoon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Log the defect with reproduction steps and take it to the release manager today, explaining what a customer loses and that the developer considers it an edge case.
   2. Raise the defect on the tracker with full reproduction steps and let the normal triage process pick it up in time for the release decision.
   3. Accept the developer's judgement that it is an edge case, since he owns the area, and add it to the backlog for the release in a month.
   4. Leave it out of the release discussion, since it is uncommon and raising it two days before a release would look like an attempt to hold up the developer's work.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Log the defect with reproduction steps and take it to the release manager today, explaining what a customer loses and that the developer considers it an edge case.

   Least effective: D. Leave it out of the release discussion, since it is uncommon and raising it two days before a release would look like an attempt to hold up the developer's work.

   B: Delays the decision: the tracker is the right record and the release notes are finalised this afternoon. A ticket awaiting triage may not reach the release manager before the decision is made.

   C: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: whether a data- losing defect is acceptable to ship is the release manager's call, not the developer's and not yours. Deferring to ownership of the code settles the wrong question.

   D: Hides the problem: it withholds a known data-losing defect from the people deciding what ships, out of concern about how raising it would look. That is concealment, not a judgement about severity.

   The most effective response is to log the defect with reproduction steps and take it to the release manager today, explaining what a customer loses and that the developer considers it an edge case: losing a customer’s data is the kind of defect a release decision should be taken with knowledge of, she owns that decision, and the notes are finalised this afternoon. Presenting his view alongside yours is honest and lets her weigh both. It beats accepting the developer’s judgement that it is an edge case, because whether to ship a known data-losing defect is not his call; he owns the code, she owns the release. It beats raising it on the tracker and letting normal triage pick it up, because a ticket in the queue may not surface before this afternoon’s decision. The least effective response is leaving it out of the release discussion because raising it would look like holding up his work: it keeps a known defect away from the people deciding what ships, and the reason is how it would be perceived rather than anything about the defect. That is worse than the other two, which route it wrongly or slowly but keep it visible. The principle: get a known defect in front of whoever owns the decision, in time for the decision, and let them weigh it.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a duty coordinator at a courier depot. At 3pm three things need you. A driver has broken down with a vehicle full of next-day parcels and needs a recovery arranged. Your manager wants the weekly performance figures before he leaves at 4pm. And a customer is holding on the phone about a parcel that has been missing for a week. The recovery firm’s cut-off for same-day attendance is 3.30pm. The figures take twenty minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the customer's call first since she is already holding and has been waiting a week, then arrange the recovery and do the figures if there is time before 4pm.
   2. Ask the driver to arrange his own recovery while you handle the customer and the figures, since he is at the roadside and knows the vehicle better than you do.
   3. Arrange the recovery before the 3.30pm cut-off, take the customer's number and promise a call back, then do the figures for your manager before 4pm.
   4. Do the performance figures first so your manager has them before he leaves at 4pm, then arrange the recovery and return the customer's call afterwards.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Arrange the recovery before the 3.30pm cut-off, take the customer's number and promise a call back, then do the figures for your manager before 4pm.

   Least effective: B. Ask the driver to arrange his own recovery while you handle the customer and the figures, since he is at the roadside and knows the vehicle better than you do.

   A: Ignores the closing window: her parcel has been missing a week and will still be missing in ten minutes, while the recovery cut-off passes at 3.30pm and strands a van of next-day parcels overnight.

   B: Passes responsibility to others: the depot holds the recovery account and the cut-off, not the driver at the roadside. Handing him a task he cannot complete means the cut-off passes with nobody having acted.

   D: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: it puts a reporting deadline ahead of a van of next-day parcels whose recovery window shuts in thirty minutes, and your manager has not been told the two clash.

   The most effective response is to arrange the recovery before the 3.30pm cut-off, take the customer’s number and promise a call back, then do the figures before 4pm: only the recovery has a window that shuts, and missing it strands a van of next-day parcels overnight. Once it is arranged, twenty minutes of figures still fits and the customer gets a call back today. It beats taking the customer’s call first because she is already holding, since a parcel missing for a week is not made worse by ten more minutes, while the cut-off cannot be recovered once passed. It beats doing the performance figures first so your manager has them before he leaves, because that treats a reporting deadline as outranking a closing operational window, without telling him the two clash. The least effective response is asking the driver to arrange his own recovery from the roadside: it hands it to the one person who cannot arrange it, since the depot holds the account, so the cut-off passes with nobody having acted. That is worse than the other two, which sequence badly but keep the work with someone able to do it. The principle: do the thing whose window is closing first, then fit the rest around it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You work behind the counter at a dry cleaners. A customer is due to collect a suit at 5pm for a funeral tomorrow, and it still needs pressing, which takes half an hour. Your manager has asked you to complete the weekly cleaning machine log before you close; it takes ten minutes and is due tonight. It is 4pm and you are alone in the shop. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Do the machine log first since it only takes ten minutes, then start pressing the suit and finish it as close to 5pm as you can manage.
    2. Ring the customer to ask whether she could collect the suit tomorrow morning instead, so that you have time to finish both jobs comfortably before closing.
    3. Press the suit only lightly so it is ready quickly, complete the log, and say nothing about the press being rushed when the customer collects it.
    4. Press the suit now so it is ready for the 5pm collection, then complete the machine log before you close.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Press the suit now so it is ready for the 5pm collection, then complete the machine log before you close.

    Least effective: C. Press the suit only lightly so it is ready quickly, complete the log, and say nothing about the press being rushed when the customer collects it.

    A: Delays the decision: ten minutes is not much, but it leaves only fifty for a half-hour press with a shop still to run, and the customer needs the suit for a funeral tomorrow.

    B: Ignores the customer's actual need: the suit is for a funeral tomorrow, and asking her to rearrange her evening solves a scheduling problem that an hour of your own time already solves.

    C: Hides the problem: it hands over work you know is below standard, for a funeral, and relies on the customer not noticing until she is dressing tomorrow. That is concealment of a defect rather than a scheduling choice.

    The most effective response is to press the suit now for the 5pm collection, then complete the machine log before you close: there is an hour, the press takes half of it and the log takes ten minutes, so both fit if the fixed appointment goes first. The suit has a collection time and a reason behind it; the log only has to be done by closing. It beats doing the ten-minute machine log first, because that leaves the press pushed up against the deadline in a shop you are running alone. It beats ringing the customer to ask whether she could collect tomorrow morning, because that solves your sequencing problem at her expense when the hour available is enough. The least effective response is pressing the suit only lightly and saying nothing about it: it delivers a knowingly poor press for a funeral, so the customer discovers it when it is too late to fix. That is worse than the other two, which manage the time awkwardly but deliver proper work. The principle: do the fixed appointment first when everything fits, and never let a deadline persuade you to hand over work you know is not right.