Novo Nordisk Assessment Tests

Novo Nordisk Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a finance assistant at an engineering company. Yesterday you emailed the monthly departmental spending report to six department heads. Today you notice a formula error pulled last month’s figures into two columns, overstating several budgets. The department heads hold separate budget meetings tomorrow morning, where they will set spending plans using your report. It is now mid-afternoon and you have already prepared a corrected version. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Plan to explain the correction in person at the start of tomorrow's meetings rather than emailing today, so the department heads hear it directly from you with the right context.
   2. Replace the report on the shared drive with the corrected version without telling anyone, since anyone who opens the file again before their meeting will see the right figures.
   3. Email all six department heads now, state plainly that yesterday's report contained an error, attach the corrected version, and highlight which columns changed so they use the right figures tomorrow.
   4. Tell your own manager about the error first and wait for their advice on how to word the correction before contacting any of the department heads.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Email all six department heads now, state plainly that yesterday's report contained an error, attach the corrected version, and highlight which columns changed so they use the right figures tomorrow.

   Least effective: B. Replace the report on the shared drive with the corrected version without telling anyone, since anyone who opens the file again before their meeting will see the right figures.

   A: Delays the message: the department heads may prepare tonight using the overstated figures, and with six separate meetings running tomorrow morning you cannot be in the room to deliver the correction at every one.

   B: Hides the problem: silently swapping the file conceals that an error ever existed, and anyone working from yesterday's email or a saved copy keeps the wrong figures with no warning. That is concealment, not just a slower or clumsier correction.

   D: Tells the wrong audience first: briefing your manager is sensible, but waiting for advice before contacting anyone leaves the six people who actually rely on the figures uninformed while a simple factual correction sits ready to send.

   The most effective response is to email all six department heads now, state plainly that yesterday’s report contained an error, and attach the corrected version: they are the people relying on the figures, the correction is ready, and an email this afternoon reaches all of them before they prepare for tomorrow, highlighting exactly which columns changed. It beats waiting to explain the correction in person at tomorrow’s meetings, because that leaves the heads working from overstated figures overnight and depends on you being present at six separate meetings you cannot all attend. It beats telling your own manager first and waiting for advice on the wording, because a straightforward factual correction needs no approval, and waiting leaves the affected people uninformed for hours when you could simply copy your manager in. The least effective response is replacing the file on the shared drive without telling anyone: unlike correcting it in person, which does eventually tell everyone, and unlike checking with your manager, which at least starts an open correction, it relies on people happening to reopen the file and conceals that a mistake was ever made. The failure is the concealment, not the speed. The principle: when you have sent out wrong information, correct it quickly, openly, and directly to everyone relying on it.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You work in guest services at a theme park. A ride has broken down, queues everywhere have lengthened and you have been dealing with complaints for four hours without a break. A visitor tells you, in front of a crowd, that the park is a rip-off and that you personally have been useless. His family have queued ninety minutes for a ride that then closed. Your duty manager is contactable by radio. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain that the ride closed for safety reasons entirely outside guest services' control, and that everyone in the park has been affected in the same way today.
   2. Radio the duty manager to come and speak to him, and move on to the next guest while he waits for her to arrive.
   3. Tell him that the closure is nobody's fault, that shouting at staff will not reopen the ride, and ask him to move aside so you can help other guests.
   4. Acknowledge the ninety minutes his family lost, explain what is known about the ride, and offer the compensation the park provides for a closure of this kind.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Acknowledge the ninety minutes his family lost, explain what is known about the ride, and offer the compensation the park provides for a closure of this kind.

   Least effective: C. Tell him that the closure is nobody's fault, that shouting at staff will not reopen the ride, and ask him to move aside so you can help other guests.

   A: Defends the park to an audience: it is accurate and it answers his insult rather than his ruined ninety minutes, in front of a crowd who are equally frustrated.

   B: Passes responsibility to others: it hands over a complaint you are able to settle and makes a family who have already queued ninety minutes wait again.

   C: Personalises the conflict: it rebukes a guest in front of a crowd and offers his family nothing at all for a wasted queue, which is the one response that adds a grievance rather than settling one.

   The most effective response is to acknowledge the ninety minutes his family lost, explain what is known about the ride, and offer the compensation the park provides: that answers the complaint without engaging the insult, and it gives his family something for the queue. It beats explaining that the closure was for safety reasons outside guest services’ control, because defending the department, however fairly, argues with his anger while offering his family nothing. It beats radioing the duty manager to come and speak to him, because that makes a family who have already queued twice wait a third time for something you can resolve. The least effective response is telling him that shouting at staff will not reopen the ride and asking him to move aside: it corrects his behaviour publicly and offers nothing for the lost queue, so he leaves with both the original grievance and a new one. That is worse than explaining the closure, which at least explains, and worse than fetching the duty manager, which at least routes him to someone. The principle: acknowledge what the person actually lost, then give them the remedy your organisation already provides.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a maintenance assistant at a holiday park. Walking past the children’s play area you notice that the safety surfacing under the climbing frame has lifted at one corner, leaving a raised edge and bare concrete beneath. It is not on your job list and the play area is not your responsibility. The park is busy with families. Your maintenance supervisor is on site. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Cordon off that corner of the play area now, then tell your maintenance supervisor what you have found so a proper repair can be arranged.
   2. Add it to the maintenance request system so it is scheduled properly with the other outstanding jobs in the play area.
   3. Leave it, since the play area is not your responsibility, the damage is obvious enough for parents to see and someone whose job it is will report it.
   4. Press the lifted surfacing back down and stand on it to bed it in, so the edge is flat again and children can carry on using the frame safely.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Cordon off that corner of the play area now, then tell your maintenance supervisor what you have found so a proper repair can be arranged.

   Least effective: C. Leave it, since the play area is not your responsibility, the damage is obvious enough for parents to see and someone whose job it is will report it.

   B: Delays the decision: the request system schedules work in days, and a raised edge over bare concrete is a trip hazard with children using the frame this afternoon.

   C: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: a trip hazard over bare concrete in a children's play area is left in use on the assumption that parents will spot it and somebody else will report it. Relying on others to notice is the one response that leaves it live.

   D: Acts on assumptions without checking: pressing it down makes it look repaired without fixing why it lifted, and a surface that appears sound but is not is more dangerous than one that is visibly broken.

   The most effective response is to cordon off that corner of the play area now and tell your maintenance supervisor what you have found: a raised edge over bare concrete where children are playing is a hazard now, cordoning takes minutes and is within your reach, and he is on site to arrange the real repair. It removes the risk immediately without pretending to fix it. It beats pressing the lifted surfacing back down and standing on it to bed it in, because that makes it look safe without addressing why it lifted, and a hazard that looks repaired is worse than one visibly cordoned. It beats adding it to the maintenance request system to be scheduled with the other jobs, because that works in days and children are using the frame this afternoon. The least effective response is leaving it because the play area is not your responsibility: it leaves a trip hazard where children play on the assumption that parents will see it and someone else will report it. That is worse than the request system, which at least records it, and worse than pressing it down, which at least tries. The principle: make it safe now by the simplest reversible means, then tell whoever owns the repair.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You work in an HR shared service team. It is Wednesday. Three things are outstanding: a new starter’s contract must go out today or she cannot begin on Monday, a manager wants a report on absence figures by Friday, and a colleague has asked you to review her draft policy whenever you have time. The contract takes an hour, the report three hours. You have five hours left today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Work through all three in the order they were asked for, and let your manager know at the end of the day if anything has not been finished.
   2. Start the absence report because it is the longest job, then do the contract at the end of the day once the bulk of the report is behind you.
   3. Do the contract and the policy review first because they are the two shorter jobs, then start the absence report and continue it tomorrow morning.
   4. Send the new starter's contract first, then work on the absence report, and tell your colleague you will review her policy tomorrow.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Send the new starter's contract first, then work on the absence report, and tell your colleague you will review her policy tomorrow.

   Least effective: A. Work through all three in the order they were asked for, and let your manager know at the end of the day if anything has not been finished.

   A: Hides the problem / silent deadline slip: the contract is the one item that cannot slip, and reporting at the end of the day is after the point at which anyone could rescue it. Reporting a missed deadline once it is missed is not communication.

   B: Delays the decision: it leaves an hour-long task with a today-or- never deadline to the end of a five-hour day, so any overrun on the report costs the new starter her start date.

   C: Splits effort so nothing finishes: it fits the favour in ahead of a report with a named Friday deadline, and pushes three hours of work into a day that already has other demands.

   The most effective response is to send the new starter’s contract first, then work on the absence report, and tell your colleague the policy review waits until tomorrow: only the contract has a deadline of today with a consequence attached, a start date, and it takes one of the five hours available. That leaves four hours for a three-hour report due Friday, and the policy review has no deadline at all. It beats starting the absence report first because it is the longest job, since that puts a fixed, unrecoverable deadline behind an open-ended one. It beats doing the contract and the policy review first as the two shorter jobs, because that fits an unscheduled favour ahead of a report with a stated deadline. The least effective response is working through all three in the order they were asked for and reporting at the end of the day: it works to the order things were asked in rather than to their deadlines, and reports the failure only once the new starter’s Monday cannot be saved. That is worse than the other two, which sequence badly but at least do the contract today. The principle: identify the task that cannot slip, do it first, and say early which of the others will move.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a first-line IT support technician at a legal practice. A monitoring alert shows the shared document server will run out of disk space in about three hours, at which point nobody in the firm will be able to save work. You are trained and authorised to clear the server’s temporary files, which usually frees significant space; anything further is the infrastructure team’s job, and they respond to urgent tickets within the hour. You have a queue of routine tickets waiting. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Run the authorised temporary-file clean-up now, check how much space it frees, and raise an urgent ticket with the infrastructure team straight away if the server is still at risk.
   2. Raise an urgent ticket with the infrastructure team immediately and wait for them to respond, leaving the server untouched since disk problems are ultimately their responsibility.
   3. Free space quickly by deleting several large, old-looking folders from the shared document server without checking with their owners, since that is certain to clear enough room.
   4. Work through your queue of routine tickets first and deal with the disk space alert afterwards, reasoning that three hours leaves plenty of time to act.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Run the authorised temporary-file clean-up now, check how much space it frees, and raise an urgent ticket with the infrastructure team straight away if the server is still at risk.

   Least effective: C. Free space quickly by deleting several large, old-looking folders from the shared document server without checking with their owners, since that is certain to clear enough room.

   B: Escalates prematurely: the first-line clean-up is exactly what you are trained and authorised to do, and it usually works; passing the problem straight to the infrastructure team leaves the server deteriorating while you wait for a response you may not need.

   C: Acts recklessly without checking: deleting folders from a legal practice's document server based on how old they look risks destroying client files nobody can recover, a destructive gamble rather than a defensible way of freeing space like the other options.

   D: Delays the decision: the three-hour window is an estimate, not a promise, and routine tickets can wait. Spending that buffer on low-priority work leaves no margin if the clean-up fails and the infrastructure team is needed.

   The most effective response is to run the authorised temporary-file clean- up now and raise an urgent ticket straight away if the server is still at risk: the alert sits squarely within your first-line remit, the clean-up is quick and usually works, and pairing it with an immediate escalation keeps the specialists in reserve without losing time. It beats raising the ticket and waiting with the server untouched, because that hands over a problem you are trained and equipped to try first, leaving the server deteriorating while you wait for a response the clean-up may make unnecessary. It beats working through your routine tickets first, because that spends the only safety margin on work that could wait, leaving no time to involve the infrastructure team if the clean-up proves insufficient. The least effective response is deleting large, old-looking folders without checking with their owners: unlike escalating and waiting, which at least puts the problem in expert hands, and unlike doing the routine queue first, which merely delays a sound plan, it risks permanently destroying colleagues’ and clients’ files on a guess about what the folders contain. The principle: handle what you are trained and authorised to handle, escalate promptly when the risk goes beyond your remit, and never buy time by gambling with things you cannot restore.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are an adviser in a water company’s contact centre. A customer rings to report that water has been coming up through the pavement outside her house since yesterday and is now running down the street. The standard process is to log a leak report for inspection within five working days. It is Friday afternoon. Your team leader is on the floor. The emergency response team can be dispatched the same day. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the details, tell your team leader now that a leak is running down a street, and ask for it to go to the emergency team before the weekend.
   2. Log the leak report on the standard five-day process and reassure the customer that an inspector will attend as soon as one is available.
   3. Log the report and tell the customer that if it gets significantly worse over the weekend she should ring back so it can be reassessed on Monday.
   4. Dispatch the emergency team yourself, since a leak running down a street plainly qualifies and the five-day process would leave it running all weekend.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Take the details, tell your team leader now that a leak is running down a street, and ask for it to go to the emergency team before the weekend.

   Least effective: C. Log the report and tell the customer that if it gets significantly worse over the weekend she should ring back so it can be reassessed on Monday.

   B: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: a leak running down a street is not what the five-day inspection process is designed for, and applying it leaves water running all weekend.

   C: Passes responsibility to the customer: it makes a member of the public responsible for monitoring a water leak and puts the decision beyond the weekend, when the same-day team is available this afternoon. That is abdication, not process.

   D: Substitutes own judgement for the stakeholder's: the conclusion is probably right and the dispatch is not yours to authorise. Your team leader is on the floor and can approve it in a moment.

   The most effective response is to take the details, tell your team leader now that a leak is running down a street, and ask for it to go to the emergency team: the standard process does not fit a leak already running, the same-day team exists for exactly this, and she is on the floor and can authorise it before the weekend. Raising it takes seconds and puts the decision where it belongs. It beats logging the report on the standard five-day process, because that leaves water flowing for the whole weekend. It beats dispatching the emergency team yourself, because that is not your authority, and the person who holds it is standing nearby. The least effective response is logging it and asking the customer to ring back if it gets significantly worse: it treats a running leak as routine and hands the monitoring to a member of the public, so nobody attends. That is worse than the five-day log, which at least follows a process, and worse than dispatching the team, which at least gets someone there. The principle: when a case is plainly outside the standard process, take it to the person who can authorise the exception, while the exception is still useful.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You work on the service desk of a bicycle hire scheme. A customer has been charged a £120 late return fee. The app’s GPS shows his bike was returned two hours late, but he says he docked it on time and the dock was faulty. Docking faults are logged by the system and you can see the maintenance log. Your supervisor can authorise refunds. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain that the system shows the bike as returned two hours late and that the charge is applied automatically, and give him the address for written appeals.
   2. Tell him the GPS data is definitive, that the system does not make mistakes of this kind, and that the charge will stand.
   3. Refund the £120 now, since a faulty dock is a plausible explanation and £120 is a lot to charge a customer for a fault that may not be his.
   4. Apologise, check the maintenance log for a fault on that dock at that time, and take the result to your supervisor so the charge can be refunded if the dock failed.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Apologise, check the maintenance log for a fault on that dock at that time, and take the result to your supervisor so the charge can be refunded if the dock failed.

   Least effective: B. Tell him the GPS data is definitive, that the system does not make mistakes of this kind, and that the charge will stand.

   A: Ignores the customer's actual need: the maintenance log that would test his account is available to you now, and he is sent to write a letter about something you could check in a minute.

   B: Acts on assumptions without checking: it asserts the system is infallible while a maintenance log exists precisely because docks fail, and it rules against the customer without opening the one record that would test his account.

   C: Breaches confidentiality or process: refunds need supervisor authorisation, and granting one on plausibility rather than on the log that would settle it removes the control and skips the evidence.

   The most effective response is to apologise, check the maintenance log for a fault on that dock at that time, and take the result to your supervisor so the charge can be refunded if the dock failed: he has made a specific, checkable claim, the log will show whether that dock faulted, and your supervisor can refund on the strength of it. Checking first means the decision rests on evidence rather than on who insists harder. It beats explaining that the charge is automatic and giving him the address for written appeals, because that defers a check you can do immediately. It beats refunding the £120 now because a faulty dock is plausible, since that skips both the evidence and the authorisation, so a genuine dock fault still goes unrecorded and unfixed. The least effective response is telling him the GPS data is definitive and the system does not make such mistakes: it declares the system incapable of the error he describes, when the maintenance log exists because docks do fail, and refuses him without looking. That is worse than the appeals address, which at least leaves a route, and worse than the immediate refund, which at least resolves it in his favour. The principle: when a customer’s account is checkable, check it, then take the evidence to whoever authorises the outcome.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a science technician at a secondary school. Preparing for a practical lesson you find a bottle of concentrated acid in the general chemicals cupboard rather than the locked cabinet, with a loose cap. The lesson starts in twenty minutes and thirty pupils will be in the room. The head of science is teaching but the department office is next door and the site manager is available. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Move the bottle to the locked cabinet, tighten the cap, and tell the head of science about it after the lesson when she is free.
   2. Secure the bottle in the locked cabinet now, and interrupt the head of science briefly to tell her before thirty pupils come into the room.
   3. Leave the bottle where it is and mention it to the head of science at break, since the cupboard is at the back of the room and pupils are not allowed to open it.
   4. Cancel the practical and tell the class teacher the lesson cannot go ahead until the chemical storage has been checked properly.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Secure the bottle in the locked cabinet now, and interrupt the head of science briefly to tell her before thirty pupils come into the room.

   Least effective: C. Leave the bottle where it is and mention it to the head of science at break, since the cupboard is at the back of the room and pupils are not allowed to open it.

   A: Delays the decision: securing the bottle is right and it leaves unanswered how concentrated acid came to be in an unlocked cupboard, which the head of science needs to know before the next lesson, not after this one.

   C: Stays silent about a known safety risk: concentrated acid with a loose cap is left in an unlocked cupboard while thirty pupils work in the room, on the assumption that a rule about not opening cupboards will hold. That is a safety failure of a different order from the others.

   D: Escalates beyond the problem: one misplaced bottle can be secured in two minutes, and cancelling a lesson for thirty pupils is a decision for the head of science rather than a technician.

   The most effective response is to secure the bottle in the locked cabinet now and interrupt the head of science briefly before thirty pupils come in: putting it away takes two minutes, and she needs to know before the room fills because a misplaced bottle implies something wrong with how chemicals are being stored. Both fit in twenty minutes. It beats moving the bottle and telling her after the lesson when she is free, because that leaves the storage question unexamined through a lesson with thirty pupils in the room. It beats cancelling the practical until chemical storage has been checked, because that is a bigger decision than the problem needs, and is not a technician’s to take when securing the bottle solves the hazard. The least effective response is leaving the bottle where it is and mentioning it at break: it leaves concentrated acid with a loose cap in an unlocked cupboard during a practical, relying on pupils following a rule. That is worse than securing it and telling her later, which at least secures it, and worse than cancelling, which at least stops the lesson. The principle: remove the hazard immediately, then tell the responsible person before the risk period starts.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a warehouse administrator at a medical devices distributor. Reconciling stock you notice that a batch of single-use surgical instruments recorded as quarantined has been picked and despatched to two hospitals. The quarantine was applied last month and you do not know why. The person who applied it has left. Your quality manager is on site. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Take the records to your quality manager immediately, showing that quarantined stock has gone to two hospitals, and let her decide what happens next.
   2. Find out first why the quarantine was applied, since the reason may be administrative, and take it to the quality manager once you know what you are reporting.
   3. Contact the two hospitals to ask them to hold the batch until its status has been confirmed, then report it to the quality manager.
   4. Correct the stock record to show the batch as despatched and let the quarantine flag lapse, since the goods have already gone and the person who applied it is no longer here.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Take the records to your quality manager immediately, showing that quarantined stock has gone to two hospitals, and let her decide what happens next.

   Least effective: D. Correct the stock record to show the batch as despatched and let the quarantine flag lapse, since the goods have already gone and the person who applied it is no longer here.

   B: Delays the decision: quarantined stock is already in two hospitals, and establishing the reason yourself postpones a decision the quality manager is qualified to make today.

   C: Acts outside own authority: contacting customers about potentially unsafe medical devices is a regulated communication, and a warehouse administrator making it first commits the company before anyone qualified has assessed the batch.

   D: Conceals a potential safety failure: it tidies away the only evidence that quarantined medical devices reached two hospitals, so nobody can assess whether patients are at risk. That is a different order of wrong from acting too slowly.

   The most effective response is to take the records to your quality manager immediately, showing that quarantined stock has gone to two hospitals, and let her decide what happens next: the reason for the quarantine is unknown and may be a safety matter, and she is on site and decides about recall and about telling the customers. Speed matters because the devices may be used. It beats finding out first why the quarantine was applied, because researching it yourself delays a decision she can take now, on stock already in clinical settings. It beats contacting the two hospitals to ask them to hold the batch, because a communication about potentially unsafe devices is regulated and must come from the company’s quality function. The least effective response is correcting the stock record to show the batch as despatched and letting the flag lapse: it removes the quarantine and the evidence, so nobody can establish whether patients are at risk. That is worse than the other two, which act slowly or beyond their authority but keep the problem visible. The principle: when a control has failed on something already with customers, go straight to the person who owns the control, and change nothing yourself.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a stock administrator at a supermarket distribution depot. While reconciling deliveries you notice that chilled goods from one supplier have been booked in as ambient for the past three weeks, which means they have not been counted against the chilled storage limit. Nobody has asked you to look at this and it is not your area. The depot manager is on site today. The next chilled delivery arrives tomorrow morning. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Correct the coding on the three weeks of records yourself so the chilled figures are accurate again, and carry on with your reconciliation now that the numbers add up.
    2. Take the figures to the depot manager today, show him the three weeks of miscoded deliveries and that another is due tomorrow, and ask who should correct the records and the booking-in process.
    3. Leave it alone, since booking in is not your area and the chilled team have presumably been managing their storage by eye without relying on the coding being right.
    4. Note the discrepancy in your reconciliation report at the end of the month, where the depot manager and the supplier team will both see it set out with the supporting figures.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Take the figures to the depot manager today, show him the three weeks of miscoded deliveries and that another is due tomorrow, and ask who should correct the records and the booking-in process.

    Least effective: C. Leave it alone, since booking in is not your area and the chilled team have presumably been managing their storage by eye without relying on the coding being right.

    A: Acts on assumptions without checking: it makes the spreadsheet right and the depot no safer. Nobody learns why the miscoding happened, so tomorrow's delivery is booked in the same way and the storage limit is still being exceeded unseen.

    C: Fails to escalate a genuine risk: you are the only person who knows the chilled limit has been unmonitored for three weeks, with another delivery due. Assuming somebody else has it covered, and saying nothing, is the one response that leaves the risk live.

    D: Delays the decision: a month-end note is the right record and the wrong clock. A chilled delivery arrives tomorrow against a storage limit the depot believes it is inside.

    The most effective response is to take the figures to the depot manager today and ask who should correct the records and the booking-in process: you hold information nobody else has, there is a delivery tomorrow, and he is on site today and can decide both. Taking it to him with the figures makes it actionable rather than a rumour. It beats correcting the three weeks of coding yourself, because that fixes the numbers and leaves the cause untouched, so tomorrow’s delivery is miscoded exactly the same way. It beats noting the discrepancy in your month-end reconciliation report, because a month-end report arrives after the delivery it should have prevented. The least effective response is leaving it alone because booking in is not your area: it is the only response that leaves a live storage risk unreported on an assumption that someone else is watching, which is precisely what three weeks of miscoding shows is not happening. That is worse than correcting the records, which at least fixes the data, and worse than the month-end note, which at least records it. The principle: when you find a problem nobody has assigned you, take it to the person who can act on it, on the clock the problem is running to.