Rothschild & Co Assessment Tests

Rothschild & Co Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a payments assistant. A colleague in another office asks you to confirm that a batch of supplier payments went out this morning so that he can tell the suppliers. You can see the batch was submitted, but not whether the bank has accepted it, and acceptance sometimes fails. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Assure him that the payments went out this morning, since the batch was submitted and these batches are accepted almost every time without any trouble at all.
   2. Tell him nothing can be confirmed until the end of the day, and leave it there so that no partial information goes out to the suppliers.
   3. Tell him you cannot help with the batch and suggest he asks the bank liaison team, who will be able to see whether acceptance has come back yet.
   4. Tell him the batch was submitted but not yet confirmed as accepted, say when you will know, and ask him to hold the supplier calls until then.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell him the batch was submitted but not yet confirmed as accepted, say when you will know, and ask him to hold the supplier calls until then.

   Least effective: A. Assure him that the payments went out this morning, since the batch was submitted and these batches are accepted almost every time without any trouble at all.

   A: Gives an assurance you have not checked: he telephones suppliers on the strength of it, and a failed batch turns your convenience into his broken promise.

   B: Withholds the useful half: knowing the batch was submitted lets him plan his calls, and he is left with less than you actually know.

   C: Sends a colleague elsewhere for something you hold: you can see the submission and will see the acceptance, and he now has two people to chase.

   The most effective response is to tell him the batch was submitted but not yet confirmed as accepted, say when you will know, and ask him to hold the supplier calls: it separates what you know from what you do not, gives him a time, and stops calls going out on an unconfirmed batch. It beats telling him you cannot help and suggesting the bank liaison team, because the information is yours and routing him adds delay. It beats saying nothing can be confirmed until the end of the day, because he can use the submission fact if you give it to him. The least effective response is assuring him the payments went out this morning: a confirmation is given for something that has not been confirmed, and suppliers are told on the back of it. That is asserting a fact you have not checked, a different kind of wrong from the other two, which merely tell him less than they could. The principle: say exactly what you know, exactly what you do not, and when the gap closes.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a payments assistant. On Monday you told a colleague in another office that a report would reach her by Thursday. It will now be Tuesday next week. She has arranged a meeting on Thursday afternoon to go through it. It is Wednesday morning. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her this morning that Tuesday is the realistic date, so she can move or repurpose tomorrow's meeting rather than cancelling it at short notice.
   2. Send her what you have so far this morning, without saying that the finished report will not be ready until Tuesday.
   3. Leave it until Thursday morning and hope she will not have to be told at all, since it is possible the report comes together faster than you expect.
   4. Work through tonight to try to make Thursday after all, and tell her first thing tomorrow morning only if you have not managed to get the report finished off.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell her this morning that Tuesday is the realistic date, so she can move or repurpose tomorrow's meeting rather than cancelling it at short notice.

   Least effective: C. Leave it until Thursday morning and hope she will not have to be told at all, since it is possible the report comes together faster than you expect.

   B: Gives her a partial and leaves out the date: she may take the draft as the thing and run the meeting on it.

   C: Hides a slip you already know about: she runs a meeting tomorrow for a report that will not exist, and the person who knew had a day in which to say so.

   D: Bets her meeting on your evening: if the night is not enough, she finds out hours before eight people sit down.

   The most effective response is to tell her this morning that Tuesday is the realistic date: a day’s notice lets her move the meeting, the new date is honest, and nothing depends on how your evening goes. It beats sending her what you have so far without saying the finished report will not be ready until Tuesday, because a draft with no date attached is likely to be treated as the report. It beats working through tonight to try to make Thursday and telling her tomorrow if you fail, because a warning on Thursday morning is too late for a Thursday afternoon meeting. The least effective response is leaving it until Thursday and hoping the report comes together faster: she convenes a meeting about a report that will not arrive, and the person who knew on Wednesday said nothing. That is concealing a known slip rather than communicating it partially or late. The principle: the moment you know the date has moved, the person who planned on it should know too.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are an assurance trainee finishing three weeks at a client. The client team you tested offers you a leaving gift: a hamper worth about £120. They are warm about it and the whole team is watching. Your firm’s rule on gifts is that anything over £50 must be declared and may be refused. You have raised two findings against this team. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Thank them warmly, explain that anything over £50 has to be declared, and say you will do that today and let them know what the firm decides about keeping it.
   2. Accept the hamper and leave it in the office kitchen for everybody to share, so that nothing is refused and no individual benefits from it.
   3. Take the gift and say nothing about it, since refusing it in front of the whole team would be graceless and it was plainly meant as an ordinary goodbye.
   4. Refuse the hamper outright in front of the team, explaining that you cannot accept gifts from a client whose work you have been testing.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Thank them warmly, explain that anything over £50 has to be declared, and say you will do that today and let them know what the firm decides about keeping it.

   Least effective: C. Take the gift and say nothing about it, since refusing it in front of the whole team would be graceless and it was plainly meant as an ordinary goodbye.

   B: Solves the wrong problem: sharing it out disposes of the hamper but the declaration, which is what the firm's rule actually asks for, still has not happened.

   C: Takes a gift the role forbids: you have just raised findings against the people giving it, and the one process that would let anybody see that has been skipped.

   D: Answers a social moment with a rule: the point can be made without embarrassing people publicly, and the firm may well allow it once declared.

   The most effective response is to thank them warmly, explain that anything over £50 has to be declared, and say you will do that today and let them know what the firm decides: it is warm, it is honest about the rule, and it puts the decision where the firm has said it belongs. It beats refusing the hamper outright in front of the team, because a public refusal spends goodwill for nothing when the firm may permit it anyway. It beats accepting it and leaving it in the office kitchen for everybody, because the kitchen table is not a declaration and the rule is untouched. The least effective response is taking the gift and saying nothing about it: something worth more than twice the threshold is accepted from people whose work you have just criticised, and the only control that could have made that visible is bypassed. That is taking an advantage the role forbids rather than handling a delicate moment badly. The principle: declare it and let the firm decide, and be gracious while you do.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a client services associate. A client asks whether their account will be open by the end of next week, because they want to move money in before a deadline of their own. The checks sit with another team, whose queue you cannot see. The client has been waiting three weeks already and is plainly losing patience. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell the client that the checks team handles the timing and give them the address to write to, so they can ask about the date from the people who actually hold the queue themselves.
   2. Reassure the client that the account will certainly be open by the end of next week, because three weeks is already longer than these checks usually take to finish.
   3. Tell the client you cannot commit to a date yet, explain that you are asking the checks team today, and agree a time tomorrow when you will come back to them either way.
   4. Tell the client you will let them know as soon as there is news, and chase the checks team when you next have a reason to be in touch with them.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell the client you cannot commit to a date yet, explain that you are asking the checks team today, and agree a time tomorrow when you will come back to them either way.

   Least effective: B. Reassure the client that the account will certainly be open by the end of next week, because three weeks is already longer than these checks usually take to finish.

   A: Sends the client to chase your own firm: the relationship is yours, and a client three weeks in should not have to find the right internal door.

   B: Gives a certainty you cannot back: the queue belongs to another team and you cannot see it, so the client makes a decision about their own deadline on the strength of a guess.

   D: Leaves the client with no fixed point: "as soon as there is news" gives somebody planning around a deadline nothing they can actually plan with.

   The most effective response is to tell the client you cannot commit to a date yet, explain that you are asking the checks team today, and agree a time tomorrow when you will come back either way: it is honest about what you do not know, it does the one thing that can produce an answer, and it gives them a fixed time to expect contact. It beats telling them the checks team handles timing and giving them an address to write to, because a client should not be routed around your own firm after three weeks. It beats saying you will let them know as soon as there is news, because an open-ended promise is no use to somebody working to a date. The least effective response is reassuring them the account will certainly be open by the end of next week: it converts a queue you cannot see into a commitment they will act on, and when it slips they will have moved money against it. That is a false assurance rather than a weak way of handling the ask. The principle: never sell certainty you do not own, and replace it with a time you will come back.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a financial crime analyst. A colleague asks you to take twelve of her cases this week because she has “a lot on”. She asked the same last month and you agreed. Your own queue is full but manageable. Your team leader allocates cases and does not know about either request. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell her you cannot take any of them this week, and leave it there without suggesting anything about the allocation.
   2. Tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader rather than rearranging it privately.
   3. Take a few of them without saying anything, since you managed last month and she would not ask twice without a reason for it.
   4. Send the twelve cases straight over to your team leader to reallocate, without telling your colleague that you have done so or that you were asked.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader rather than rearranging it privately.

   Least effective: D. Send the twelve cases straight over to your team leader to reallocate, without telling your colleague that you have done so or that you were asked.

   A: Refuses without a route: she still has a queue she cannot manage and nothing has been raised with anybody who could change it.

   C: Prioritises harmony over honesty: a few cases move, the allocation stays hidden from the person who owns it, and the pattern is set for a third time.

   D: Hands the request to a manager behind the colleague's back: she asked you directly, and the first she hears is a reallocation she did not expect.

   The most effective response is to tell her you can take a few but that this is the second time, and that the two of you should put the allocation to your team leader: it helps a little, names the pattern honestly to her face, and takes the question to the person whose job it is. It beats taking a few without saying anything because you managed last month, since absorbing it twice hides a real allocation problem. It beats telling her you cannot take any this week and leaving it there, because a flat refusal leaves her exactly where she was. The least effective response is sending the twelve cases to your team leader to reallocate without telling her: the request is escalated over her head, so she is blindsided and the conversation you could have had is now a management one. That is going around a colleague rather than being too soft or too hard. The principle: say it to her, then take the allocation where it belongs, together.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a financial crime analyst. You have sixty alerts and two days. Forty are simple and can be closed in minutes; twenty are complex and would take the whole two days. Your team is measured on alerts closed. Two of the complex ones involve the same customer and the same pattern. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Close the forty simple alerts and record the twenty complex ones as checked and closed with no further action, so the week's closure count comes out where it should be.
   2. Close the forty simple alerts and leave the twenty complex ones sitting in the queue for next week, since that is the most alerts closed in the two days available to you.
   3. Work the two related complex alerts first and tell your team leader that the closure count will be low this week and exactly why it will be.
   4. Work steadily through all sixty in the order they arrived, so that nothing is left untouched and no alert is treated as more important than another.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Work the two related complex alerts first and tell your team leader that the closure count will be low this week and exactly why it will be.

   Least effective: A. Close the forty simple alerts and record the twenty complex ones as checked and closed with no further action, so the week's closure count comes out where it should be.

   A: Records twenty alerts as reviewed when they were not: the closure count looks right, and twenty alerts including a repeated pattern are marked as examined by somebody who never looked.

   B: Optimises the measure rather than the risk: the two related alerts are the most likely to matter and they wait another week.

   D: Treats arrival order as priority: a repeated pattern across one customer is not more or less urgent for when it happened to appear.

   The most effective response is to work the two related complex alerts first and tell your team leader the closure count will be low this week and exactly why: two alerts on the same customer and the same pattern is the thing most likely to matter, and warning her turns a bad number into a decision she can defend. It beats closing the forty simple alerts and leaving the twenty complex ones for next week, because the measure is not the risk. It beats working steadily through all sixty in arrival order, because arrival order carries no information. The least effective response is closing the forty and recording the twenty complex ones as checked with no further action: twenty alerts are recorded as reviewed by somebody who did not review them. That is falsifying the closures rather than ranking them badly. The principle: work the risk, and tell the person who owns the measure what it will cost.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are an assurance trainee. While testing a client’s supplier list you notice a small firm offering a service you have been trying to buy privately for months, at a price far below anything you have found. The list is confidential client information. Nobody would ever connect an enquiry from you to the engagement. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Contact the small firm privately for your own benefit, since the price is public once you ask and the client loses nothing at all by your using them.
   2. Wait until the engagement has finished and approach the firm then, since the information will no longer be current client work at that point.
   3. Ask your senior whether it would be acceptable to approach the firm, and go ahead if she says she cannot see any harm in it.
   4. Leave it entirely alone, do not contact the firm, and if it is preying on your mind mention it to your senior so the boundary is on the record.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Leave it entirely alone, do not contact the firm, and if it is preying on your mind mention it to your senior so the boundary is on the record.

   Least effective: A. Contact the small firm privately for your own benefit, since the price is public once you ask and the client loses nothing at all by your using them.

   A: Takes a personal advantage out of confidential client information: the only reason you know the firm exists is the engagement, and that is exactly what makes it not yours to use.

   B: Waits out the calendar rather than the principle: the knowledge still came from confidential client information whenever it is used.

   C: Seeks permission for the wrong question: a senior's casual yes does not change where the information came from.

   The most effective response is to leave it entirely alone, not contact the firm, and mention it to your senior if it is preying on your mind: the information is the client’s, no version of using it becomes acceptable through timing or permission, and recording the temptation protects you. It beats asking your senior whether it would be acceptable to approach the firm, because permission from a senior does not alter the source. It beats waiting until the engagement has finished and approaching them then, because waiting changes nothing about where the knowledge came from. The least effective response is contacting the small firm privately for your own benefit: confidential client information is converted into a personal saving, on the reasoning that nobody would connect it. That is self- dealing rather than a poorly reasoned attempt to do it properly. The principle: information you only have because of the engagement is not yours to spend.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a personal banking assistant. A long-standing customer wants his daily transfer limit raised to £20,000 today so he can send a deposit to someone he has met online but never in person. He is certain and slightly impatient. The limit change is within what you can do. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Raise the limit to £20,000 as he has asked, since it is within what you are allowed to do and he is a long-standing customer who has been clear about what he wants.
   2. Explain plainly why sending a large deposit to someone he has never met carries a real risk, ask him a few questions about the arrangement, and only then discuss the limit.
   3. Tell him the limit cannot be raised today and that he will need to come back another time, without going into why you are uncomfortable with the transfer.
   4. Refer him to the fraud team and take no part in the conversation yourself, since deposits to people met online are exactly what they are there for.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Explain plainly why sending a large deposit to someone he has never met carries a real risk, ask him a few questions about the arrangement, and only then discuss the limit.

   Least effective: A. Raise the limit to £20,000 as he has asked, since it is within what you are allowed to do and he is a long-standing customer who has been clear about what he wants.

   A: Decides which parts of the job count: the limit is within your authority, but so is the conversation about why the money is moving, and skipping it is the whole of what the role is for here.

   C: Uses a false obstacle instead of the real reason: he leaves without the information that might actually change his mind, and may simply try another route.

   D: Escalates before speaking to him: an impatient customer handed to a specialist team without a word from you is likely to disengage entirely.

   The most effective response is to explain plainly why sending a large deposit to someone he has never met carries a real risk, ask a few questions about the arrangement, and only then discuss the limit: it treats him as an adult, supplies the thing he does not have, and keeps the limit question open rather than making the conversation a refusal. It beats telling him the limit cannot be raised today without going into why, because inventing an obstacle sends him elsewhere with the same plan and no new information. It beats referring him to the fraud team and taking no part yourself, because a cold referral loses the only person he is currently willing to listen to. The least effective response is raising the limit to £20,000 as he asked because it is within what you may do: the transfer is enabled without any of the conversation the situation calls for, purely because the button was within reach. That is treating an authority as the whole job rather than a clumsily handled warning. The principle: authority to do something is not a reason to do it without the conversation that goes with it.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a financial crime analyst. A friend outside work mentions he is about to sign a contract with a firm your own employer has just decided to stop using, after an internal review you worked on. He asks you directly whether they are any good. You cannot say why without disclosing the review. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him you have heard nothing at all about that firm, so that he does not read a warning into your refusal to comment on it either way.
   2. Tell him you cannot comment on that firm at all because of where you work, say so plainly enough that he does not read anything into it, and change the subject.
   3. Warn him off the firm in return for a favour he has offered you, trading what you know from the internal review for something that you want from him.
   4. Tell him you cannot comment because the firm has been the subject of an internal review, without saying anything further about what that review actually found.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell him you cannot comment on that firm at all because of where you work, say so plainly enough that he does not read anything into it, and change the subject.

   Least effective: C. Warn him off the firm in return for a favour he has offered you, trading what you know from the internal review for something that you want from him.

   A: Denies a fact you are holding: it is a lie told for a defensible reason, and it is still a lie to a friend about something that will cost him money.

   C: Takes an advantage in return for confidential information: the review is the firm's, the trade is yours, and the thing that makes the tip valuable is exactly what makes it not yours to give.

   D: Discloses the existence of the review: the fact that there is one is itself confidential, and it tells him everything he needs to act.

   The most effective response is to tell him you cannot comment on that firm at all because of where you work, say so plainly enough that he reads nothing into it, and change the subject: it is true, it gives him nothing to decode, and it neither misleads him nor leaks the review. It beats telling him you have heard nothing at all about that firm, because inventing ignorance is a lie that will look far worse later. It beats saying you cannot comment because the firm has been the subject of an internal review, because confirming a review exists is the disclosure itself. The least effective response is warning him off in return for a favour he has offered: confidential information is exchanged for a personal benefit, which turns a conflict of interest into a transaction. That is self-dealing rather than a clumsy way of protecting a friend. The principle: say you cannot help, say it in a way that carries no signal, and take nothing for it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a client services associate. A client says at a review that your colleague is “hopeless” and asks you to agree, in front of two of her own staff. Your colleague has in fact been slow on two things. You have to keep both relationships working. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Defend your colleague completely and say that the delays were unavoidable, without acknowledging that two things genuinely have been slow.
    2. Agree with her in front of her team that your colleague has been hopeless, and say that several people at your own firm have found him difficult to work with too.
    3. Say nothing about your colleague either way and move the meeting on to the next item on the agenda as quickly as you reasonably can.
    4. Say that you will not discuss a colleague that way, acknowledge that two things have been slow, and set out what you will do to put them right.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: D. Say that you will not discuss a colleague that way, acknowledge that two things have been slow, and set out what you will do to put them right.

    Least effective: B. Agree with her in front of her team that your colleague has been hopeless, and say that several people at your own firm have found him difficult to work with too.

    A: Denies what the client can see: she has two real examples, and a blanket defence tells her you are not listening.

    B: Joins a client in criticising a colleague in front of her team: it buys a moment of agreement and tells the client that your firm's own people undermine each other.

    C: Leaves the complaint unanswered: she raised it in front of her staff and will read silence as agreement or as evasion.

    The most effective response is to say you will not discuss a colleague that way, acknowledge that two things have been slow, and set out what you will do to put them right: it refuses the invitation without dismissing her, concedes the facts she can verify, and moves to the only thing that will change her mind. It beats defending him completely and saying the delays were unavoidable, because denying two real delays destroys your credibility. It beats saying nothing either way and moving the meeting on, because silence in front of her staff answers her the wrong way. The least effective response is agreeing in front of her team that he has been hopeless and that others find him difficult too: you trade your own colleague for a moment of agreement, in front of her staff. That is undermining a colleague rather than defending or dodging badly. The principle: never trade a colleague for a moment of agreement, and answer with what you will do.