Salesforce Assessment Tests

Salesforce Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a build engineer. You and a colleague have argued twice this week about whose checks run first in the release, and neither of you has given ground. The releases are now going out later each day because of it. This morning the person who owns the release schedule asks you, casually, how the two of you are getting along. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say the two of you disagree about the order of the checks and that it is costing time, and ask him to settle it, so that it stops being decided by whoever pushes hardest.
   2. Raise his judgement with the schedule owner behind his back, so that the order gets decided by somebody who has heard only one side of the argument.
   3. Say the two of you are getting along fine and sort the order out with him yourself, without involving the person who owns the schedule in something small.
   4. Describe it as a process problem without saying who is on which side, and leave him to work out for himself who he ought to be asking about it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Say the two of you disagree about the order of the checks and that it is costing time, and ask him to settle it, so that it stops being decided by whoever pushes hardest.

   Least effective: B. Raise his judgement with the schedule owner behind his back, so that the order gets decided by somebody who has heard only one side of the argument.

   B: Personalises the conflict: it converts a disagreement about sequencing into a verdict on him, delivered to the one person with power over both your weeks.

   C: Reports a problem as solved while it is still costing time: two failed attempts is evidence you cannot settle it, and the releases keep slipping meanwhile.

   D: Names the problem but not the people: he cannot resolve a dispute whose parties are hidden, so the disclosure buys nothing and costs another day.

   The most effective response is to say the two of you disagree about the order of the checks and that it is costing time, and ask him to settle it. The disagreement is about sequencing, which is what the schedule owner owns, and it has already failed twice to settle itself. It beats saying the two of you are getting along fine and sorting the order out yourselves, because two attempts have proved you cannot, and the daily slippage keeps running. It beats describing it as a process problem without saying who is on which side, because a dispute with its parties removed cannot be arbitrated. The least effective response is raising his judgement with the schedule owner behind his back: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep the conversation about the checks, while this puts his judgement in front of the person who decides his work, in a conversation he is not in. The principle: take a sequencing dispute to whoever owns the sequence, describe both sides, and never make the argument about the other person while they are absent.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a security analyst. A project has finished and left eleven unused software licences that nobody has asked about. Two colleagues have already taken one each for personal machines and told you it is normal. The licences cost the company four hundred pounds each per year and renew automatically next month unless somebody cancels them. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Cancel the nine that are left before the renewal and say nothing about the two that have already gone, so that the money is saved without anybody being named.
   2. Take one of the licences for your own use as the others have, and cancel the rest before the renewal date, which still saves the company most of the money.
   3. Tell whoever owns the project budget that eleven licences are renewing next month and that two are already on personal machines, so that they decide what happens to all eleven.
   4. Raise it with the two colleagues and ask them to hand theirs back, then cancel all eleven before the renewal without involving anybody else in it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell whoever owns the project budget that eleven licences are renewing next month and that two are already on personal machines, so that they decide what happens to all eleven.

   Least effective: B. Take one of the licences for your own use as the others have, and cancel the rest before the renewal date, which still saves the company most of the money.

   A: Solves the cost and buries the rest: four hundred pounds a year is still walking out on two machines and the practice is left described as normal.

   B: Takes an advantage the role forbids: you are the person who saw the licences, and the saving does not buy you one of them.

   D: Settles it privately with the people who took them: it may work, and the budget holder still never learns that eleven licences nearly renewed unnoticed.

   The most effective response is to tell whoever owns the project budget that eleven licences are renewing next month and that two are already on personal machines. The renewal is a real deadline, the budget holder can act on it, and the two already gone are part of the same fact rather than a separate accusation. It beats cancelling the nine that are left and saying nothing about the two, because two are still being paid for and the practice goes unexamined. It beats asking the two colleagues to hand theirs back and cancelling all eleven yourself, because that may resolve today without anybody learning that eleven licences sat unnoticed. The least effective response is taking one of the licences for your own use as the others have: it is worse than either of the other two, because both end with you holding nothing, while this has the person who spotted the problem taking a share of it. The principle: when you find something valuable that nobody is watching, the finding goes to whoever owns it, and finding it earns you none of it.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a quality assurance analyst. Three weeks ago you asked a testing supplier to confirm they would provide results in the new format from this month. They never replied. In today’s review meeting the person chairing asks whether the supplier confirmed, and the plan on the screen assumes they did. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say the supplier confirmed without checking the thread again, since they raised no objection in three weeks and correcting the screen would derail the meeting.
   2. Say you would rather check your emails before answering, and come back to the chair after the meeting once you have looked at the thread properly.
   3. Say you asked three weeks ago and have had no reply, so the plan should not assume it, and offer to get a yes or a no from them by the end of the week.
   4. Say the supplier has not confirmed and ask the chair to take the point offline, so that the meeting can carry on with the rest of its agenda.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Say you asked three weeks ago and have had no reply, so the plan should not assume it, and offer to get a yes or a no from them by the end of the week.

   Least effective: A. Say the supplier confirmed without checking the thread again, since they raised no objection in three weeks and correcting the screen would derail the meeting.

   A: Asserts a confirmation that never arrived: the plan on the screen is now agreed on the strength of a reply nobody in the room has seen.

   B: Delays an answer you already have: you know no reply came, and the plan is agreed in the meantime by a room that thinks the point is open.

   D: Reports the gap and removes it from the room: the plan on the screen still assumes a confirmation, and the people agreeing it are not told it matters.

   The most effective response is to say you asked three weeks ago and have had no reply, so the plan should not assume it, and offer to get a yes or a no by the end of the week. The plan on the screen is wrong in a way that matters, the room is where that gets corrected, and the offer turns your gap into a commitment. It beats saying you would rather check your emails and come back to the chair afterwards, because you already know no reply came and the room agrees a plan meanwhile. It beats saying the supplier has not confirmed and asking the chair to take it offline, because that leaves the plan on the screen unchanged. The least effective response is saying the supplier confirmed without checking the thread again: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the room with something true, delayed or incomplete, while this supplies a confirmation that does not exist. The principle: correct the assumption in the room where it is being made, and answer about what actually arrived.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a junior data engineer. A piece of work you said would be finished on Wednesday will now take until the following Tuesday. The person who set the date is presenting a plan on Thursday that assumes Wednesday. You have three days of work in front of you and telling her means a difficult twenty minutes you would rather spend coding. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Work through the weekend to try to hit Wednesday, and tell her on Wednesday morning if it becomes obvious that you are not going to make it.
   2. Get on with the three days of work without telling her the date has moved. A lot can happen in three days, and Thursday may not even come up.
   3. Send her a short message saying the work is going more slowly than expected, without naming the new date, so she is warned without being alarmed.
   4. Tell her today that it is now Tuesday rather than Wednesday, so that Thursday's plan is built on the real date, then get back to the three days of work.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell her today that it is now Tuesday rather than Wednesday, so that Thursday's plan is built on the real date, then get back to the three days of work.

   Least effective: B. Get on with the three days of work without telling her the date has moved. A lot can happen in three days, and Thursday may not even come up.

   A: Buys the deadline with a weekend and tells her too late either way: Thursday's plan is written before Wednesday morning.

   B: Withholds a slipped date from the person presenting it: she will stand up on Thursday and commit to a Wednesday that had already gone.

   C: Warns without the number: she cannot rebuild a plan around going more slowly, and Tuesday is the only fact that would let her.

   The most effective response is to tell her today that it is now Tuesday rather than Wednesday, then get back to the three days of work. Thursday’s plan is being written now, the useful thing is the new date rather than a warning, and twenty uncomfortable minutes is small against a plan presented on a date that has gone. It beats working through the weekend to try to hit Wednesday and telling her that morning if you cannot, because Thursday comes first, so even a successful weekend does not reach her in time. It beats sending a short message saying the work is going more slowly without naming the new date, because she cannot replan around that. The least effective response is getting on with the work without telling her the date has moved: it is worse than either of the other two, because both get something to her before Thursday, while this lets her present a plan built on a date you already know has moved. The principle: when your slip lands inside somebody else’s commitment, they get the new date today, and the awkwardness of saying it is not a cost worth passing to them.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a test analyst. An overnight test run failed and somebody asks you in the morning stand-up what went wrong. You know the run stopped after a change to the test data, but you have not established whether the change caused it. The likeliest explanation, from past experience, is that the shared environment ran out of space. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Say the environment probably ran out of space, and add that you have not looked yet, so that the room has both your guess and the fact it is a guess.
   2. Say the run stopped after a change to the test data and that you do not yet know whether it caused the failure, so that nobody leaves with an unchecked cause.
   3. Say the environment ran out of space, even though you know the run stopped after a change to the test data, since that is what it usually turns out to be.
   4. Say you do not know yet and will report back when you have looked, without mentioning the test-data change until you know whether it is relevant.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Say the run stopped after a change to the test data and that you do not yet know whether it caused the failure, so that nobody leaves with an unchecked cause.

   Least effective: C. Say the environment ran out of space, even though you know the run stopped after a change to the test data, since that is what it usually turns out to be.

   A: Labels a guess and still supplies it: the room takes the likeliest cause away with them, and the test-data change goes unmentioned entirely.

   C: Offers the cause you assume instead of the fact you have: the room leaves believing a cause nobody has checked, and the real lead is never mentioned.

   D: Withholds the one lead you have: somebody in the room may know immediately whether that change could have done it.

   The most effective response is to say the run stopped after a change to the test data and that you do not yet know whether it caused the failure. You have one real observation and one open question, and giving the room both is more useful than any conclusion you could offer this morning. It beats saying the environment probably ran out of space and adding that you have not looked yet, because a caveat does not stop a guess travelling and it still leaves out the only fact you have. It beats saying you do not know yet and will report back, because somebody in the stand-up may know at once whether that change could have caused it. The least effective response is naming the environment as the cause because that is what it usually turns out to be: it is worse than either of the other two, because one flags the uncertainty and the other says nothing untrue, while this asserts a cause nobody has investigated and buries the observation that might have led somewhere. The principle: report what you observed and what you have not yet established, and never let the usual explanation stand in for the one you have not checked.

6. Question 6 of 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a release coordinator. A customer has waited three weeks for a fix to a fault that stops her staff exporting their reports. The engineer who owns it says only that the cause is still not understood. The customer’s contact emails you asking for a date. Your team meets on Thursday and may know more then. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply today saying the cause is still being worked on, that you cannot give a date yet, and that you will come back to her on Thursday either way.
   2. Wait until Thursday so that your reply can carry something definite, rather than writing now with nothing useful to tell her about the fault.
   3. Reply that the fix is on its way and should reach her shortly, which is the answer she is hoping for and buys the engineer a little more time.
   4. Send her email over to the engineer who owns the fault so he can answer her directly, since he is the only person who knows where it currently stands.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Reply today saying the cause is still being worked on, that you cannot give a date yet, and that you will come back to her on Thursday either way.

   Least effective: C. Reply that the fix is on its way and should reach her shortly, which is the answer she is hoping for and buys the engineer a little more time.

   B: Delays the decision: it treats having no news as a reason to send nothing, and leaves a customer who has already waited three weeks waiting in silence.

   C: Over-promises: it converts an unknown cause into a near-certain date, so when the fix does not arrive she has been misled by you rather than merely kept waiting.

   D: Passes responsibility to others: the engineer did not agree to write to customers, and the person she wrote to is the one who owes her the reply.

   The most effective response is to reply today saying the cause is still being worked on, that you cannot give a date yet, and that you will come back to her on Thursday either way. She needs to plan, knowing there is no date is something she can act on, and a promised Thursday reply gives her something to hold you to. It beats waiting until Thursday so your reply can carry something definite, because three weeks of waiting is what makes silence expensive. It beats sending her email to the engineer who owns the fault, because she wrote to the person who owns the release, and moving her adds a step without adding an answer. The least effective response is replying that the fix is on its way and should reach her shortly: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave her with an accurate picture, late or second-hand, while this leaves her with a false one she will plan around. The principle: when you have no date, say so and commit to a next contact, rather than lending a customer a certainty you do not have.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a quality assurance analyst. A release checklist needs one line ticked to say the data migration was rehearsed. The colleague who ran the rehearsal is on a flight and unreachable until tomorrow morning. You believe she ran it, but you did not see it. The people running tonight’s release are waiting on the sheet. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Hold the sheet until she lands and send it complete tomorrow morning, rather than sending something tonight that raises a question nobody in the building can answer.
   2. Mark the line as done, since you are confident she ran the rehearsal, and mention it to her tomorrow morning if it should turn out to matter to anybody.
   3. Send the sheet with that line left open, say plainly that the rehearsal cannot be confirmed until she lands, and let them decide what to do about tonight.
   4. Ring round the team until you find somebody who watched the rehearsal, and send the sheet on the strength of what that person tells you about it.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Send the sheet with that line left open, say plainly that the rehearsal cannot be confirmed until she lands, and let them decide what to do about tonight.

   Least effective: B. Mark the line as done, since you are confident she ran the rehearsal, and mention it to her tomorrow morning if it should turn out to matter to anybody.

   A: Delays the decision: the release is tonight, so a complete sheet tomorrow arrives after the only moment at which anyone could have used it.

   B: Records as done what you did not see done: the sheet exists so that somebody can rely on it tonight, and this makes it say something you cannot support.

   D: Acts on second-hand word without checking: the sheet ends up carrying the same unverified tick, with one more person between you and the thing you did not see.

   The most effective response is to send the sheet with that line left open, say plainly that the rehearsal cannot be confirmed until she lands, and let them decide about tonight. The people running the release need to know both what is confirmed and what is not, and an open line with a plain explanation gives them a real choice. It beats holding the sheet until she lands and sending it complete tomorrow, because that arrives after the release it was meant to inform. It beats ringing round until you find somebody who watched the rehearsal, because a colleague’s recollection is not the check the line asks for. The least effective response is marking the line as done because you are confident she ran it: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the uncertainty visible, late or diluted, while this removes it from the record altogether and somebody tonight relies on that. The principle: when a record would have to say more than you know, send it with the gap showing and let the people carrying the risk decide.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a junior developer. A colleague has asked you to approve a change of four hundred lines so that it can go out before he leaves at five. You have not read it and you have about ten minutes. Nobody assigned you the review; he picked you because you were online. The change touches how customers’ orders are priced. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Read the ten minutes' worth that you can, approve it on that basis, and note in the comment which parts of it you actually managed to look at.
   2. Tell him you cannot approve four hundred lines in ten minutes, offer to read the pricing part properly first thing tomorrow, and let him decide about five o'clock.
   3. Ask somebody with more experience of the pricing code to look at it instead, even though nobody at all is likely to be free before five o'clock today.
   4. Approve it unread so that he makes his five o'clock, on the basis that these reviews almost never turn anything up and he knows the pricing code far better than you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell him you cannot approve four hundred lines in ten minutes, offer to read the pricing part properly first thing tomorrow, and let him decide about five o'clock.

   Least effective: D. Approve it unread so that he makes his five o'clock, on the basis that these reviews almost never turn anything up and he knows the pricing code far better than you.

   A: Signs for a sample and calls it a review: the note is honest, but the approval it carries covers four hundred lines and reads the same as any other.

   C: Moves a request you could partly meet to somebody who cannot: it is the right instinct at the wrong hour, and he is left with nothing before he goes.

   D: Breaches a control by approving unread: the approval exists so that a second person has looked, and this makes the record say somebody did when nobody did.

   The most effective response is to tell him you cannot approve four hundred lines in ten minutes, offer to read the pricing part properly first thing tomorrow, and let him decide about five o’clock. You cannot do what is being asked in the time available, saying so is quick, and the offer gives him a real option rather than a refusal. It beats reading the ten minutes’ worth you can and noting in the comment which parts you looked at, because a partial reading still produces a full approval and the qualifying comment will not travel with it. It beats asking somebody with more experience of the pricing code, because nobody senior is free before five. The least effective response is approving it unread so he makes his five o’clock: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the record honest about how much was looked at, while this puts a second name on four hundred unread lines of pricing code. The principle: when you cannot do the review that is being asked for, say what you can do and by when, and never let an approval assert a reading that did not happen.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a quality assurance analyst. In a review meeting yesterday a colleague said, in front of six people, that your test coverage figures were wrong. They were wrong. You disputed it at the time and the exchange became sharp, and neither of you has spoken since. She has now asked you to check a report she is sending out this afternoon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Refuse to check the report after the way she spoke to you yesterday, and tell her to find somebody else who has the time this afternoon.
    2. Check the report this afternoon, and separately tell her that the figures were wrong but the way it was raised was not, and ask how she wants to handle it next time.
    3. Check the report and say nothing at all about yesterday, on the grounds that the work matters and the argument will fade if neither of you feeds it.
    4. Reply that you will check it once the two of you have sorted out yesterday, so the conversation happens before you do her any further favours.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Check the report this afternoon, and separately tell her that the figures were wrong but the way it was raised was not, and ask how she wants to handle it next time.

    Least effective: A. Refuse to check the report after the way she spoke to you yesterday, and tell her to find somebody else who has the time this afternoon.

    A: Retaliates by withdrawing: the report going out this afternoon has nothing to do with yesterday, and the refusal is aimed at her through her work.

    C: Avoids the difficult conversation: the sharp exchange is unresolved and will surface again, and she has no idea that anything is still wrong.

    D: Makes the work the lever: the conversation is worth having, and attaching it to a report going out this afternoon turns it into a condition rather than a request.

    The most effective response is to check the report this afternoon, and separately tell her that the figures were wrong but the way it was raised was not. The report and the argument are separate problems, both are yours today, and conceding the accurate part is what makes the rest of the conversation possible. It beats checking the report and saying nothing at all about yesterday, because a sharp public exchange neither party mentions does not fade, and she cannot repair something she does not know is broken. It beats saying you will check it once the two of you have sorted out yesterday, because tying the check to a conversation makes it a condition. The least effective response is refusing to check the report after the way she spoke to you: it is worse than either of the other two, because both get it checked, while this uses a piece of work to answer a personal grievance. The principle: separate the work from the argument, concede the part that was right, and raise the manner directly rather than through the queue.