RPC Assessment Tests

RPC Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a document reviewer. You raised with a colleague that a batch he had coded was inconsistent, and he took it badly and said you had gone over his head. He now shares the coding queue with you and has stopped telling you which batches he has started. Two of you have picked up the same batch twice this week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Start at the other end of the queue so that the two of you cannot collide, which removes the duplication without anybody having to talk about what happened last week.
   2. Tell your team leader that he has stopped sharing what he is working on, and ask her to remind the team how the queue is meant to be used.
   3. Ask him for five minutes, say the duplication is costing both of you time, and agree how the two of you will mark a batch as started from now on.
   4. Stop telling him which batches you have started, after the way he reacted, and leave him to work out for himself why the two of you keep landing on the same one.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Ask him for five minutes, say the duplication is costing both of you time, and agree how the two of you will mark a batch as started from now on.

   Least effective: D. Stop telling him which batches you have started, after the way he reacted, and leave him to work out for himself why the two of you keep landing on the same one.

   A: Works around the person: the collisions stop and nothing else changes, so the first time the queue is not neatly divided the same problem comes back with the same silence behind it.

   B: Escalates a two-person problem: a general reminder to the team is aimed at one person who will know it, and it arrives without you having asked him anything.

   D: Withdraws information after a disagreement: it answers his silence with your own, so the duplication doubles and the review pays for a quarrel between two reviewers.

   The most effective response is to ask him for five minutes, say the duplication is costing both of you time, and agree how a batch gets marked as started. It is a shared cost with an easy fix, and putting the fix rather than last week in front of him is what makes the conversation possible. It beats starting at the other end of the queue so the two of you cannot collide, because avoiding him leaves the coordination broken. It beats telling your team leader he has stopped sharing and asking her to remind the team, because a team reminder is a way of not speaking to him. The least effective response is stopping telling him which batches you have started: it matches his silence with yours, so the only thing keeping the queue straight is removed entirely. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, both of which try to keep the work moving. The principle: when a disagreement has broken the coordination, fix the coordination first and directly.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a records assistant in a week when half the team is off. A fee earner has twice raised with your team leader that files are taking too long to retrieve, and this morning said in the corridor, where others could hear, that the records team has stopped bothering. You know the delays are the staffing. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him in the corridor that half the team is off this week, and that his files would come back faster if he stopped complaining and started planning ahead.
   2. Say nothing to him and raise the staffing with your team leader, since she is the one he has complained to twice and the one who can explain it to him.
   3. Prioritise his requests above everybody else's for the rest of the week, so that the complaints stop and he sees for himself that the team has not stopped bothering.
   4. Tell him quietly that the team is at half strength this week, give him a realistic time for his current request, and say you will flag the staffing to your team leader.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell him quietly that the team is at half strength this week, give him a realistic time for his current request, and say you will flag the staffing to your team leader.

   Least effective: A. Tell him in the corridor that half the team is off this week, and that his files would come back faster if he stopped complaining and started planning ahead.

   A: Answers a complaint with a criticism of the complainer: it turns a question about retrieval times into an exchange between two people in a corridor with an audience.

   B: Leaves the wrong account standing: he will carry on believing the team has stopped bothering until somebody tells him otherwise, and nothing says she will.

   C: Rewards the loudest voice: it fixes one person's experience by making everyone else's worse, and it leaves the staffing problem unreported because the symptom has gone quiet.

   The most effective response is to tell him quietly that the team is at half strength this week, give him a realistic time for his current request, and say you will flag the staffing to your team leader. He is missing one fact, he needs a time he can work with, and the staffing belongs in front of the person who can act on it. It beats saying nothing to him and raising the staffing with your team leader, because he will otherwise keep the wrong account. It beats prioritising his requests above everybody else’s for the rest of the week, because moving him to the front hides the cause. The least effective response is telling him in the corridor that his files would come back faster if he stopped complaining: it answers his complaint by criticising him, in front of whoever is there. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, neither of which makes it about him. The principle: give the missing fact quietly, give a real time, and send the cause upward.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a filing clerk. You and another clerk share the counter run to the court each afternoon. Last week he told your manager, in front of you, that the run is usually late because of you. Today he asks you to cover his run because he has a dental appointment. There is time in your afternoon to do it. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Cover the run without comment, and say nothing about last week because raising it now would only make the afternoon more awkward than it already is for both of you.
   2. Do his run today, then stop passing on his counter messages because he complained about you to your manager, and leave his paperwork for him to sort out himself.
   3. Agree to cover the run, and ask him afterwards for a word about what he said to your manager, so the two of you can agree what actually causes the delays.
   4. Say you can cover it only if he corrects what he told your manager, since you should not have to help somebody who has put the blame for the delays on you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Agree to cover the run, and ask him afterwards for a word about what he said to your manager, so the two of you can agree what actually causes the delays.

   Least effective: B. Do his run today, then stop passing on his counter messages because he complained about you to your manager, and leave his paperwork for him to sort out himself.

   A: Prioritises harmony over honesty: the work gets done and the thing that will go on affecting the run is left in place, so the same remark can be made again next month with nothing having changed.

   B: Withdraws help after a disagreement: it settles a private score at the counter where the work is, so the next thing that goes wrong on the run goes wrong for the court and the clients rather than for him.

   D: Makes a condition of the work: it ties a job the court is waiting on to a personal grievance, so the run becomes the thing at stake in an argument that has nothing to do with it.

   The most effective response is to agree to cover the run, and ask him afterwards for a word about what he said to your manager. The run is covered either way, and it separates the work from the grievance while still dealing with the grievance, which is the only way the remark stops affecting the counter. It beats covering it without comment and saying nothing about last week, because that leaves an inaccurate account with your manager and the real cause of the delays unexamined. It beats offering to cover it only if he corrects what he told her, because that makes the court’s paperwork the price of an apology. The least effective response is doing his run today and then stopping passing on his counter messages: a disagreement between two people becomes a standing reduction in service, which lands on the work rather than on him. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, which both get the run done. The principle: deal with the work and the grievance separately, and never let a colleague’s behaviour change what the job gets.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a client services adviser. A caller wants to know whether her case will be finished before she moves abroad in six weeks. The fee earner who has the file is away until Thursday and you cannot see anything on the system about timing. The caller is anxious and says she needs to book flights this week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Explain that you cannot give a date yourself, take her deadline and her number, and tell her you will have the fee earner call her by Thursday afternoon at the latest.
   2. Tell her you cannot help with timing because the file is not yours, and suggest she rings back on Thursday when the fee earner is expected to be at her desk again.
   3. Reassure her that six weeks is plenty of time for a case like hers, so that she can book her flights without worrying while the fee earner is away.
   4. Send the fee earner an email marked urgent setting out what the caller wants, and tell the caller you have done that and will chase it if nothing comes back.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Explain that you cannot give a date yourself, take her deadline and her number, and tell her you will have the fee earner call her by Thursday afternoon at the latest.

   Least effective: C. Reassure her that six weeks is plenty of time for a case like hers, so that she can book her flights without worrying while the fee earner is away.

   B: Puts the work back on the customer: it is accurate and it leaves her to chase the firm, which is the opposite of what somebody with a booking deadline needs from the people holding her case.

   C: Gives an assurance you cannot deliver: you have no information about this file at all, and she will make a booking she cannot undo on the strength of a comfort you invented to end the call.

   D: Acts without closing the loop: the email is right but nothing in it commits anyone to a time, so a caller with a booking deadline is left with a promise to chase rather than a date to expect a call.

   The most effective response is to explain that you cannot give a date yourself, take her deadline and her number, and promise the fee earner will call her by Thursday afternoon. You cannot answer the question, but you can take the one fact that matters and turn her open-ended wait into a commitment with a time on it. It beats telling her you cannot help because the file is not yours and suggesting she rings back Thursday, because that hands the chasing back to a client who is already anxious. It beats sending the fee earner an urgent email and telling the caller you have done so, because it gives her a time by which she will hear rather than an email she has to hope produces something. The least effective response is reassuring her that six weeks is plenty of time for a case like hers: it is the only response that puts information into her hands that you do not have, and she will spend money on the strength of it. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, which are both honest about what you know. The principle: when you cannot answer, commit to who will answer and by when, and never buy a quiet call with a fact you have not got.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a document reviewer. Two colleagues on the review have fallen out over a coding decision and each has now asked you to look at the other’s batches and say who is right. The review has a deadline on Friday and the disagreement is slowing both of them. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Look at both sets of batches and tell each of them privately which of them you think has been coding it correctly, since somebody has to break the deadlock before Friday.
   2. Spread the grievance around the review team, so that they can see how far apart they are and sort it out between themselves before Friday.
   3. Stay out of it and carry on with your own batches, since the two of them are capable of resolving a coding question without a third person getting involved.
   4. Put the coding question to the review lead today with an example of each approach, and tell both of them that the answer will come back from her.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Put the coding question to the review lead today with an example of each approach, and tell both of them that the answer will come back from her.

   Least effective: B. Spread the grievance around the review team, so that they can see how far apart they are and sort it out between themselves before Friday.

   A: Takes on an adjudication you cannot give: your view is not the coding standard, so whoever you side with has won an argument rather than settled how the batch should be coded.

   B: Carries private remarks between colleagues: it turns a disagreement about a coding rule into a disagreement about two people, and neither can unhear what the other said.

   C: Leaves a live obstacle alone: both of them are slowed down and Friday is fixed, and they have already shown they will not settle it, since they have each come to you.

   The most effective response is to put the coding question to the review lead today with an example of each approach, and tell both of them the answer will come back from her. The question is about a coding standard rather than about either of them, and her answer actually binds both. It beats looking at both sets and telling each of them privately who is coding it correctly, because your opinion settles nothing. It beats staying out of it and carrying on with your own batches, because they have already demonstrated they cannot resolve it. The least effective response is spreading the grievance around the review team: it repeats what each said about the other, so a rule question becomes personal. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, neither of which passes remarks along. The principle: send the rule question to whoever owns the rule, and never relay what people have said about each other.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a trainee solicitor at the end of a seat that has gone badly. In your review your supervisor said, with two other trainees present, that you had not been ready for the work. You believe you were given tasks two seats ahead of your training. You move department next week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask your supervisor for a short meeting, take the list of tasks you were given, and ask her whether the seat matched what a first-seat trainee is supposed to cover.
   2. Say nothing and move on to the next seat, since you are leaving the department anyway and reopening a review that has already been written will only make the handover awkward.
   3. Raise it with the training principal, since a supervisor giving a trainee work two seats ahead is a supervision problem rather than something between the two of you.
   4. Tell the two other trainees afterwards what you were actually given to do, so that they know the review was not a fair account of the seat.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Ask your supervisor for a short meeting, take the list of tasks you were given, and ask her whether the seat matched what a first-seat trainee is supposed to cover.

   Least effective: D. Tell the two other trainees afterwards what you were actually given to do, so that they know the review was not a fair account of the seat.

   B: Lets the account stand: the review follows you into the next seat and the question of what a first-seat trainee should be given is left for the next person to run into.

   C: Escalates before asking: your supervisor has never been shown the task list, so the first thing she hears is that a trainee has taken it over her head.

   D: Undermines a supervisor to colleagues: it puts your version to people with no standing to weigh it, and it makes the seat a story among the trainees rather than something the firm looks at.

   The most effective response is to ask your supervisor for a short meeting, take the list of tasks you were given, and ask whether the seat matched what a first-seat trainee should cover. There is a real question about what the seat contained, the task list answers it, and she wrote the review. It beats saying nothing and moving on to the next seat, because the review follows you and the problem stays for the next trainee. It beats raising it with the training principal as a supervision problem, because she has not yet been asked. The least effective response is telling the two other trainees what you were actually given to do: your account goes to two peers instead of anybody who can act, and undermines a supervisor among trainees. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, neither of which involves people with no part in it. The principle: take the evidence to the person who wrote the judgement, before anybody else hears about it.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a client services adviser covering the desk alone. A client is waiting in reception for a meeting that started ten minutes ago and the fee earner is not answering. Two calls are holding and a courier is at the door with a package that needs signing for. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Sign for the courier first because he cannot wait, then take the two calls, and go to the waiting client once the desk is clear enough to leave for a few minutes.
   2. Speak to the waiting client first with an apology and a time, then sign for the courier, then take the calls, telling each caller you will ring them straight back.
   3. Take the two calls first, since callers cannot see what is happening at the desk and the client in reception can see that you are busy and will understand the wait.
   4. Ask the courier to come back later and put both calls through to voicemail, so that you can go and find somebody who can take the client's meeting for you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Speak to the waiting client first with an apology and a time, then sign for the courier, then take the calls, telling each caller you will ring them straight back.

   Least effective: D. Ask the courier to come back later and put both calls through to voicemail, so that you can go and find somebody who can take the client's meeting for you.

   A: Clears the quickest items first: it produces a tidy desk and leaves the person who can see you ignoring her for longest, which is the one cost the firm will hear about.

   C: Uses a customer's patience as a resource: the client can see you, which makes the wait worse rather than more forgivable, and neither caller knows they are being preferred.

   D: Hands the problem on and drops the rest: it turns away a delivery, sends two callers to voicemail and leaves the desk, all to give somebody else a meeting they have not agreed to take.

   The most effective response is to speak to the waiting client first with an apology and a time, then sign for the courier, then take the calls. Thirty seconds spent on the person who can see you costs almost nothing and removes the only cost that is growing. It beats signing for the courier first because he cannot wait, since his minute is worth less than the client’s ten. It beats taking the two calls first because callers cannot see what is happening, since a visible wait is worse than an invisible one, not better. The least effective response is asking the courier to come back later and putting both calls to voicemail while you find somebody to take the meeting: it clears your own desk by making three other things somebody else’s, without asking any of them. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, which both keep everything with you. The principle: give the person in front of you a word and a time first, then work the rest in order.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a knowledge assistant. You keep the log of which precedents have had their two-yearly review. Four are overdue. A partner asks you to mark them as reviewed now, saying he has read them all this morning and they are fine, and that a clean log matters before the audit next week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Ask him to send you a short note on each of the four saying what he checked, then log them on the strength of the notes so the entries have something behind them.
   2. Log them as reviewed today with his name against them, and note separately that the four were overdue, so the audit sees both the review and the delay.
   3. Refuse and tell him the four will have to show as overdue in the audit, since the log is a record and there is nothing you can do about what it shows.
   4. Record the four as reviewed on the dates they were due, since he has read them and the log will then show the position the firm intended rather than a backlog.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Log them as reviewed today with his name against them, and note separately that the four were overdue, so the audit sees both the review and the delay.

   Least effective: D. Record the four as reviewed on the dates they were due, since he has read them and the log will then show the position the firm intended rather than a backlog.

   A: Manufactures the evidence afterwards: a note written to support an entry is not the review the log is a record of, and it makes the log look better supported than it is.

   C: Answers with the rule and stops: it protects the log and ignores that a review has actually happened this morning, which the log could record honestly today.

   D: Alters the dates on a record: the log exists to show when reviews happened, and entries written to show the intended position no longer show anything about any precedent.

   The most effective response is to log them as reviewed today with his name against them, and note separately that the four were overdue. He has read them today, so today is what the log should say, and recording the delay separately gives the audit the true picture rather than a tidy one. It beats asking him for a short note on each and logging them on that basis, because a note written to support an entry is not a review. It beats refusing and telling him the four will have to show as overdue, because a review really has happened and refusing to record it helps nobody. The least effective response is recording the four as reviewed on the dates they were due: it puts dates in the log that describe nothing that happened, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those record something true. The principle: log what happened when it happened, and record the awkwardness beside it.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a new enquiries adviser. Every enquiry has to be logged with the time it came in and the time it was answered. Yesterday you answered one two hours late because the system was down for the afternoon. Your team leader asks for the log before she reports the week’s response times. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Log the real times and leave it, since the outage was reported to everybody by email and she will connect the two when she sees the gap.
   2. Ask her whether the enquiry should be excluded from the week's figures, given that the delay was caused by an outage rather than by anything the team did.
   3. Log the real times and tell her the system was down for the afternoon, so the two hours are reported with the reason attached.
   4. Alter the entry so the record shows the enquiry answered within the usual window, since the delay was the system rather than you and the figure would otherwise say something untrue about your work.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Log the real times and tell her the system was down for the afternoon, so the two hours are reported with the reason attached.

   Least effective: D. Alter the entry so the record shows the enquiry answered within the usual window, since the delay was the system rather than you and the figure would otherwise say something untrue about your work.

   A: Assumes the context travels: she is writing a report from a log, and a two-hour gap on one enquiry does not carry an outage notice with it.

   B: Invites the data to be trimmed: the measure is how long clients waited, and a client waited two hours whatever caused it.

   D: Records a time that did not happen: the log exists to show when enquiries were answered, and an entry adjusted for fairness stops describing anything.

   The most effective response is to log the real times and tell her the system was down for the afternoon, so the two hours are reported with the reason attached. The time is a fact and the outage is the fact that explains it, and both belong in front of the person writing the report. It beats logging the real times and leaving it because the outage was emailed to everybody, since a log does not carry an email with it. It beats asking whether the enquiry should be excluded from the week’s figures, because the client waited whatever the cause. The least effective response is altering the entry so the record shows it answered within the usual window: it puts a time in the log that describes nothing that happened, which is a different kind of wrong from the other two because both of those record the truth. The principle: log what happened and report the cause beside it.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a risk assistant. You process the firm’s requests for external searches and choose between two providers. One of them has offered you a place at a sporting event, describing it as hospitality for the trade generally. Two other people at other firms have been invited. The firm’s rule on hospitality is not something you have read. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Reply that you will let them know, read the firm's hospitality rule yourself, and decide on the strength of what it says without troubling anybody else about it.
    2. Take the place as a gift from a provider you deal with, since it is open hospitality across the trade and two people at other firms are going, so nothing about it is particular to you.
    3. Tell your manager the offer has been made, say you are not sure what the rule allows, and ask her to decide whether it can be accepted and on what terms.
    4. Decline the place and say nothing about it, since declining removes the problem and there is no reason to make an issue of a provider being friendly.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: C. Tell your manager the offer has been made, say you are not sure what the rule allows, and ask her to decide whether it can be accepted and on what terms.

    Least effective: B. Take the place as a gift from a provider you deal with, since it is open hospitality across the trade and two people at other firms are going, so nothing about it is particular to you.

    A: Decides your own case: reading the rule is right and applying it to an offer made to you leaves you as the only judge of something you have an interest in.

    B: Accepts a benefit the role forbids: you choose between the two providers, so an invitation from one of them is particular to you whoever else has been asked.

    D: Leaves the offer unreported: it protects this decision and the firm never learns that the provider makes such offers to the person choosing between them.

    The most effective response is to tell your manager the offer has been made, say you are not sure what the rule allows, and ask her to decide. You do not know the rule, the offer comes from somebody whose work you allocate, and both point at the same answer: the decision is not yours. It beats reading the hospitality rule yourself and deciding on the strength of it, because reading the rule does not stop you deciding your own case. It beats declining the place and saying nothing about it, because a private refusal leaves the firm blind. The least effective response is taking the place because it is open hospitality across the trade: it accepts a benefit from a provider you choose between, on a justification about other people that has nothing to do with your position. That is a different kind of wrong from the other two, neither of which takes anything. The principle: when the offer is to you and the rule is unclear, the decision belongs to somebody else.