Oracle Assessment Tests

Oracle Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a delivery coordinator. You are handing a project over to a colleague before two weeks’ leave. Everything is in order except one thing: the client’s legal team has not signed a document the build cannot start without, and three chasing emails have gone unanswered. Your colleague has not worked with this client before and you have twenty minutes left. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Spend the twenty minutes walking him through the whole plan and put the unsigned document in the handover note, where he will come across it soon enough.
   2. Email the client's legal team once more before you go and copy your colleague in, so that he sees the chase and can pick the thread up from there.
   3. Use the twenty minutes on the unsigned document: who has it, what three chases have already been tried, who else could unblock it, and what happens if it slips.
   4. Hand the project over to your colleague with the plan and the contacts, and leave the document with the client's legal team, whose delay it is to resolve.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Use the twenty minutes on the unsigned document: who has it, what three chases have already been tried, who else could unblock it, and what happens if it slips.

   Least effective: D. Hand the project over to your colleague with the plan and the contacts, and leave the document with the client's legal team, whose delay it is to resolve.

   A: Buries the one live problem in the paperwork: a note read next week is a different thing from being told, and the build cannot start until it moves.

   B: Leaves him a thread and not a briefing: he inherits an email chain without knowing that three chases have already failed or who else could unblock it.

   D: Passes the problem on without naming it: he takes on a project believing it is in order, and the one thing that stops it is left with the party who has ignored three emails.

   The most effective response is to use the twenty minutes on the unsigned document: who has it, what three chases have been tried, who else could unblock it, and what happens if it slips. Twenty minutes cannot cover everything, so it should go on the only thing that is broken. It beats walking him through the whole plan and putting the unsigned document in the handover note, because a note is read later and this problem is live now. It beats emailing the client’s legal team once more and copying him in, because that gives him the thread but not the three failures, so he will begin by repeating them. The least effective response is handing the project over with the plan and contacts and leaving the document with the client’s legal team: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave a trace of the problem where he will meet it, while this hands over a project described as being in order. The principle: spend a short handover on the thing that is broken, and name it as broken.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a delivery coordinator. You proposed a different way of running the weekly planning session, and after a discussion the team decided to keep things as they were. There was no argument and nobody was unpleasant about it. The session is now on the calendar every Thursday and your name is on it as one of the regular contributors. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Keep going and contribute as before, and never raise the proposal again, since the team has heard it once and voted on it clearly enough.
   2. Keep going and contribute as before, and ask in a month whether the session is working, so the question is revisited on evidence rather than on preference.
   3. Stop attending the Thursday session after that, and let the team run it the way they voted for, since they have made it clear they do not need you there.
   4. Keep attending but stop preparing beforehand, so that the time you were putting into a session run the wrong way goes somewhere more useful instead.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Keep going and contribute as before, and ask in a month whether the session is working, so the question is revisited on evidence rather than on preference.

   Least effective: C. Stop attending the Thursday session after that, and let the team run it the way they voted for, since they have made it clear they do not need you there.

   A: Retires a good idea after one hearing: the reasons for it may still hold in three months, and nobody will know because the person who saw them has stopped.

   C: Withdraws from the team after losing a vote: the session loses a regular contributor, and the reason is a decision that was taken fairly.

   D: Withdraws the useful half quietly: your name is still on the session and what you bring to it has been reduced without anybody agreeing to that.

   The most effective response is to keep going and contribute as before, and ask in a month whether the session is working. The decision was taken fairly and is worth honouring, and proposing to check it against evidence keeps the idea alive without reopening a settled discussion. It beats keeping going and never raising the proposal again, because the reasons behind it may still be true later and dropping it means nobody finds out. It beats attending but no longer preparing beforehand, because the team still expects what you used to bring, and quietly bringing less is a change nobody agreed to. The least effective response is stopping attending the Thursday session: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep you in the room, while this removes a regular contributor as a response to a decision reached properly. The principle: losing a fair decision is not a reason to leave the room, and the honest way back to the idea is to test it later on evidence.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a junior developer. A colleague has written in the team channel, where everybody can see it, that your last change was rushed and made his work harder. You think the comment was unfair and it has annoyed you, though he has a point about one part of it. Two other people have already reacted to his message. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say nothing in the channel and let the message pass, since replying at all would give a remark that annoyed you more attention than it really deserves.
   2. Criticise the standard of his own recent changes in the same channel, so that everyone reading can see the complaint did not come from a careful worker.
   3. Message him directly, agree the part he is right about and say the channel was the wrong place for it, so that he brings the next one to you first.
   4. Reply in the channel setting out why the change was made the way it was, so that the people who read his message read your side of it as well.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Message him directly, agree the part he is right about and say the channel was the wrong place for it, so that he brings the next one to you first.

   Least effective: B. Criticise the standard of his own recent changes in the same channel, so that everyone reading can see the complaint did not come from a careful worker.

   A: Avoids the difficult conversation: the part he is right about goes unacknowledged and the part he is wrong about goes uncorrected, in front of the whole team.

   B: Personalises the conflict: it answers a point about a change by putting his competence in front of an audience, which turns a fixable disagreement into a public quarrel.

   D: Argues the case in the venue that caused the problem: the record is corrected and the disagreement is now a thread two other people are watching.

   The most effective response is to message him directly, agree the part he is right about, and say the channel was the wrong place for it. It concedes what is true, which costs you nothing you should want to keep, and moves the disagreement to the only place it can be settled. It beats saying nothing and letting the message pass, because his fair point deserves an answer and his unfair one deserves a correction. It beats replying in the channel with why the change was made that way, because a public reply keeps a two-person problem in front of an audience, and audiences make people defend positions rather than change them. The least effective response is criticising the standard of his own recent changes in the same channel: it is worse than either of the other two, because both still address the change he complained about, while this leaves the change entirely and goes after him. The principle: answer the point in private, concede what is right, and never answer a complaint about work by putting the complainer’s competence on show.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an information security assistant. You argued that laptop encryption checks should be monthly rather than quarterly, and after a heated discussion the team voted to keep them quarterly. Two people were sharp with you and it has not been cleared up. The review that decides the schedule meets again in six weeks and you are on the invitation list. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stop attending the review after that, since the people who voted for quarterly checks can own the schedule and whatever comes of it in six weeks.
   2. Keep your place on the review, and speak to the two people who were sharp with you before it meets again, so the next discussion is about the schedule.
   3. Keep attending but do not raise encryption again, since the team has voted on it and reopening a heated argument would sour the review for everybody.
   4. Ask to be taken off the review invitation and send your view in writing instead, so the argument is on record without the two of them in the room.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Keep your place on the review, and speak to the two people who were sharp with you before it meets again, so the next discussion is about the schedule.

   Least effective: A. Stop attending the review after that, since the people who voted for quarterly checks can own the schedule and whatever comes of it in six weeks.

   A: Withdraws from the forum after losing: the argument for monthly checks now has nobody to make it, and the two sharp exchanges stay unresolved.

   C: Keeps the seat and gives up the argument: quarterly may turn out to be wrong, and the person who thought so has agreed in advance not to say.

   D: Removes yourself to avoid two people: the written view carries less than a voice in the room, and the sharpness is never addressed.

   The most effective response is to keep your place on the review, and speak to the two people who were sharp with you before it meets again. Two separate things went wrong, a vote you lost and an exchange that was sharp, and only the second is worth fixing. It beats keeping your seat but agreeing never to raise encryption again, because the schedule may need revisiting on evidence in six weeks and you have agreed in advance not to be the one who raises it. It beats asking to be taken off the invitation and sending your view in writing, because a written submission carries less weight than being in the room and leaves the sharpness untouched. The least effective response is leaving the people who voted for quarterly checks to own the schedule: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep you connected, while this removes the only person arguing for monthly checks in response to a vote that went fairly against you. The principle: separate the decision you lost from the way people spoke to you, address the second directly, and keep your seat for the first.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a support analyst. The monthly figure for tickets resolved first time looks about twenty points too high, and the only way it could be that high is if a colleague has been closing and reopening tickets. The figure goes into a board pack tomorrow. You have a full queue and a difficult history with that colleague. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Rebuild the whole month's figure from the raw ticket data yourself tonight, and take a finished alternative number to whoever compiles the pack tomorrow.
   2. Leave it alone and get on with the queue. The figure is not yours to police, and raising it would mean an awkward conversation about somebody else's numbers.
   3. Send a note to whoever compiles the pack saying the figure looks high and that they may want to check it before tomorrow, without saying why you think so.
   4. Ask your colleague today how the figure got so high, and if the answer does not explain it, tell whoever compiles the pack what you have found before tomorrow.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Ask your colleague today how the figure got so high, and if the answer does not explain it, tell whoever compiles the pack what you have found before tomorrow.

   Least effective: B. Leave it alone and get on with the queue. The figure is not yours to police, and raising it would mean an awkward conversation about somebody else's numbers.

   A: Spends a night proving what a question would settle: the pack goes tomorrow either way, and one conversation this afternoon would have resolved it.

   B: Avoids the difficult conversation: a board reads a first-time-fix rate tomorrow that only you have any reason to doubt, and the queue was never the reason.

   C: Flags a doubt without its reason: they cannot check a number without knowing what to check, so the warning arrives too vague to act on.

   The most effective response is to ask your colleague today how the figure got so high, and if the answer does not explain it, tell whoever compiles the pack before tomorrow. The one thing that settles this is a question only he can answer, it takes minutes, and there is still time to warn the compiler. It beats rebuilding the whole month’s figure from the raw ticket data tonight, because a night of that produces a rival number without establishing whether the first was wrong. It beats sending the compiler a note saying the figure looks high without saying why, because they have no way to check it. The least effective response is leaving it alone and getting on with the queue: it is worse than either of the other two, because both put something in front of somebody before the pack goes, while this lets a board read a figure only you have reason to doubt. The principle: when the fastest route to the truth is a conversation you would rather avoid, the discomfort is the cost of the check, not a reason to skip it.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are an access administrator. You are handing a customer’s account migration to the evening shift before a week off. Everything is ready except that two of the customer’s own staff have not confirmed which of them keeps the senior permissions, and they have disagreed about it twice. The migration is scheduled to run tonight at eleven. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Hand the migration over with the checklist and leave the permissions question with the customer, whose disagreement it is and who will have to settle it themselves.
   2. Postpone the migration until you are back in a week, so that nothing runs tonight with an open question hanging over who gets which permissions.
   3. Write the permissions question into the handover note with the history, and go, so that the evening shift has it in front of them when they start.
   4. Tell the evening shift directly what is unresolved and that the two of them have already disagreed twice, and give the customer a time by which it must be settled tonight.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell the evening shift directly what is unresolved and that the two of them have already disagreed twice, and give the customer a time by which it must be settled tonight.

   Least effective: A. Hand the migration over with the checklist and leave the permissions question with the customer, whose disagreement it is and who will have to settle it themselves.

   A: Passes the problem on without naming it: the evening shift runs a migration believing it is ready, and the one unresolved thing sits with two people who have already failed twice.

   B: Buys certainty with a week of the customer's time: the disagreement may settle tonight, and only the customer can judge whether waiting is worth it.

   C: Puts a live problem into a document: a note read at seven is better than nothing and it is not the same as the shift knowing what it is walking into.

   The most effective response is to tell the evening shift directly what is unresolved and that the two of them have already disagreed twice, and give the customer a time by which it must be settled. Two things have to happen before eleven and only you can supply either. It beats postponing the migration until you are back in a week, because that is a real cost to the customer and they should weigh it against a question that may settle in an hour. It beats writing the permissions question into the handover note with the history, because a note describes the problem while a conversation makes sure it has been received. The least effective response is handing the migration over with the checklist and leaving the permissions question with the customer: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the risk visible to somebody, while this hands over a migration described as ready. The principle: name the unresolved thing to the people who inherit it, and give whoever must decide a time to decide by.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a product assistant. A supplier mentioned on a call that the reporting tool your company resells will stop supporting exports in March. Nobody else was on the call. On Thursday the sales team presents a twelve-month plan to a customer that is built around those exports. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Email the sales team today with what the supplier said, and ask them to check it with the supplier directly before Thursday's presentation.
   2. Say nothing until the supplier confirms it in writing, since it was a passing remark on a call and repeating it early could damage a supplier relationship.
   3. Ask the supplier to confirm it in writing and forward their answer to sales the moment it arrives, whether or not that turns out to be before Thursday.
   4. Raise it at the weekly product meeting next Tuesday, where sales and everybody else will hear it at the same time and can react together.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Email the sales team today with what the supplier said, and ask them to check it with the supplier directly before Thursday's presentation.

   Least effective: B. Say nothing until the supplier confirms it in writing, since it was a passing remark on a call and repeating it early could damage a supplier relationship.

   B: Stays silent on a fact only you hold: sales will commit a customer to twelve months of exports on Thursday, and nobody in the room can know what you heard.

   C: Chases a confirmation past the deadline it was needed for: written proof is worth having and Thursday does not move to wait for it.

   D: Saves it for a forum that meets too late: Tuesday is after Thursday, so the plan is presented before the meeting that was going to discuss it.

   The most effective response is to email the sales team today with what the supplier said, and ask them to check it directly before Thursday’s presentation. Thursday is fixed, they can verify a supplier’s remark faster than you can, and one email gives them both the warning and the means. It beats asking the supplier to confirm in writing and forwarding their answer when it arrives, because that may not come before Thursday and the presentation happens either way. It beats raising it at the weekly product meeting next Tuesday, because that falls after Thursday. The least effective response is saying nothing until the supplier confirms it in writing: it is worse than either of the other two, because both get the fact moving somewhere, while this leaves a twelve-month customer plan resting on an export feature you alone know is ending. The principle: an unconfirmed fact that a decision depends on goes to the people making the decision, with its uncertainty attached.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a quality assurance analyst. Test plans need a second reviewer’s approval before testing starts. A colleague has sent you a forty-page plan and asked you to approve it this afternoon so his team is not held up. You have no time today and only a rough idea of what his area does. He has approved several of yours without comment. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Approve the parts you understand and note in the approval which sections you did not read, so his team can start on the areas that were covered.
   2. Tell him you cannot do it today and leave it at that, since you have no time and the plan is in an area you do not know well.
   3. Tell him you cannot approve forty pages today or judge his area properly, and take it to whoever assigns reviewers, so that his team gets somebody who can.
   4. Approve the plan unread this afternoon. He knows his own area far better than you do, and he has approved several of yours without any comment at all.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell him you cannot approve forty pages today or judge his area properly, and take it to whoever assigns reviewers, so that his team gets somebody who can.

   Least effective: D. Approve the plan unread this afternoon. He knows his own area far better than you do, and he has approved several of yours without any comment at all.

   A: Splits an approval that is not divisible: the approval unlocks the whole plan, and a note about which sections were skipped travels less far than the approval does.

   B: Declines without offering a route: his team is held up and nothing has been done to find them a reviewer who could actually help.

   D: Breaches the control the approval exists to be: the second reviewer exists so that somebody else has read the plan, and the record will say one did.

   The most effective response is to tell him you cannot approve forty pages today or judge his area properly, and take it to whoever assigns reviewers. You cannot do what is being asked and his team still needs a reviewer, so handing the problem to whoever can assign one is the useful move. It beats approving the parts you understand and noting which sections you did not read, because the approval releases the whole plan and the note does not travel with it. It beats telling him you cannot do it today and leaving it there, because that leaves his team stuck with nothing changed. The least effective response is approving the plan unread because he has done the same for you: it is worse than either of the other two, because one reads something and the other leaves the plan unapproved, while this puts a second reviewer’s name on forty unread pages. The principle: when you cannot give the approval that is being asked for, say so and find the person who can, and never let a reciprocal favour stand in for a reading.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a build engineer. Changes to the payments service need a second engineer’s approval before they go out, and the only other engineer who knows it is on annual leave for a week. A change is waiting that a customer has been promised for Friday. Your team lead is contactable but has not been asked about any of this. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Wait the week for the second engineer to return, and let Friday go past without saying anything to the customer until there is something to tell them.
   2. Ask a colleague from another team to give the approval, on the basis that a second pair of eyes is a second pair of eyes whoever they happen to belong to.
   3. Put the change out with only your own approval, since the second signature is a formality when there is nobody available to give it and Friday was promised.
   4. Take it to your team lead today, explain that the second approver is away and Friday was promised, and let him decide between a substitute and moving the date.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Take it to your team lead today, explain that the second approver is away and Friday was promised, and let him decide between a substitute and moving the date.

   Least effective: C. Put the change out with only your own approval, since the second signature is a formality when there is nobody available to give it and Friday was promised.

   A: Absorbs a broken promise in silence: waiting is the safe technical choice and the customer finds out by Friday arriving with nothing on it.

   B: Satisfies the form and not the purpose: the rule asks for somebody who knows payments, and this produces an approval from somebody who does not.

   C: Breaches a control to make a date: the rule exists precisely for the week when the other engineer is away, and the promise was made without checking it.

   The most effective response is to take it to your team lead today, explain that the second approver is away and Friday was promised, and let him decide. There are two live problems, an approval that cannot be given and a promise that cannot be kept, and both belong to somebody who has not been told either exists. It beats waiting the week for the second engineer and letting Friday pass without telling the customer, because that turns a schedule problem into a broken commitment. It beats asking a colleague from another team to give the approval, because it is meant to come from somebody who knows the payments service. The least effective response is putting the change out with only your own approval: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the control intact, expensively or imperfectly, while this decides that a rule written for exactly this week does not apply. The principle: when a control blocks a promise, both belong to whoever owns them, and neither is yours to set aside.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a service desk analyst. Every Friday you send a note confirming that all sixty open tickets have been reviewed and updated. This week you have got through forty-five; the last fifteen belong to a colleague who is off sick and whose notes you cannot see. Three managers use that note to decide where to put people next week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Record all sixty as checked and updated. The fifteen have not changed hands this week, and nobody reading a Friday note is going to open them one by one.
    2. Send the note saying forty-five were reviewed and fifteen could not be, name why, and say when you expect to reach the last fifteen.
    3. Hold the note until Monday when your colleague is back, and tell the three managers that this week's version is going to arrive late.
    4. Send the note covering only the forty-five you did review, without mentioning anywhere that another fifteen tickets exist behind it.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Send the note saying forty-five were reviewed and fifteen could not be, name why, and say when you expect to reach the last fifteen.

    Least effective: A. Record all sixty as checked and updated. The fifteen have not changed hands this week, and nobody reading a Friday note is going to open them one by one.

    A: Certifies work that was not done: the note's only value is that somebody looked, and three managers will place people next week on fifteen tickets nobody read.

    C: Delays a note that is used before Monday: the placement decisions are made on Friday, so a complete note on Monday informs nothing at all.

    D: Omits the part that matters: a clean note about forty-five reads as a clean note about everything, and the gap is invisible to the people relying on it.

    The most effective response is to send the note saying forty-five were reviewed and fifteen could not be, name why, and say when you expect to reach the last fifteen. The managers need to know what was checked and what was not, on Friday, and the reason turns your problem into one somebody can cover. It beats holding the note until Monday when your colleague is back, because the decisions are taken on Friday. It beats sending a note covering only the forty-five you did review, because a note listing forty-five reads as a note about the whole queue. The least effective response is recording all sixty as checked and updated: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave a reader able to work out what was covered, late or incomplete, while this states that all sixty were reviewed when fifteen were not. The principle: a status note earns its value from being accurate about its own gaps, so report the part you did and name the part you could not.