Morgan Stanley Assessment Tests

Morgan Stanley Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a risk assistant. Over three months you have noticed the same team submitting expense claims just under the £250 receipt threshold: nineteen of them, all between £240 and £249. Each one is within policy. Your manager is busy and has asked people to bring her “only real issues”. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Put the nineteen claims and the pattern on one page for your manager, say that each is within policy, and ask whether she wants it looked at further.
   2. Leave it, since every claim is inside the policy and nineteen individually compliant expense claims are not what your manager meant by a real issue.
   3. Raise each of the nineteen claims separately through the expenses query process, so that every one of them is formally on the record.
   4. Approach the team's manager informally to ask why the claims cluster just under the threshold, before mentioning it to anybody in your own team.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Put the nineteen claims and the pattern on one page for your manager, say that each is within policy, and ask whether she wants it looked at further.

   Least effective: B. Leave it, since every claim is inside the policy and nineteen individually compliant expense claims are not what your manager meant by a real issue.

   B: Declines to raise the only thing nobody else can see: the pattern is invisible from any single claim, and the person who could decide what it means is never given the chance to.

   C: Reports the instances instead of the pattern: nineteen individually compliant queries will be closed one by one and the shape is lost.

   D: Tips off the subject before the record exists: whatever the answer, the pattern is now known to be watched and nothing has been logged.

   The most effective response is to put the nineteen claims and the pattern on one page for your manager, say that each is within policy, and ask whether she wants it looked at further: one page makes visible what no individual claim shows, it is honest that nothing breaches policy, and the decision goes to the person who owns it. It beats raising each of the nineteen separately through the expenses query process, because that destroys the only thing worth seeing. It beats approaching the team’s manager informally to ask about the clustering, because approaching the subject first is the one order that cannot be undone. The least effective response is leaving it because every claim is inside the policy: the pattern dies with the person who spotted it, on a reading of what counts as a real issue that nobody has confirmed. That is avoidance rather than a misjudged route. The principle: escalate the shape, not the instances, and let the decision sit where it belongs.

2. Question 2 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.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a compliance analyst. Checking a sample of new accounts, you find one opened without the second approval the process requires. The approver is a senior manager who was away that week. The account is small and the customer looks entirely ordinary. Your team logs process exceptions weekly. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take it to the head of compliance today as a control failure, so that a missing approval on a new account is looked at by somebody senior straight away.
   2. Log the exception this week with the facts you have, and tell the senior manager you have done so and why, so the gap is on the record and they hear it from you first.
   3. Leave it alone on the grounds that the account is small, the customer is ordinary and the manager was away, so nothing about it is likely to be worth anybody's time.
   4. Log the exception this week, and say nothing to the senior manager, since the log itself will reach them through the weekly report in the usual way.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Log the exception this week with the facts you have, and tell the senior manager you have done so and why, so the gap is on the record and they hear it from you first.

   Least effective: C. Leave it alone on the grounds that the account is small, the customer is ordinary and the manager was away, so nothing about it is likely to be worth anybody's time.

   A: Escalates prematurely: a single missed approval during an absence is what the weekly log is for, and going over two heads spends credit you will want for something larger.

   C: Declines to check or record: the exception log exists precisely so that single instances can be counted, and an unlogged one cannot be counted by anybody later.

   D: Avoids the difficult conversation: the manager first learns of it from a report, which makes a routine exception feel like something done behind their back.

   The most effective response is to log the exception this week with the facts you have, and tell the senior manager you have done so and why: the log is the route the firm has chosen for exactly this, and telling them yourself keeps a routine entry from reading as an ambush. It beats logging it and saying nothing on the basis that the weekly report will carry it, because a manager who reads about their own exception in a report reacts to how they heard it rather than to what happened. It beats taking it to the head of compliance as a control failure, because a one-off during an absence is not yet that, and treating it as one costs you the hearing next time. The least effective response is leaving it alone because the account is small and the manager was away: the one record that would show whether this is a pattern is never created, and the judgement that it does not matter is made by the person least placed to make it. That is avoidance rather than a misjudged route. The principle: put it on the record by the ordinary route, and tell the person it is about.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an audit associate. Two schedules are due to your manager by Friday and each takes a day. It is Wednesday morning. A colleague uses the first one on Thursday to start his own testing; the second is only read at the Friday review. Nobody has told you which order to do them in. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do the schedule your colleague needs first so that his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second one on Thursday in good time for the Friday review.
   2. Ask your manager on Thursday morning which of the two she would rather have first, and work on neither of them until she has come back to you.
   3. Start with the schedule for the Friday review and leave the other until Thursday afternoon, without telling your colleague that his testing will not be able to start.
   4. Split Wednesday and Thursday between the two schedules so that both of them are partly done by the time the Friday review comes round.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Do the schedule your colleague needs first so that his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second one on Thursday in good time for the Friday review.

   Least effective: C. Start with the schedule for the Friday review and leave the other until Thursday afternoon, without telling your colleague that his testing will not be able to start.

   B: Spends a day of a two-day budget on a question with an evident answer: one schedule has somebody waiting on it and the other does not.

   C: Costs a colleague a day without warning him: he plans Thursday around a schedule that will not arrive, and the person who knew that on Wednesday says nothing.

   D: Splits effort so nothing finishes: two half-schedules on Friday morning are worth less than one complete one, and his Thursday is lost either way.

   The most effective response is to do the schedule your colleague needs first so his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second on Thursday for the Friday review: only one of the two has a person waiting behind it, both still land by Friday, and nothing is lost. It beats asking your manager on Thursday morning which she would rather have first, because a whole day goes on a question whose answer is on the page. It beats splitting Wednesday and Thursday between the two, because two unfinished schedules help nobody. The least effective response is starting with the Friday review schedule and not telling your colleague his testing cannot start: he loses a day he has planned around, and the one person who could have told him on Wednesday says nothing. That is silence about something he needed rather than a defensible ordering. The principle: when your order costs somebody else a day, they hear about it before the day starts.

5. Question 5 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.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a relationship support assistant. Two managers have each asked for a client pack by Friday and each is a day’s work. You have two days but one is already committed to a review that cannot move. One manager is notoriously difficult about being deprioritised. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell both managers today that only one pack can be done by Friday, set out what is driving your view, and ask them to agree which one it should be.
   2. Tell the difficult manager privately that you are doing his first because the other manager is more reasonable about waiting for things like this.
   3. Tell both managers you will do your best to complete both by Friday, and see how far you get once the review is out of the way.
   4. Do the difficult manager's pack first without telling the other one anything, and get to hers on Monday if there is time.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell both managers today that only one pack can be done by Friday, set out what is driving your view, and ask them to agree which one it should be.

   Least effective: B. Tell the difficult manager privately that you are doing his first because the other manager is more reasonable about waiting for things like this.

   B: Judges a colleague to explain a decision: the reason given is another manager's temperament, and it will reach her sooner or later.

   C: Promises what the days do not allow: two days of work do not fit into one, and both will plan on receiving a pack.

   D: Lets the loudest voice set the order: the other manager finds out on Friday that nothing is coming.

   The most effective response is to tell both managers today that only one pack can be done by Friday, set out what is driving your view, and ask them to agree which: the arithmetic is plain, the choice belongs to the two people who want the work, and saying it to both at once removes any suggestion of a private deal. It beats doing the difficult manager’s pack first without telling the other, because deciding by who complains most guarantees the wrong answer eventually. It beats telling both you will do your best to complete both, because that promises something impossible. The least effective response is telling the difficult manager privately that you are doing his first because the other is more reasonable: the ordering is explained as a judgement about her character, which will get back to her. That is personalising it rather than ordering it badly or over-promising. The principle: put the arithmetic to both of them and let them choose.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are an audit junior. Your manager asked you on Monday to finish the revenue testing by Wednesday. On Tuesday she mentions in passing that it would be “really useful” to have a summary of the client’s new contracts. The summary would take a day. The revenue testing is half done. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Finish the revenue testing by Wednesday as agreed, and say nothing at all about the contracts summary unless and until she raises it with you again.
   2. Ask her which she wants first, saying plainly that the contracts summary would take a day and would put Wednesday's revenue testing at risk.
   3. Start the contracts summary straight away without saying anything about Wednesday, since it was the most recent thing she asked for and it is plainly what is on her mind.
   4. Work on the contracts summary in the evenings so that both the testing and the summary are delivered by Wednesday without anything having to change.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Ask her which she wants first, saying plainly that the contracts summary would take a day and would put Wednesday's revenue testing at risk.

   Least effective: C. Start the contracts summary straight away without saying anything about Wednesday, since it was the most recent thing she asked for and it is plainly what is on her mind.

   A: Ignores the second request: an offhand remark from your manager is still a request, and leaving it unanswered means she does not know it is not happening.

   C: Drops a committed deadline in silence: she is expecting revenue testing on Wednesday and has no idea it has stopped, so she cannot re-plan anything.

   D: Solves a scheduling problem with your own time: it works once, and it hides from your manager that she asked for two days of work in one.

   The most effective response is to ask her which she wants first, saying plainly that the contracts summary would take a day and would put Wednesday’s revenue testing at risk: only she can rank her own two requests, and she cannot do it without the fact that one costs a day. It beats finishing the revenue testing as agreed and saying nothing about the summary unless she raises it, because a manager’s passing request still needs an answer. It beats working on the summary in the evenings so both are delivered, because absorbing it privately conceals that the ask was not possible. The least effective response is starting the contracts summary straight away without saying anything about Wednesday: the committed deadline is abandoned for the newer request and she discovers on Wednesday that the testing is where it was on Tuesday. That is a silent switch rather than a debatable ordering. The principle: when two asks collide, hand the choice back with the cost attached.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a settlements assistant. The daily control log should be completed each afternoon and you have not filled it in for four days. Everything was actually checked. Your supervisor reviews the log weekly and it is due tomorrow. Filling in the four days now would look identical to filling them in on the day. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Mark the four days as checked on their own dates so the log reads as complete, since the checks genuinely were done and the timing of the entry changes nothing about that.
   2. Complete the four days now without any note about when they were entered, since the substance is accurate and nobody asked about entry times.
   3. Complete the four days now, mark clearly that they were entered late, and tell your supervisor before the review so she knows what she is looking at.
   4. Leave the four days blank and tell your supervisor tomorrow morning that the checks were all done but the log was simply not kept up, so nothing inaccurate is written down at all.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Complete the four days now, mark clearly that they were entered late, and tell your supervisor before the review so she knows what she is looking at.

   Least effective: A. Mark the four days as checked on their own dates so the log reads as complete, since the checks genuinely were done and the timing of the entry changes nothing about that.

   A: Records four entries as made on days they were not: the log's value is that it shows when a check happened, and your supervisor reviews it believing exactly that.

   B: Leaves out the one fact that matters: an unmarked backfill is indistinguishable from a contemporaneous entry, which is the whole question.

   D: Discards a real record: the checks happened and the log should say so, just with the entry date visible.

   The most effective response is to complete the four days now, mark clearly that they were entered late, and tell your supervisor before the review: the substance is captured, the lateness is visible, and she reviews the log knowing what it represents. It beats completing the four days now without any note about when they were entered, because an unmarked backfill looks exactly like a contemporaneous entry. It beats leaving them blank and telling her the checks were done but the log was not kept up, because throwing away accurate information helps nobody. The least effective response is marking the four days as checked on their own dates: entries are dated to days on which they were not made, so a log that exists to show when checks happened is made to show something untrue. That is falsifying the record rather than under-documenting or over-correcting. The principle: backfill if you must, and say on the face of it that you did.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a purchase ledger clerk. Your manager asked you this morning to file last year’s invoices, which will take the day. At 10am you notice a supplier’s bank details were changed yesterday by someone outside the team, and nobody has confirmed with the supplier that the change is genuine. Your manager is at her desk. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Finish the filing exactly as she asked and tell your manager about the changed bank details at the end of the day, when the job she gave you this morning is actually complete.
   2. Send a note about the bank details over to the payments team, mark it as theirs now, and carry on with the filing without checking that anybody has picked it up.
   3. Ask the supplier directly whether they changed their own bank details, then carry on with the filing and mention it to your manager when there is a moment.
   4. Stop and tell your manager about the changed bank details now, and ask whether the filing should wait while somebody looks at where the change came from.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Stop and tell your manager about the changed bank details now, and ask whether the filing should wait while somebody looks at where the change came from.

   Least effective: B. Send a note about the bank details over to the payments team, mark it as theirs now, and carry on with the filing without checking that anybody has picked it up.

   A: Ranks the instruction above the information: a day is a long time for a change of this kind to sit unexamined.

   B: Hands off the urgent item and keeps the routine one: the payments team has no context, nobody has confirmed they picked it up, and the filing was never the thing that mattered today.

   C: Acts before anybody senior has looked: contacting the supplier on the number in the record is exactly what somebody would want to control first.

   The most effective response is to stop and tell your manager about the changed bank details now, and ask whether the filing should wait while somebody looks at where the change came from: a bank detail change from outside the team is exactly the thing worth interrupting for, she is two steps away, and the filing has no deadline at all. It beats finishing the filing as asked and telling her at the end of the day, because a day is a long time to leave it. It beats asking the supplier directly whether they changed their own details, because that destroys the evidence before anybody has looked. The least effective response is sending a note to the payments team and carrying on with the filing without checking anybody picked it up: the urgent item is pushed to a team with no context and no confirmation. That is offloading it rather than sequencing it badly. The principle: an instruction from this morning does not outrank what you have found since.

10. Question 10 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.