Royal Bank Of Canada Assessment Tests

Royal Bank of Canada Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are an audit junior. The client’s financial controller has asked you for a summary of the queries raised so far, which will take an hour. Your manager has asked for a section of testing by tonight, which will take the rest of the day. The controller is going on leave tomorrow for two weeks. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do the summary first because the controller is leaving, and tell your manager tonight if the testing has not been finished as a result of it.
   2. Ask the controller to send her questions by email so you can answer them from wherever you are while she is away on leave for the fortnight.
   3. Get on with the testing and leave the controller's summary until she is back in a fortnight, since your manager's work is the priority and nobody has said otherwise about the summary.
   4. Tell your manager that the controller leaves tomorrow and ask whether to spend the hour on her summary before she goes, since the testing can absorb an hour and the controller cannot.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell your manager that the controller leaves tomorrow and ask whether to spend the hour on her summary before she goes, since the testing can absorb an hour and the controller cannot.

   Least effective: C. Get on with the testing and leave the controller's summary until she is back in a fortnight, since your manager's work is the priority and nobody has said otherwise about the summary.

   A: Reorders your manager's work without asking: she may have a reason the testing cannot move that you do not know about.

   B: Solves the wrong problem: she asked for a summary of queries raised, not for a channel, and she wants it before she goes.

   C: Declines to raise a two-week window: the controller's leave is the fact your manager does not have, and the choice is made by not making it.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager that the controller leaves tomorrow and ask whether to spend the hour on her summary before she goes: your manager owns the ordering, the leave is the fact that makes the hour urgent, and asking takes a minute. It beats doing the summary first and telling your manager tonight if the testing slipped, because reordering her work without asking is her call to make. It beats asking the controller to send her questions by email while she is away, because a mailbox is not the summary she asked for. The least effective response is getting on with the testing and leaving the summary until she is back in a fortnight: a two-week window closes tomorrow and the person who could decide is never told it exists. That is avoiding the question rather than answering it wrongly. The principle: when a window is about to close, the person who owns the priorities needs to know today.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a settlements assistant. You realise that a trade you booked yesterday went to the wrong account, and the error will show on a client report that goes out at 5pm today. Nobody has spotted it. Correcting it takes twenty minutes and needs your supervisor to approve the change. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask a colleague whether a booking like this usually corrects itself overnight, and decide what to do about the report once you know what normally happens.
   2. Tell your supervisor what happened, ask them to approve the correction now, and check the report before 5pm to confirm the account it shows is the right one.
   3. Correct the booking yourself and mention it to your supervisor at the end of the day, once the report has gone and the change has already worked its way through.
   4. Reassure your supervisor that the day's bookings are all clean, and correct the account quietly tomorrow morning once the report everybody is looking at today has already gone out.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell your supervisor what happened, ask them to approve the correction now, and check the report before 5pm to confirm the account it shows is the right one.

   Least effective: D. Reassure your supervisor that the day's bookings are all clean, and correct the account quietly tomorrow morning once the report everybody is looking at today has already gone out.

   A: Acts on second-hand practice instead of the facts: you already know the account is wrong and when the report goes, so nothing a colleague says changes what needs doing.

   C: Bypasses the approval the change needs: the correction is not yours to make alone, and telling your supervisor afterwards leaves them approving something that has happened.

   D: Gives an assurance you know is untrue: the words buy a quiet afternoon and leave your supervisor defending a report to a client on the strength of something you have just told them that is wrong.

   The most effective response is to tell your supervisor what happened, ask them to approve the correction now, and check the report before 5pm: the error is yours, the fix is short, the approval exists, and there is time to use it. It beats correcting the booking yourself and mentioning it at the end of the day, because the change needs an approval that cannot be given after the fact. It beats asking a colleague whether a booking like this usually corrects itself overnight, because the relevant facts are already in your hands and asking around only spends the time you have. The least effective response is reassuring your supervisor that the day’s bookings are all clean and correcting the account quietly tomorrow: it is a statement you know to be false, made to the one person who could have fixed it, and it sends a wrong report to a client with their name behind it. That is dishonesty rather than a clumsy way of putting it right. The principle: own your own error to the person who can still act on it.

3. Question 3 of 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a management accounts assistant. Your brother runs a small contracting firm. Your department is about to invite quotes for work he does, and you know roughly what the budget is. He has asked you, casually, what he should pitch. Nobody at work knows you are related. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell your brother you cannot discuss it and say nothing at work about the relationship, since he now has no advantage and there is nothing left to declare.
   2. Declare the relationship to your manager but ask to stay involved in the quotes, since you know the work best and can be trusted to be objective about it.
   3. Tell your manager today that your brother's firm may well bid for the work and that the two of you are related, and take yourself out of anything to do with the quotes.
   4. Give your brother the budget figure in exchange for a favour he owes you, and say nothing at work about the fact that the two of you are related.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell your manager today that your brother's firm may well bid for the work and that the two of you are related, and take yourself out of anything to do with the quotes.

   Least effective: D. Give your brother the budget figure in exchange for a favour he owes you, and say nothing at work about the fact that the two of you are related.

   A: Refuses the leak and hides the conflict: if he bids and wins, the undeclared relationship is what will be asked about.

   B: Declares and then asks to keep the conflict: the point of the declaration is that somebody else decides, and you have pre-empted the decision.

   D: Trades confidential information for a personal favour: the budget is the firm's, the benefit is yours, and the relationship that makes it possible has been kept off the record.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager today that your brother’s firm may well bid and that the two of you are related, and take yourself out of anything to do with the quotes: it puts the relationship on the record before any bid exists, and stepping back is the only thing that makes the process defensible afterwards. It beats telling your brother you cannot discuss it and saying nothing at work, because declining to leak does not cure an undeclared conflict. It beats declaring the relationship but asking to stay involved in the quotes, because staying involved is the very thing a declaration exists to let somebody else refuse. The least effective response is giving him the budget figure in exchange for a favour he owes you: confidential information is traded for a personal benefit while the relationship behind it is concealed. That is self-dealing rather than an incomplete disclosure. The principle: declare the relationship early, and step out of the decision.

5. Question 5 of 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6. Question 6 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.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a relationship support assistant. In a client meeting your colleague gives a figure you know is a month out of date. The client writes it down. The meeting has twenty minutes left and the figure matters to what the client decides today. Correcting it means saying so while they are both sitting there. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Correct the figure by blaming his preparation in front of the client, saying that this is exactly why the numbers ought to be checked before anybody walks into a meeting.
   2. Say plainly that the figure has moved since then, give the current one, and take up how it came to be quoted with your colleague after the meeting.
   3. Pass your colleague a note about the figure and leave it entirely to him to decide whether he corrects it in front of the client or not.
   4. Say nothing at all while the meeting is still running and send the client a corrected figure by email afterwards, so that nothing has to be said in front of your colleague.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Say plainly that the figure has moved since then, give the current one, and take up how it came to be quoted with your colleague after the meeting.

   Least effective: A. Correct the figure by blaming his preparation in front of the client, saying that this is exactly why the numbers ought to be checked before anybody walks into a meeting.

   A: Makes a stale figure a verdict on a colleague in front of a client: the correction lands, and what the client remembers is that your firm's people do not trust each other.

   C: Gives the decision to the person least able to take it: he has just given the number and would have to unsay it himself, mid-meeting.

   D: Leaves the client deciding on a stale number: they have twenty minutes and a decision, and the email arrives after both.

   The most effective response is to say plainly that the figure has moved since then, give the current one, and take up how it came to be quoted after the meeting: the client is about to decide on it, a month-old figure is a fact rather than a fault, and taking the preparation up afterwards keeps it between the two of you. It beats saying nothing and emailing the client a corrected figure afterwards, because the decision happens inside the twenty minutes. It beats passing him a note and leaving it to him to correct in front of the client, because asking him to unsay it himself in the room is the hardest possible way to fix it. The least effective response is correcting it by blaming his preparation in front of the client: the number is fixed and the firm looks divided. That is personalising it rather than mistiming it or misrouting it. The principle: correct the fact in the room, and take the person outside it.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are an onboarding analyst. Two colleagues are in dispute about a missed client deadline, and your team leader is deciding between their accounts. You saw the email that settles it: one of them did send the information on time. That colleague is the one you get on with least. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Keep what you saw to yourself and let your team leader decide on the two accounts, since it is not your dispute and you have no wish to be drawn into it.
   2. Forward the email to your team leader with no explanation, so the facts are available without you appearing to take a side.
   3. Tell your team leader today that you saw the email and when it was sent, and offer to forward it so the decision rests on the record rather than on recollection.
   4. Tell the colleague you get on with least that you saw the email, and leave it to him to raise it with your team leader himself.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell your team leader today that you saw the email and when it was sent, and offer to forward it so the decision rests on the record rather than on recollection.

   Least effective: A. Keep what you saw to yourself and let your team leader decide on the two accounts, since it is not your dispute and you have no wish to be drawn into it.

   A: Withholds the fact that settles it: a colleague is blamed for something the record shows he did not do, and the one person who could correct that has chosen not to.

   B: Supplies the document and not the context: an unexplained email in a dispute is easy to misread and invites a question you have avoided answering.

   D: Routes the evidence through the interested party: it arrives as his claim rather than as your observation, which is exactly what is in doubt.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader today that you saw the email and when it was sent, and offer to forward it: it puts the decisive fact in front of the person deciding, in your own words, and offers the document behind it. It beats telling the colleague you get on with least and leaving him to raise it, because evidence relayed by the person it helps carries less weight. It beats forwarding the email with no explanation, because a bare forward leaves your team leader guessing what it shows. The least effective response is keeping what you saw to yourself because it is not your dispute: a colleague is found at fault for something the record disproves, because the only witness preferred not to be involved. That is silence rather than an awkward or indirect way of speaking up. The principle: if you hold the fact that settles it, say so plainly, whoever it helps.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a financial crime analyst. A colleague on your team has forty alerts outstanding against a five-day limit, and some are now eight days old. They have said twice that they are on top of it. Your own queue is clear. The weekly figures your team leader sees do not show individual backlogs. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Offer to take a share of the older alerts today, and say that if the backlog is still there at the end of the week you will both need to raise it with your team leader.
   2. Send a note over to your team leader asking them to look at your colleague's queue, and offer none of your own spare capacity while somebody senior decides what to do.
   3. Work through a few of the oldest alerts yourself and mention it to your colleague afterwards, so the backlog comes down without an awkward conversation about it now.
   4. Take them at their word that they are on top of it and leave the alerts with them, since it is their own queue to manage and they have now said twice that it is under control.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Offer to take a share of the older alerts today, and say that if the backlog is still there at the end of the week you will both need to raise it with your team leader.

   Least effective: B. Send a note over to your team leader asking them to look at your colleague's queue, and offer none of your own spare capacity while somebody senior decides what to do.

   B: Hands the colleague to their manager instead of helping: your queue is clear, the alerts are eight days old today, and the first they know of it is a conversation with their team leader.

   C: Helps quietly and leaves the cause: the queue comes down this week, the reason it built up is never discussed, and it builds up again next month.

   D: Accepts a reassurance the facts contradict: forty alerts against a five-day limit, some eight days old, is not a queue under control.

   The most effective response is to offer to take a share of the older alerts today, and say that if the backlog is still there at the end of the week you will both need to raise it: the alerts have a limit already breached, you have capacity, and naming the escalation point makes the offer honest rather than a favour. It beats working through a few of the oldest yourself and mentioning it afterwards, because silently clearing somebody’s queue fixes this week and nothing else. It beats taking them at their word and leaving the alerts with them, because the numbers contradict the reassurance. The least effective response is asking your team leader to look at your colleague’s queue while offering none of your own capacity: help that costs you nothing is withheld, the alerts are no closer to being worked, and a colleague who has twice said they are managing hears about it from above. That is passing a colleague on rather than a slower way of helping. The principle: offer the help you can actually give, and be open about when it stops being enough.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a branch adviser. You realise you gave a customer the wrong overdraft rate last week: you said 19% and it is 24%. He has since applied for it. The paperwork he signed shows the correct rate and he may never notice the difference. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Let your own mistake stand now that the paperwork is signed, since nobody has queried the rate and raising it would only unsettle a customer who is perfectly happy.
    2. Telephone him today, tell him you quoted the wrong rate, confirm what the real one is, and check that he still wants to go ahead on that basis.
    3. Post him a copy of the rate card with the correct figure highlighted on it, so he can see the right rate without having an awkward conversation about the mistake.
    4. Tell your manager what happened and ask her to decide whether the customer needs to be contacted about the difference in the rate.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Telephone him today, tell him you quoted the wrong rate, confirm what the real one is, and check that he still wants to go ahead on that basis.

    Least effective: A. Let your own mistake stand now that the paperwork is signed, since nobody has queried the rate and raising it would only unsettle a customer who is perfectly happy.

    A: Hides your own error behind his signature: he agreed to something on a figure you gave him, and the only person who knows the two do not match has decided he does not need to.

    C: Corrects without owning: a highlighted rate card does not tell him he was given a wrong figure or invite him to change his mind.

    D: Escalates a decision you can make: telephoning a customer to correct your own quote is within your gift, and it delays a call he should get today.

    The most effective response is to telephone him today, tell him you quoted the wrong rate, confirm the real one, and check that he still wants to go ahead: he made a decision on a number you gave him, the gap is five points, and only a direct call lets him reconsider. It beats posting him a rate card with the correct figure highlighted, because that does not tell him he was misinformed. It beats telling your manager and asking her to decide whether he needs contacting, because correcting your own quote does not need authorising. The least effective response is letting the mistake stand now that the paperwork is signed: he keeps a product he agreed to on a wrong figure, and the paperwork is used as the reason he need not be told. That is concealment rather than an incomplete or slow correction. The principle: he decided on your number, so he is owed the correction directly.