SAP Assessment Tests

SAP Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a build engineer. Changes to the payments service need a second engineer’s approval before they go out, and the only other engineer who knows it is on annual leave for a week. A change is waiting that a customer has been promised for Friday. Your team lead is contactable but has not been asked about any of this. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Wait the week for the second engineer to return, and let Friday go past without saying anything to the customer until there is something to tell them.
   2. Ask a colleague from another team to give the approval, on the basis that a second pair of eyes is a second pair of eyes whoever they happen to belong to.
   3. Put the change out with only your own approval, since the second signature is a formality when there is nobody available to give it and Friday was promised.
   4. Take it to your team lead today, explain that the second approver is away and Friday was promised, and let him decide between a substitute and moving the date.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Take it to your team lead today, explain that the second approver is away and Friday was promised, and let him decide between a substitute and moving the date.

   Least effective: C. Put the change out with only your own approval, since the second signature is a formality when there is nobody available to give it and Friday was promised.

   A: Absorbs a broken promise in silence: waiting is the safe technical choice and the customer finds out by Friday arriving with nothing on it.

   B: Satisfies the form and not the purpose: the rule asks for somebody who knows payments, and this produces an approval from somebody who does not.

   C: Breaches a control to make a date: the rule exists precisely for the week when the other engineer is away, and the promise was made without checking it.

   The most effective response is to take it to your team lead today, explain that the second approver is away and Friday was promised, and let him decide. There are two live problems, an approval that cannot be given and a promise that cannot be kept, and both belong to somebody who has not been told either exists. It beats waiting the week for the second engineer and letting Friday pass without telling the customer, because that turns a schedule problem into a broken commitment. It beats asking a colleague from another team to give the approval, because it is meant to come from somebody who knows the payments service. The least effective response is putting the change out with only your own approval: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the control intact, expensively or imperfectly, while this decides that a rule written for exactly this week does not apply. The principle: when a control blocks a promise, both belong to whoever owns them, and neither is yours to set aside.

2. Question 2 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.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are an automation tester. Two colleagues have each spent a day writing a test for the same new screen, neither aware of the other, and both have now asked you to review theirs. You have three hours before your own deadline. Reviewing both would take all of it. Reviewing one and telling them would take twenty minutes. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Review both properly and let your own deadline slip by an evening, because each of them asked you and a day of somebody's work deserves a real answer.
   2. Review the better of the two and say nothing to the other about it, so that at least one usable test exists on the screen by the end of the day.
   3. Review neither and assume the pair of them will spot the duplication themselves, since they are both capable of it and you have your own deadline to meet.
   4. Tell them both that they have written the same test, and offer to review whichever one they agree to keep, so that your three hours are not spent twice over.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell them both that they have written the same test, and offer to review whichever one they agree to keep, so that your three hours are not spent twice over.

   Least effective: C. Review neither and assume the pair of them will spot the duplication themselves, since they are both capable of it and you have your own deadline to meet.

   A: Pays for their duplication with your own deadline: the evening is a real cost, and at the end of it the team still has two tests for one screen.

   B: Chooses for them without telling them there was a choice: one of them spends tomorrow wondering why their day produced nothing anybody wanted.

   C: Assumes the problem away: they have each worked a full day without noticing, so the evidence is that they will not spot it, and both days stay wasted.

   The most effective response is to tell them both that they have written the same test, and offer to review whichever one they agree to keep. The duplication is the fact neither has, telling them costs a message, and reviewing the survivor fits inside twenty minutes with your own deadline intact. It beats reviewing both properly and letting your deadline slip by an evening, because an evening spent on two tests for one screen buys nothing that twenty minutes would not. It beats reviewing the better of the two and saying nothing to the other, because picking a winner silently wastes a colleague’s day twice. The least effective response is reviewing neither and assuming they will spot the duplication themselves: it is worse than either of the other two, because both produce a reviewed test, while this leaves two days of work unreviewed on an assumption a whole day has already disproved. The principle: when two people are duplicating each other, the cheapest thing you can give them is the fact, not your afternoon.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an access administrator. You are handing a customer’s account migration to the evening shift before a week off. Everything is ready except that two of the customer’s own staff have not confirmed which of them keeps the senior permissions, and they have disagreed about it twice. The migration is scheduled to run tonight at eleven. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Hand the migration over with the checklist and leave the permissions question with the customer, whose disagreement it is and who will have to settle it themselves.
   2. Postpone the migration until you are back in a week, so that nothing runs tonight with an open question hanging over who gets which permissions.
   3. Write the permissions question into the handover note with the history, and go, so that the evening shift has it in front of them when they start.
   4. Tell the evening shift directly what is unresolved and that the two of them have already disagreed twice, and give the customer a time by which it must be settled tonight.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell the evening shift directly what is unresolved and that the two of them have already disagreed twice, and give the customer a time by which it must be settled tonight.

   Least effective: A. Hand the migration over with the checklist and leave the permissions question with the customer, whose disagreement it is and who will have to settle it themselves.

   A: Passes the problem on without naming it: the evening shift runs a migration believing it is ready, and the one unresolved thing sits with two people who have already failed twice.

   B: Buys certainty with a week of the customer's time: the disagreement may settle tonight, and only the customer can judge whether waiting is worth it.

   C: Puts a live problem into a document: a note read at seven is better than nothing and it is not the same as the shift knowing what it is walking into.

   The most effective response is to tell the evening shift directly what is unresolved and that the two of them have already disagreed twice, and give the customer a time by which it must be settled. Two things have to happen before eleven and only you can supply either. It beats postponing the migration until you are back in a week, because that is a real cost to the customer and they should weigh it against a question that may settle in an hour. It beats writing the permissions question into the handover note with the history, because a note describes the problem while a conversation makes sure it has been received. The least effective response is handing the migration over with the checklist and leaving the permissions question with the customer: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave the risk visible to somebody, while this hands over a migration described as ready. The principle: name the unresolved thing to the people who inherit it, and give whoever must decide a time to decide by.

5. Question 5 of 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a junior developer. A change you own must be finished by four o’clock, when the release branch closes for the week. A colleague on another team messages you asking for help with a piece of code you wrote last month; he is blocked and has said so. Your change needs about two more hours. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stop your own change and talk him through the code straight away, since he is blocked now, your deadline is still two hours away, and the code is one you wrote yourself.
   2. Finish the change so it makes the four o'clock branch close, and reply to him now with a time this afternoon, since he needs to know when help is coming.
   3. Work on both at once, answering his messages between edits, so that neither of you is left waiting on the other for very long this afternoon.
   4. Send his question on to the general engineering channel, since somebody with free time will probably pick it up, and carry on with your own change.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Finish the change so it makes the four o'clock branch close, and reply to him now with a time this afternoon, since he needs to know when help is coming.

   Least effective: D. Send his question on to the general engineering channel, since somebody with free time will probably pick it up, and carry on with your own change.

   A: Abandons own committed work: it protects a colleague who can wait two hours by risking the one thing here with a fixed weekly cut-off attached to it.

   C: Splits effort so nothing finishes: a change edited between messages is the one most likely to miss four o'clock, and help given in fragments teaches him least.

   D: Passes responsibility to others: it moves the request to a place where no named person has agreed to answer it, so he waits and nobody owns his block.

   The most effective response is to finish the change so it makes the four o’clock branch close, and reply to him now with a time this afternoon. The branch close is fixed for the week and his block is not, so the two demands are not equally urgent, and a reply costs a minute while telling him when help is coming. It beats stopping your own change to talk him through the code straight away, because dropping a change two hours from a weekly cut-off trades a real loss for a delay he can absorb. It beats working on both at once and answering between edits, because a change edited that way is the one most likely to miss four o’clock, and an explanation in fragments is worth less than one proper conversation. The least effective response is sending his question to the general engineering channel: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep the question with the only person who wrote the code, while a general channel gives it to nobody in particular. The principle: when you cannot help now, own the answer and give a time, rather than moving the request somewhere nobody owns it.

7. Question 7 of 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a deployment assistant. Before each release you run a performance check and record one result. Today it failed twice and passed on the third attempt, after you restarted the service between runs. The release goes tonight and the people running it read the result field and nothing else. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Record the passing run as the result and put the two failures in the free-text notes, so the number is clean and the detail is there for anyone who opens the record.
   2. Record the first failure as the result, since the first run shows how the service behaves when nobody has just restarted it for you.
   3. Record that the check failed twice and passed once after a restart, and tell whoever owns tonight's release what the pattern means, so that they decide on it.
   4. Record the check as complete on the third run, since that is the one performed under the conditions it is meant to measure and the other two are noise.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Record that the check failed twice and passed once after a restart, and tell whoever owns tonight's release what the pattern means, so that they decide on it.

   Least effective: D. Record the check as complete on the third run, since that is the one performed under the conditions it is meant to measure and the other two are noise.

   A: Puts the finding where the readers do not go: the stem says they read the result field, so a pass is what tonight's release will be told.

   B: Picks the worst run on principle: it is as arbitrary as picking the best, and it reports one figure where the real finding is that the answer changes.

   D: Writes up the run that suited: two failures are the finding, and the record will tell tonight's release that the service passed its performance check.

   The most effective response is to record that the check failed twice and passed once after a restart, and tell whoever owns tonight’s release what the pattern means. The finding is not a single figure, it is that the check only passes after a restart, and the people releasing need that rather than a pass or a fail. It beats recording the passing run as the result with the two failures in the notes, because the stem says they read the result field. It beats recording the first failure as the result, because choosing the worst run is as arbitrary as choosing the best and still hides the variation. The least effective response is recording the check as complete on the third run and calling the other two noise: it is worse than either of the other two, because one leaves the failures written down somewhere and the other reports a real failing run, while this records a pass on the evening of the release. The principle: when a check gives different answers, the pattern is the result, and choosing which run to write up is choosing the answer.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are an information security assistant. You argued that laptop encryption checks should be monthly rather than quarterly, and after a heated discussion the team voted to keep them quarterly. Two people were sharp with you and it has not been cleared up. The review that decides the schedule meets again in six weeks and you are on the invitation list. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Stop attending the review after that, since the people who voted for quarterly checks can own the schedule and whatever comes of it in six weeks.
   2. Keep your place on the review, and speak to the two people who were sharp with you before it meets again, so the next discussion is about the schedule.
   3. Keep attending but do not raise encryption again, since the team has voted on it and reopening a heated argument would sour the review for everybody.
   4. Ask to be taken off the review invitation and send your view in writing instead, so the argument is on record without the two of them in the room.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Keep your place on the review, and speak to the two people who were sharp with you before it meets again, so the next discussion is about the schedule.

   Least effective: A. Stop attending the review after that, since the people who voted for quarterly checks can own the schedule and whatever comes of it in six weeks.

   A: Withdraws from the forum after losing: the argument for monthly checks now has nobody to make it, and the two sharp exchanges stay unresolved.

   C: Keeps the seat and gives up the argument: quarterly may turn out to be wrong, and the person who thought so has agreed in advance not to say.

   D: Removes yourself to avoid two people: the written view carries less than a voice in the room, and the sharpness is never addressed.

   The most effective response is to keep your place on the review, and speak to the two people who were sharp with you before it meets again. Two separate things went wrong, a vote you lost and an exchange that was sharp, and only the second is worth fixing. It beats keeping your seat but agreeing never to raise encryption again, because the schedule may need revisiting on evidence in six weeks and you have agreed in advance not to be the one who raises it. It beats asking to be taken off the invitation and sending your view in writing, because a written submission carries less weight than being in the room and leaves the sharpness untouched. The least effective response is leaving the people who voted for quarterly checks to own the schedule: it is worse than either of the other two, because both keep you connected, while this removes the only person arguing for monthly checks in response to a vote that went fairly against you. The principle: separate the decision you lost from the way people spoke to you, address the second directly, and keep your seat for the first.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a security analyst. Each quarter you confirm that the forty people who can open the payroll system still need to. You have confirmed thirty; the other ten sit with managers who have not replied to two emails. The return is due today, and your supervisor has asked twice whether it is finished. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Send the return today showing thirty confirmed and ten outstanding, and name the managers who have not replied, so that somebody can chase the last ten properly.
    2. Hold the return until the last ten managers reply so that what you send is complete, and tell your supervisor today that it is going to be late.
    3. Take the ten unanswered accounts out of the check and report on the thirty, on the basis that a question nobody answered cannot fairly be counted either way.
    4. Sign the return off for all forty. The ten silent managers would almost certainly have said something by now if any of those accounts were a real problem.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Send the return today showing thirty confirmed and ten outstanding, and name the managers who have not replied, so that somebody can chase the last ten properly.

    Least effective: D. Sign the return off for all forty. The ten silent managers would almost certainly have said something by now if any of those accounts were a real problem.

    B: Delays a return that is more useful partly done: thirty confirmed names today are worth more than forty in a fortnight, and the ten silent managers stay invisible.

    C: Shrinks the question until the answer fits: the ten accounts are the only ones anybody should be worried about, and this is the option that makes them disappear.

    D: Certifies a check that was not done: the return's whole value is that somebody looked, and this puts your name to ten accounts nobody has looked at.

    The most effective response is to send the return today showing thirty confirmed and ten outstanding, and name the managers who have not replied. It reports exactly what is known, it is on time, and naming them turns your problem into one your supervisor can solve. It beats holding the return until the last ten reply, because thirty confirmed accounts today are more use than forty in a fortnight, and the delay hides the fact that ten managers are not replying. It beats taking the ten unanswered accounts out and reporting on the thirty, because those are precisely the ones worth knowing about. The least effective response is signing the return off for all forty: it is worse than either of the other two, because both leave a reader able to see what was and was not checked, while this asserts that all forty were. The principle: report the part you did and name the part you could not, and never let a record say a check happened when it did not.