Standard Chartered Assessment Tests

Standard Chartered Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a compliance analyst. A case has sat unallocated in the team queue for six days. Three of you can see it and none of you has picked it up. Cases are supposed to be started within five days. Your own queue is manageable this week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Leave it where it is on the basis that somebody else will get to it, since three of you can see it and none of the others has flagged it as a problem either.
   2. Message the team asking who is going to take it, and pick it up yourself only if nobody else has claimed it by the end of the day.
   3. Take the case yourself today and tell the team you have done so, and suggest a rule for who picks up unallocated cases in future.
   4. Report the six-day delay to your team leader so that the breach of the five-day rule is recorded and somebody senior allocates the case properly.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Take the case yourself today and tell the team you have done so, and suggest a rule for who picks up unallocated cases in future.

   Least effective: A. Leave it where it is on the basis that somebody else will get to it, since three of you can see it and none of the others has flagged it as a problem either.

   A: Assumes somebody else has it: everybody in the team is reasoning exactly the same way, which is why a case with a five-day rule has sat for six.

   B: Waits for a volunteer: it adds another day to a case already over its limit, when your own queue is manageable and you could simply start it.

   D: Escalates instead of acting: the case is still not started, and the simplest fix was available to you the whole time.

   The most effective response is to take the case yourself today, tell the team you have done so, and suggest a rule for who picks up unallocated cases: it starts the case today, makes the pick-up visible so nobody duplicates it, and proposes the thing that stops it recurring. It beats messaging the team to ask who is going to take it and picking it up only if nobody claims it, because another day on an overdue case buys only a conversation. It beats reporting the six-day delay to your team leader so the breach is recorded, because a report does not start the work. The least effective response is leaving it on the basis that somebody else will get to it: the case stays unstarted on exactly the shared reasoning that produced the six days. That is avoidance rather than a slow or indirect way of fixing it. The principle: if you can see it and you have room, it is yours.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are an audit junior at the end of a long week. A section needs a second reviewer’s initials before it can be sent, and your colleague who reviewed it has gone home. You watched him review it and you know he finished. The section is needed tonight. Your manager is contactable. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Record the second review as completed on the file so the section can go out tonight, since you watched him do the work and the initials are a formality once it is finished.
   2. Telephone your colleague at home and ask him to come back in to initial it, since the section genuinely is needed tonight.
   3. Send the section tonight without the second initials, and get them added first thing in the morning before anybody reads it properly.
   4. Message your manager with the position and ask whether to hold the section until the morning or find another reviewer who can initial it tonight.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Message your manager with the position and ask whether to hold the section until the morning or find another reviewer who can initial it tonight.

   Least effective: A. Record the second review as completed on the file so the section can go out tonight, since you watched him do the work and the initials are a formality once it is finished.

   A: Records a review as completed that nobody has signed off: the file states that two people cleared the section, and the second of them has not been asked and does not know.

   B: Spends a colleague's evening before asking your manager: there may be another reviewer, or the section may be able to wait.

   C: Sends work the control has not cleared: whether an unreviewed section can go out tonight is not a decision for the person who wants to go home.

   The most effective response is to message your manager with the position and ask whether to hold the section until the morning or find another reviewer tonight: she owns the deadline and the resource, both routes are available to her, and neither costs anything to ask. It beats sending the section tonight without the second initials and adding them in the morning, because sending an uncleared section is her call. It beats telephoning your colleague at home to come back in and initial it, because that is the most expensive option and has not been shown to be necessary. The least effective response is recording the second review as completed so the section can go out: the file says a second review happened when nobody has cleared it, so the one record proving two people looked at it is false. That is making the record say something the work does not. The principle: never let the file assert a check that has not happened, however sure you are of the work behind it.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a reporting analyst. A figure you circulated on Monday has been corrected, and the new number is materially lower. Two teams have been building next quarter’s plans on the old one since Tuesday, and one of them presents on Thursday. Correcting it publicly will be awkward for the colleague whose data caused the error. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send both teams the corrected figure today with a short note on what changed, so the team presenting on Thursday can rework its plan before it stands up.
   2. Send the corrected figure only to the team presenting on Thursday, and let the other team come across the change when they next look at the underlying report.
   3. Tell both teams that the original figure came from your colleague's data and that this is the second time their numbers have caused a problem like this one for you.
   4. Raise the correction at the reporting meeting next week, when the change can be explained properly to everybody who uses the figure at the same time.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Send both teams the corrected figure today with a short note on what changed, so the team presenting on Thursday can rework its plan before it stands up.

   Least effective: C. Tell both teams that the original figure came from your colleague's data and that this is the second time their numbers have caused a problem like this one for you.

   B: Tells half the audience: both teams are planning on the same wrong number, and the one without a deadline is the one that will build on it for longest.

   C: Blames a colleague in front of the people who need the number: the teams still do not know what the corrected figure is, and the correction becomes an argument about who is at fault.

   D: Delays the decision: Thursday comes first, so the team with the deadline presents a plan built on a number you already know is wrong.

   The most effective response is to send both teams the corrected figure today with a short note on what changed: the correction is only useful before Thursday, both teams are exposed, and the note lets each of them judge what to redo. It beats sending it only to the team presenting on Thursday, because the other team is planning on the same wrong figure with more time to invest in it. It beats raising the correction at next week’s reporting meeting, because that is after the presentation the correction exists to protect. The least effective response is telling both teams the original figure came from your colleague’s data and that this is the second time: it turns a correction into an accusation, in front of people who still do not have the right number, and the thing they need never arrives. That is personalising it rather than communicating it badly. The principle: get the corrected number to everybody using it, in time to be worth having.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a payments assistant. A large client payment has failed and the client’s finance director needs to know within the hour. The approved route is through their relationship manager, who is on a flight. You have the finance director’s mobile number on a file you are not supposed to use for contact details. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Call the relationship manager's team now for another contact route, and tell your manager the clock so somebody with authority can decide how to reach the client.
   2. Take the finance director's mobile number from the file and telephone him directly, since he needs to know within the hour and the number is right there in front of you.
   3. Ask a colleague to telephone the client's main switchboard and try to reach the finance director without saying what it is about.
   4. Email the relationship manager and wait for her to land, since she is the approved route and the client is hers to contact.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Call the relationship manager's team now for another contact route, and tell your manager the clock so somebody with authority can decide how to reach the client.

   Least effective: B. Take the finance director's mobile number from the file and telephone him directly, since he needs to know within the hour and the number is right there in front of you.

   B: Uses a record for a purpose it is not permitted for: the restriction exists whatever the reason, and urgency is exactly the circumstance it was written to cover.

   C: Sends somebody to make a call they cannot explain: a vague approach from an unnamed colleague will not reach him inside an hour.

   D: Follows the route past the deadline: an hour is the whole window and a flight is longer than that.

   The most effective response is to call the relationship manager’s team now for another contact route, and tell your manager the clock so somebody with authority can decide how to reach the client: her team almost certainly has another route, and your manager can authorise whatever is needed if it does not. It beats emailing the relationship manager and waiting for her to land, because the flight is longer than the hour. It beats asking a colleague to ring the client’s switchboard without saying what it is about, because a call nobody can explain will not get through. The least effective response is taking the finance director’s mobile number from the file and telephoning him directly: contact details are used from a source you are specifically not permitted to use for that, on your own judgement that the circumstances justify it. That is breaching a stated restriction rather than being too slow or too indirect. The principle: when the approved route will not make the deadline, get authority for another one.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are an assurance trainee. A meeting note you wrote three weeks ago records that the client “would consider” a change. Your senior says the client has since told him they “agreed” it at that meeting, and asks you to amend the note to say agreed. You remember it as considered. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Refuse and tell him the note cannot be touched, without offering any way to capture what the client has now said.
   2. Amend the original note to say the client agreed, since your senior was in the meeting too and the client has now confirmed that is what happened.
   3. Take it straight to the engagement partner as a request to falsify a record, without first putting the alternative to your senior.
   4. Offer to add a dated line recording what the client has now said, and explain that you would rather not change what the original note recorded at the time.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Offer to add a dated line recording what the client has now said, and explain that you would rather not change what the original note recorded at the time.

   Least effective: B. Amend the original note to say the client agreed, since your senior was in the meeting too and the client has now confirmed that is what happened.

   A: Defends the record and drops the substance: the client's later position is real and needs recording somewhere.

   B: Alters a contemporaneous record: the note's whole value is that it says what was recorded on the day, and rewriting it removes the only evidence of the difference.

   C: Names it as falsification before asking: your senior may simply not have thought about it, and this is very hard to walk back.

   The most effective response is to offer to add a dated line recording what the client has now said, and explain that you would rather not change what the original note recorded at the time: it protects what the note is for, captures the new information properly, and gives your senior an easy way to accept. It beats refusing outright and offering no way to capture what the client has now said, because that later position still needs to be on file. It beats taking it straight to the engagement partner as a request to falsify a record, because an unheralded partner conversation is a large response to a request he may withdraw at once. The least effective response is amending the original note to say the client agreed: the record of what was said on the day is overwritten to match what people now believe, which destroys the one thing a contemporaneous note provides. That is altering a record rather than handling the request rigidly or dramatically. The principle: never rewrite the old record; add a new one with today’s date on it.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a payments assistant. Two items are queued: a £40,000 payment that must leave today or a property purchase falls through, and forty small refunds promised to customers by end of day. It is 4pm and the payment window closes at 4:30. The refunds take an hour. Your team leader is in a meeting until 5pm. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do half of the refunds and release the payment at 4:29, so that both jobs have been started and neither customer group is entirely ignored.
   2. Start the refunds now because forty customers were promised them today, and let the property payment go into tomorrow's window without flagging it to anybody.
   3. Release the £40,000 payment inside the window, then work through the refunds and message your team leader with where the refunds stand at 5pm.
   4. Wait until your team leader comes out of the meeting at 5pm and ask them which of the two should go first, since both were promised for today.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Release the £40,000 payment inside the window, then work through the refunds and message your team leader with where the refunds stand at 5pm.

   Least effective: B. Start the refunds now because forty customers were promised them today, and let the property payment go into tomorrow's window without flagging it to anybody.

   A: Splits effort against a hard window: releasing a large payment in the last minute of the window leaves nothing to absorb a problem with it.

   B: Lets a deadline pass without a word: a purchase falls through and the one person who might have found another route is in a meeting, unaware, until after the window has closed.

   D: Delays the decision past the point of choice: the payment window shuts at 4:30, so waiting until 5pm decides it by default.

   The most effective response is to release the £40,000 payment inside the window, then work through the refunds and message your team leader with where they stand at 5pm: 4:30 is immovable and carries the larger consequence, the refunds have the rest of the evening, and your team leader can pick up the remainder. It beats waiting until they come out of the meeting at 5pm to ask which should go first, because the window closes half an hour before that. It beats doing half the refunds and releasing the payment at 4:29, because a large payment released with a minute to spare has no room for anything to go wrong. The least effective response is starting the refunds and letting the property payment slip into tomorrow without flagging it: the purchase fails, and it fails silently, so nobody who could have found another way is given the chance. That is a deadline missed in silence rather than a defensible ordering. The principle: take the deadline that cannot move, and tell somebody about what gives way.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a relationship support assistant. You disagreed with a colleague about how a client’s paperwork should be split, and your manager decided in their favour. Since then the colleague has been short with you. You have been sending them a weekly summary that nobody asked you to produce, and which their Monday call depends on. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Keep sending the summary and say nothing about the disagreement, on the basis that the atmosphere will settle by itself once a few weeks have passed.
   2. Tell your manager that the colleague has been short with you since the decision, and ask them to have a word about how it is affecting the work.
   3. Stop sending the weekly summary now that the paperwork has been decided their way, and let them work out for themselves what their Monday call is missing.
   4. Keep sending the summary, and find a quiet moment to say that the paperwork decision is settled as far as you are concerned and you would rather not have it sitting between you.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Keep sending the summary, and find a quiet moment to say that the paperwork decision is settled as far as you are concerned and you would rather not have it sitting between you.

   Least effective: C. Stop sending the weekly summary now that the paperwork has been decided their way, and let them work out for themselves what their Monday call is missing.

   A: Avoids the difficult conversation: the work continues and the colleague is left guessing whether you are still aggrieved.

   B: Escalates before speaking to the person: a two-minute conversation has not been tried, and involving the manager who just decided it raises the stakes considerably.

   C: Withdraws help after losing an argument: the summary was never owed, which is exactly what makes stopping it now read as payback rather than as a change of workload.

   The most effective response is to keep sending the summary, and find a quiet moment to say the paperwork decision is settled as far as you are concerned and you would rather not have it sitting between you: it protects work somebody relies on, separates the decision from the relationship, and says the one thing that lets them drop it too. It beats keeping the summary going and saying nothing about the disagreement, because silence leaves them guessing and the atmosphere is what is actually in the way. It beats telling your manager they have been short with you since the decision, because the manager is the last resort, not the first, and has just ruled on this. The least effective response is stopping the weekly summary now the paperwork has been decided their way: a Monday call quietly loses what it depends on, the person affected is left to discover it, and a settled disagreement is reopened as a grievance. That is retaliation rather than a poor way of moving on. The principle: a decision that went against you does not license withdrawing what other people depend on.

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 reconciliations clerk. A £12,000 difference on a client account has appeared and cleared twice in three weeks, each time within a day. It is showing again today. Raising it formally freezes the account and the client is mid-transaction. Your supervisor is on leave and her cover has told you not to raise things that resolve themselves. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Follow the cover's instruction and leave it, noting the recurrence in your own file so there is a record if it appears a fourth time.
   2. Raise it formally today without going back to the cover, since a £12,000 difference recurring three times is plainly the sort of thing the process exists for.
   3. Tell the cover today that this is the third time, ask for a decision on raising it, and record that you have asked and what you were told.
   4. Tell the cover that the difference has cleared and the account is reconciled, so that nothing gets raised and the client's transaction is not interrupted.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Tell the cover today that this is the third time, ask for a decision on raising it, and record that you have asked and what you were told.

   Least effective: D. Tell the cover that the difference has cleared and the account is reconciled, so that nothing gets raised and the client's transaction is not interrupted.

   A: Keeps the record where nobody will look: a private note is not the same as putting a third recurrence in front of the person who can act on it.

   B: Escalates past the person covering the decision: the account freezes mid-transaction and the one person accountable this week was not asked.

   D: States as settled something you know is open: the difference is showing today, and the person deciding whether to raise it is given a fact that is not true.

   The most effective response is to tell the cover today that this is the third time, ask for a decision on raising it, and record that you asked and what you were told: a third recurrence is new information they have not had, the decision is genuinely theirs, and recording it protects everybody including you. It beats raising it formally today without going back to the cover, because freezing a client mid-transaction is a decision the person accountable this week should make. It beats following the instruction and noting the recurrence in your own file, because a private note is not raising it with anybody. The least effective response is telling the cover the difference has cleared and the account is reconciled: the one person who could decide is told something untrue, so their instruction rests on a fact you supplied and know to be wrong. That is a false statement rather than a misjudged escalation. The principle: take the new fact to the person who owns the decision, and write down what they said.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a reporting analyst. In front of the team, a director says you will “of course” have the new board pack ready for Monday. You have never built this pack, the person who normally does it has left, and Monday is three working days away. The director has moved on to the next item. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Spend the three days working it out from the previous packs entirely on your own, and raise it on Monday only if you have not managed to produce something usable.
    2. Speak to the director straight after the meeting, say plainly what you do and do not know how to build, and ask who can walk you through it tomorrow.
    3. Send the request on to another team on Monday morning, explaining to them then that building this pack was never something you could realistically have done.
    4. Contradict the director in the meeting, saying that you have never built the pack and that Monday is not realistic for somebody in your position.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Speak to the director straight after the meeting, say plainly what you do and do not know how to build, and ask who can walk you through it tomorrow.

    Least effective: C. Send the request on to another team on Monday morning, explaining to them then that building this pack was never something you could realistically have done.

    A: Gambles the deadline on self-teaching: if three days are not enough, Monday is the first anybody hears and there is no time left.

    C: Moves the problem on at the deadline: three days in which somebody could have taught you or reassigned it are spent, and another team is handed an overdue pack cold.

    D: Answers a public commitment in public: the point is right and the setting turns it into a disagreement rather than a request for help.

    The most effective response is to speak to the director straight after the meeting, say plainly what you do and do not know how to build, and ask who can walk you through it tomorrow: it is immediate, private, and asks for the specific thing that would make Monday possible. It beats contradicting him in the meeting, because the same point lands far better outside the room. It beats working it out from the previous packs alone and raising it only if you fail, because discovering on Monday that three days were not enough leaves nobody any options. The least effective response is sending the request to another team on Monday morning: the three days that could have solved it are spent in silence and the pack is handed on the morning it is due. That is offloading it rather than raising it clumsily or too late. The principle: ask for the help that makes the deadline possible, and ask today.