Philips Assessment Tests

Philips Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a release coordinator. You mentioned to a colleague that a release script had failed twice and that you were looking into it. Without telling you, he raised it with the head of delivery, and it is now a tracked action with your name on it. You had agreed to cover his release duty next Thursday so he could attend a family event. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Cover Thursday as agreed and say nothing about the escalation, since it is now a tracked action either way and complaining about it changes nothing.
   2. Withdraw from Thursday's cover after that, since somebody who takes your problems straight to the head of delivery can arrange the family day himself.
   3. Cover Thursday as agreed, and tell him beforehand that being raised upwards without a word to you first is what you took issue with, so that it is actually said.
   4. Cover Thursday and ask the head of delivery to take your name off the tracked action, since it was raised without your knowledge in the first place.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Cover Thursday as agreed, and tell him beforehand that being raised upwards without a word to you first is what you took issue with, so that it is actually said.

   Least effective: B. Withdraw from Thursday's cover after that, since somebody who takes your problems straight to the head of delivery can arrange the family day himself.

   A: Lets the pattern stand: he learns nothing about going over your head, and the next thing you mention to him will travel the same way.

   B: Retaliates by withdrawing: Thursday and the escalation have nothing to do with each other, and a family event is being spent to make a point about a tracked action.

   D: Fights the symptom upward: the action is reasonable work, and asking to be removed from it addresses the record rather than the colleague.

   The most effective response is to cover Thursday as agreed, and tell him beforehand that being raised upwards without a word to you first is what you took issue with. The cover was agreed and a family event cannot be rearranged, while the real grievance is being gone over, and only saying so could change it. It beats covering Thursday and saying nothing about the escalation, because he cannot stop doing something nobody has told him is a problem. It beats covering it and asking the head of delivery to take your name off the tracked action, because the action is perfectly reasonable work and that corrects the record without touching what actually happened. The least effective response is leaving him to arrange the family day himself: it is worse than either of the other two, because both honour the agreement, while this spends a colleague’s day to make a point and calls it a rota decision. The principle: keep the commitment you made, and take the grievance to the person directly rather than through the arrangement you had with them.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a service desk analyst. Working late in a busy week, you and a colleague restored a customer’s mailbox without the confirmation step that the customer is meant to give first. It worked and nobody was harmed. She has asked you not to raise it, because she is three weeks from a promotion decision and has had a difficult year. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her you will not raise it now but that you will if it ever comes up, so she is not caught out and the promotion decision runs its course first.
   2. Raise it with your manager without naming her, so that the missed step is recorded and the promotion decision is not affected by something you reported.
   3. Agree not to mention it. Nobody was harmed, the mailbox was restored, and raising it now would cost her a promotion over a step in a process nobody checks.
   4. Tell her you are going to raise it, that you will say plainly it was both of you and why the week was what it was, and then raise it today.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell her you are going to raise it, that you will say plainly it was both of you and why the week was what it was, and then raise it today.

   Least effective: C. Agree not to mention it. Nobody was harmed, the mailbox was restored, and raising it now would cost her a promotion over a step in a process nobody checks.

   A: Trades a disclosure for a date: the step was skipped either way, and the condition simply moves the decision three weeks and makes it hers.

   B: Reports a fact and withholds half of it: two people did this, and an account with one of them removed is a version rather than a record.

   C: Conceals a missed step by agreement: the confirmation exists so a customer authorises access to their own mailbox, and now two people have a reason to stay quiet.

   The most effective response is to tell her you are going to raise it, that you will say plainly it was both of you and why the week was what it was, and then raise it today. The step exists so a customer authorises access to their own mailbox, so it is not yours to waive, and telling her first means she is not ambushed. It beats promising not to raise it now but to do so if it ever comes up, because that leaves the same gap unrecorded and hands her the timing. It beats raising it with your manager without naming her, because you were both there and an account with her removed is a version rather than the record. The least effective response is agreeing not to mention it: it is worse than either of the other two, because both end with the missed step reaching somebody, while this turns a lapse into an agreement between two people to say nothing. The principle: when somebody asks you to be quiet about something you both did, the pressure they are under is a reason to tell them first, not a reason to agree.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a junior business analyst. For six weeks you have argued that a report the team builds is not what the customer asked for, and you have been told each time to leave it. You are worn down by it. Today you are alone on a call with that customer, who mentions in passing that the report is not quite what she expected. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask her to describe exactly what she expected, write it down, and take her own words back to the team as evidence rather than as your opinion again.
   2. Tell her you have been saying this internally for six weeks, so that she raises it formally and the team finally has to take the point seriously.
   3. Agree with her that it is not quite right and say the team is looking at it, then raise it internally one more time after the call has finished.
   4. Note what she says and leave it there, since six weeks of raising it has changed nothing and there is no reason to think a seventh attempt would be different.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Ask her to describe exactly what she expected, write it down, and take her own words back to the team as evidence rather than as your opinion again.

   Least effective: B. Tell her you have been saying this internally for six weeks, so that she raises it formally and the team finally has to take the point seriously.

   B: Recruits the customer into an internal argument: it uses her to win six weeks of disagreement, and she is put in the middle of a team dispute.

   C: Promises movement you have no reason to expect: six weeks of being told to leave it is not the team looking at it, and she will take you at your word.

   D: Lets the strongest evidence yet go unused: the customer has just described the gap herself, which is exactly what the previous six weeks lacked.

   The most effective response is to ask her to describe exactly what she expected, write it down, and take her own words back to the team as evidence. Six weeks of your opinion has not moved anything, and the customer describing the gap in her own words is a different kind of evidence, which is precisely what has been missing. It beats agreeing that it is not quite right and saying the team is looking at it, because that is not true and she will plan on it. It beats noting what she says and leaving it there, because her account is the strongest thing you have ever had. The least effective response is telling her you have been saying this internally for six weeks: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep the disagreement inside the company, while this tells a customer her supplier has been arguing about her report for six weeks in order to win the argument. The principle: under a long-running internal disagreement, take the customer’s own words back as evidence, and never recruit her as an ally against your own team.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a release coordinator. A customer emails you directly because yesterday’s release changed a screen her staff use all day and she cannot find a setting they rely on. She has written to you because your name was on the release note. You know where the setting has moved to. The support queue is running at three days. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply to her today telling her where the setting has moved, and raise a ticket yourself so that the change gets documented for everybody else who will hit it.
   2. Reply asking her to raise it through the support portal, where her question will be picked up by whoever is on the queue that day.
   3. Reply with where the setting has moved to and leave it there, since her question is answered and the release note is somebody else's document to maintain.
   4. Forward her email to the team who wrote the screen and ask them to reply to her directly, as they will explain the change far better than you could.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Reply to her today telling her where the setting has moved, and raise a ticket yourself so that the change gets documented for everybody else who will hit it.

   Least effective: B. Reply asking her to raise it through the support portal, where her question will be picked up by whoever is on the queue that day.

   B: Passes the problem on without owning it: she wrote to the one person who knows the answer, and is sent to a three-day queue to be told what you could say now.

   C: Answers her and stops: the next twenty customers hit the same wall, and the note that caused it stays exactly as wrong as it was this morning.

   D: Adds a hop she did not ask for: they may well explain it better, and she is now waiting on people who have not agreed to write to her.

   The most effective response is to reply to her today telling her where the setting has moved, and raise a ticket so the change gets documented. She needs one sentence you already have, and the fact that she had to ask is evidence the release note is missing something others will need. It beats replying with where the setting has moved and leaving it there, because that leaves the same gap for everyone behind her, and the note carries your name. It beats forwarding her email to the team who wrote the screen, because they have not agreed to write to customers and she gets no faster answer. The least effective response is asking her to raise it through the support portal: it is worse than either of the other two, because both end with her being told something, while this sends the person who reached the only individual holding the answer into a three-day queue. The principle: when a customer reaches the person who knows, answer, and fix the thing that made her have to ask.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a product assistant. A customer’s request for a change to a report has sat for five weeks because it was logged against a product that was retired, so nobody picks it up. You are the only person who has worked this out. She has stopped chasing. You have a launch on Thursday that is taking every hour you have. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Spend ten minutes today moving the request to the right product and emailing her what happened, so that five weeks of silence does not become a sixth.
   2. Move the request to the right product now and leave the explanation until after Thursday, when there will be time to write to her properly about it.
   3. Email her today explaining the mistake and apologising, and move the request across once the launch is out of the way on Thursday.
   4. Leave both until after Thursday. She has stopped chasing, the launch is the thing with a date on it, and five weeks means another three days changes nothing.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Spend ten minutes today moving the request to the right product and emailing her what happened, so that five weeks of silence does not become a sixth.

   Least effective: D. Leave both until after Thursday. She has stopped chasing, the launch is the thing with a date on it, and five weeks means another three days changes nothing.

   B: Fixes the queue and not the silence: the request starts moving and she has still heard nothing for five weeks and does not know why.

   C: Explains a delay while extending it: she now knows why it stalled and the request is still sitting under a retired product until the weekend.

   D: Withholds the one explanation that exists: she stopped chasing because nobody answered, and the reason lives nowhere but with the person who is too busy.

   The most effective response is to spend ten minutes today moving the request to the right product and emailing her what happened. Ten minutes is genuinely available even in a launch week, and the two halves are the same job. It beats moving the request now and leaving the explanation until after Thursday, because a moving request she knows nothing about does not repair five weeks of silence. It beats apologising today and moving the request once the launch is out of the way, because an apology followed by three more days under a retired product repeats the original failure in miniature. The least effective response is leaving both until after Thursday because she has stopped chasing: it is worse than either of the other two, because both do one half today, while this reads her having given up as permission. The principle: a customer who has stopped chasing is evidence of a failure, never of consent, and ten minutes outranks the argument that it has already been five weeks.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a security analyst. Last week you gave the number of accounts with administrator rights as forty for a report going to the board this afternoon. Since then a clear-out has taken it to twenty-six. You are the only person who knows. You are also mid-way through an urgent access review your manager wants finished by four o’clock today. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send a two-line correction to whoever is compiling the report now, so that the board sees twenty-six, and go straight back to the access review afterwards.
   2. Finish the access review without telling anybody the figure has changed, since the board will not act on a headcount and the review is what your manager wants today.
   3. Send the correction with a full explanation of the clear-out and what it means, which takes half an hour out of an access review due at four.
   4. Mention it to your manager when you next see her and let her decide whether the report is worth stopping for a difference of fourteen accounts.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Send a two-line correction to whoever is compiling the report now, so that the board sees twenty-six, and go straight back to the access review afterwards.

   Least effective: B. Finish the access review without telling anybody the figure has changed, since the board will not act on a headcount and the review is what your manager wants today.

   B: Withholds a correction while the report goes out: the board reads forty this afternoon, and the only person who could have stopped that was busy elsewhere.

   C: Spends thirty minutes where two lines would do: the board needs the number corrected, not the history, and the review is the thing with a deadline today.

   D: Routes a two-minute fix through somebody else's diary: she is not compiling the report, and the correction is not a decision that needs making.

   The most effective response is to send a two-line correction to whoever is compiling the report now, so the board sees twenty-six, then go back to the access review. Two lines is a trivial cost against a board paper going out with a number you know to be wrong. It beats sending the correction with a full explanation of the clear-out and what it means, because the board needs the corrected figure rather than the story, and half an hour is real against four o’clock. It beats mentioning it to your manager when you next see her, because the correction is not a judgement anybody needs to make. The least effective response is finishing the access review without telling anybody the figure has changed: it is worse than either of the other two, because both get the number corrected today in some form, while this lets a board read forty when the figure is twenty-six and only you could have said so. The principle: a two-minute correction to a document about to be published outranks an hour of anything else.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a release coordinator. A fortnight ago you emailed a supplier asking them to confirm that their system would accept a new file format from Monday. They have not replied and nobody has asked you about it since. In today’s planning meeting somebody asks whether the supplier has confirmed, and Monday’s plan depends on the answer. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say you will check after the meeting and come back to everybody later, rather than spending the room's time on a supplier detail while other items are waiting.
   2. Confirm that the supplier is ready without checking again. Silence from them usually means agreement, and saying otherwise would stall a plan that is sound.
   3. Say you asked a fortnight ago and have had no reply, and offer to chase them straight after the meeting, since Monday is not safe on what you have now.
   4. Say you have had no reply and ask whoever owns the supplier relationship to take it from here, since they will almost certainly get an answer more quickly.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Say you asked a fortnight ago and have had no reply, and offer to chase them straight after the meeting, since Monday is not safe on what you have now.

   Least effective: B. Confirm that the supplier is ready without checking again. Silence from them usually means agreement, and saying otherwise would stall a plan that is sound.

   A: Delays a fact the room needs now: the plan being made in front of you rests on this answer, so checking afterwards means it is built on nothing in the meantime.

   B: States as fact something nobody has told you: the room will now plan Monday around a confirmation that does not exist, and no one else can see that it does not.

   D: Passes an open item you own to somebody else: the room is told the truth, but the chase you started a fortnight ago now has no one committed to finishing it.

   The most effective response is to say you asked a fortnight ago and have had no reply, and offer to chase them straight after the meeting. The room needs to know the confirmation is missing before it plans around it, and offering to chase keeps the open item with the person who opened it. It beats saying you will check after the meeting and come back later, because the plan is being made now. It beats saying you have had no reply and asking whoever owns the supplier relationship to take it from here, because handing the chase over in the same breath leaves nobody committed to a fortnight-old question. The least effective response is confirming the supplier is ready without checking again: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the room with an accurate picture, late or incomplete, while this supplies a confirmation that was never given. The principle: when you are asked whether something was confirmed, answer about what actually arrived, and take the chase back yourself.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a security analyst. A customer’s account has been locked for four days while a review runs. Your manager has told the team to say it will be unlocked within twenty-four hours, which has now been said three times. The customer’s operations lead rings you and asks, plainly, when she will have her account back. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her you cannot give a date at all and that she should take it up with her account manager, who has a better line into the review than you do.
   2. Promise her it will be unlocked within twenty-four hours. That is the line the team has been given, and it is not your place to depart from it.
   3. Tell her the twenty-four hours has been said three times and you cannot promise a fourth, find out today where the review actually is, and ring her back with it.
   4. Tell her the review is complex and that you understand her frustration, and avoid giving any date at all until somebody senior has authorised one.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell her the twenty-four hours has been said three times and you cannot promise a fourth, find out today where the review actually is, and ring her back with it.

   Least effective: B. Promise her it will be unlocked within twenty-four hours. That is the line the team has been given, and it is not your place to depart from it.

   A: Refuses her and moves her on: she has rung three times, and being sent elsewhere is what a fourth day of nothing looks like from her side.

   B: Repeats an assurance you know has failed: the same twenty-four hours has been given three times, so she is being told something the evidence contradicts.

   D: Substitutes sympathy for information: she is four days in, and understanding without a fact leaves her with nothing new to act on.

   The most effective response is to tell her the twenty-four hours has been said three times and you cannot promise a fourth, find out today where the review actually is, and ring her back. Three failed promises is itself the most honest thing you can tell her, and finding out turns the call into something that changes her position. It beats telling her you cannot give a date and that she should take it up with her account manager, because she has rung three times and being redirected is indistinguishable from being ignored. It beats saying the review is complex and that you understand her frustration, because sympathy without a fact is the fourth day of nothing. The least effective response is promising it will be unlocked within twenty-four hours: it is worse than either of the other two, because both stop short of telling her something the evidence has disproved, while this repeats a promise that has failed three times. The principle: when the line you have been given has already failed, say that it has and go and find something true, rather than passing it on a fourth time.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are an access administrator. An alert saying an unused administrator account is still active has fired every day for nine days. The rota shows a different person on call each of those days. You have a joiner-and-leaver batch to finish today that forty new staff are waiting on. Nothing has been written against any of the nine alerts. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Spend ten minutes now finding out whether anybody has the alert, close the account or name an owner for it, so that day ten is not the same as day nine.
   2. Close the unused account yourself straight away and carry on with the batch, so that the alert stops firing and forty people are not held up.
   3. Get on with the joiner batch and assume the people on the rota have the alert, since they are the ones being paged and forty staff are waiting on you today.
   4. Add a note to today's alert recording that this is the ninth day, so that whoever is on call tonight can see the history and pick it up from there.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Spend ten minutes now finding out whether anybody has the alert, close the account or name an owner for it, so that day ten is not the same as day nine.

   Least effective: C. Get on with the joiner batch and assume the people on the rota have the alert, since they are the ones being paged and forty staff are waiting on you today.

   B: Acts on the alert without asking why nine people did not: the account closes and the reason nobody responded for nine days goes unexamined.

   C: Assumes somebody else has it: nine days of nothing written is the evidence against that, and forty waiting staff is a reason it feels defensible.

   D: Writes for a reader nine days of silence suggests is not there: the note joins eight others that nobody has acted on.

   The most effective response is to spend ten minutes now finding out whether anybody has the alert, and either close the account or name an owner. Ten minutes is affordable even against forty waiting staff, and the useful question is why nine consecutive people did not act. It beats closing the unused account yourself and carrying on with the batch, because that removes the symptom and leaves a rota where nine alerts went unanswered. It beats adding a note recording that this is the ninth day, because eight previous alerts with nothing written against them show the notes are not being read. The least effective response is assuming the people on the rota have it because they are the ones being paged: it is worse than either of the other two, because both do something about day nine, while this relies on an assumption nine days have already disproved. The principle: when the same alert has been ignored for over a week, the ten minutes goes on finding the owner, and a busy day is not evidence that somebody else has it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a graduate software engineer. You volunteered months ago to run the team’s Friday session where people share what they have learned. This week your estimate for a piece of work was questioned in planning and the team agreed a shorter one. Nobody was unpleasant and the shorter estimate may well be right. Two people are booked to speak at Friday’s session. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Run Friday's session as usual, and separately ask the person who challenged the estimate to walk you through how they got to the shorter number.
    2. Run Friday's session and tell the team afterwards that you would like somebody else to take it on from next month, without saying why you have changed your mind.
    3. Stop running the Friday session after that, and let whoever wants it pick it up, including the two people who are already booked to speak.
    4. Run Friday's session but stop preparing for it, so the time you were giving to the team goes back into the work you are apparently expected to do faster.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Run Friday's session as usual, and separately ask the person who challenged the estimate to walk you through how they got to the shorter number.

    Least effective: C. Stop running the Friday session after that, and let whoever wants it pick it up, including the two people who are already booked to speak.

    B: Withdraws with the reason removed: the team loses the session's organiser and never learns that a planning discussion is what did it.

    C: Withdraws a voluntary duty after a challenge: two booked speakers and the whole team pay for a disagreement about an estimate that had nothing to do with them.

    D: Reduces the thing quietly: the session still has your name on it and it is now worth less, which nobody has agreed to or been told.

    The most effective response is to run Friday’s session as usual, and separately ask the person who challenged the estimate to walk you through how they got to the shorter number. The session and the estimate are unrelated, two people are booked, and finding out how they reached it is the honestly useful response. It beats running Friday’s session and asking the team afterwards for somebody else to take it on without saying why, because that costs the team its organiser and teaches nobody anything. It beats running it but no longer preparing, because your name is still on a session you have quietly stopped preparing for. The least effective response is letting whoever wants it pick the session up, including the two already booked to speak: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep it running at least once more, while this drops it on the speakers themselves, over a planning discussion they had no part in. The principle: a challenge to your estimate is a thing to ask about, and never something a voluntary commitment to other people should pay for.