USPS Assessment Tests

USPS Online Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are an enquiries officer at Redhill Directorate. Two colleagues, Marek and Jo, are not speaking after an argument last month. They both work on the same complaint replies, and instead of talking to each other they now copy you into every message. A reply due on Friday has been sitting in that thread for a week with neither of them acting on it. You are not their manager. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Write the reply yourself before Friday and send it under your own name, leaving Marek and Jo to sort out their argument between themselves in their own time, as they will have to eventually.
   2. Blame Marek in your reply to the thread for the week of delay, and copy their manager in so everybody can see who has been holding the reply up.
   3. Reply to the thread naming Friday's deadline and asking each of them to confirm which part they will do, and say you will raise it with their manager if nothing is confirmed today.
   4. Take yourself off the thread and leave the two of them to deal with the reply, on the view that their work is not yours to chase.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Reply to the thread naming Friday's deadline and asking each of them to confirm which part they will do, and say you will raise it with their manager if nothing is confirmed today.

   Least effective: B. Blame Marek in your reply to the thread for the week of delay, and copy their manager in so everybody can see who has been holding the reply up.

   A: Absorbs the failure quietly: writing the reply keeps Friday safe and leaves the next reply, and the one after that, sitting in the same thread with the same two people.

   B: Assigns blame in front of an audience: it makes the delay about which colleague is at fault rather than about a reply due on Friday, and gives both of them a reason to defend themselves instead of writing it.

   D: Declines to act on a deadline you can see: Friday does not move because you have left the thread, and the complainant waiting for the reply has no part in the argument.

   The most effective response is to reply to the thread naming Friday’s deadline, ask each of them to confirm which part they will do, and say you will raise it with their manager if nothing is confirmed today: a reply is due, neither person is acting, and naming the deadline with a next step and a stated consequence is the most you can do without taking their work over. It beats writing the reply yourself and sending it under your own name, because that keeps Friday safe and guarantees the same thing next week. It beats taking yourself off the thread and leaving them to it, because Friday does not move because you have left. The least effective response is blaming Marek in the thread and copying their manager in: a missed deadline becomes a public argument about fault, and both of them have something to defend instead of a reply to write. That makes it worse than writing it yourself, which at least gets the reply out, and worse than leaving the thread, which adds nothing. The principle: name the deadline and the next step, and keep the disagreement out of it.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a programme support officer at Redhill Directorate. A funder requires a quarterly figure for people supported. This quarter’s figure of nine hundred and forty comes from three delivery partners, and one of them has told you their number is an estimate because their system was rebuilt in July. The return is due at noon tomorrow and the funder uses it to release the next payment. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Present the nine hundred and forty as confirmed, and correct it quietly in next quarter's return if the partner's real number turns out lower.
   2. Ask the partner for a firm number by tonight and submit whatever they give you at noon, with no note about how it was produced.
   3. Miss the noon deadline and submit on Friday once the partner has rebuilt their figure, and tell the funder the delay was unavoidable.
   4. Submit at noon with the figure and a note naming the partner whose number is an estimate and why, and say a confirmed figure will follow.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Submit at noon with the figure and a note naming the partner whose number is an estimate and why, and say a confirmed figure will follow.

   Least effective: A. Present the nine hundred and forty as confirmed, and correct it quietly in next quarter's return if the partner's real number turns out lower.

   A: Presents an estimate as a confirmed figure: the funder releases the next payment on a number one partner has told you is not reliable, and the correction is planned for a return three months away.

   B: Buys a number without buying its quality: a figure produced overnight by a partner whose system was rebuilt in July is no firmer than the estimate, and the funder cannot tell the difference.

   C: Spends a payment deadline to buy accuracy: the return releases the next payment, and Friday is three days of the programme's funding for a figure that may not move.

   The most effective response is to submit at noon with the figure and a note naming the partner whose number is an estimate and why, and say a confirmed figure will follow: the funder needs the return at noon to release payment, and a figure carried with that qualification is both on time and true. It beats asking the partner for a firm number by tonight and submitting whatever they give at noon, because a number produced overnight from a rebuilt system is no firmer and the funder is told nothing. It beats missing noon and submitting on Friday once they have rebuilt their figure, because that spends the programme’s funding to buy a figure that may not move. The least effective response is presenting the nine hundred and forty as confirmed and correcting it quietly next quarter: an estimate is given as settled to the body releasing the money. That makes it worse than the overnight number, which at least chases a better figure, and worse than the late submission, which is honest. The principle: when the deadline is fixed and part of the figure is soft, submit the figure with the softness named, rather than hardening it or missing the deadline.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a programme support officer at Brantwood Services. Applications for a hardship grant closed at 5pm yesterday. This morning a colleague brings you a paper form from a claimant whose partner died last week, dated and posted before the deadline but delivered late. The scheme rules say the panel may accept late applications where the delay was outside the applicant’s control, and only the panel may decide that. The panel next meets on Thursday. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Log the form as received, write up the postmark and the circumstances, and put it to Thursday's panel as a late application for them to decide on.
   2. Assure the claimant today that the application will be accepted given the circumstances, and put the paperwork to the panel on Thursday as a formality.
   3. Date the form as received before the deadline, given that it was posted in time, and process it as an ordinary application that arrived on time.
   4. Return the form with a note that applications closed at 5pm yesterday, and tell the claimant they can apply to the next round in six months.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Log the form as received, write up the postmark and the circumstances, and put it to Thursday's panel as a late application for them to decide on.

   Least effective: B. Assure the claimant today that the application will be accepted given the circumstances, and put the paperwork to the panel on Thursday as a formality.

   B: Gives an assurance that is not yours to give: only the panel may accept a late application, so a recently bereaved claimant is told on Tuesday that a Thursday decision has already gone their way.

   C: Falsifies the received date to reach a fair result: the postmark evidence that would persuade the panel is replaced by a date that hides the fact a decision was ever needed.

   D: Applies the rule without the part that fits: the scheme expressly allows the panel to accept late applications outside the applicant's control, and six months answers a question nobody has put to the panel.

   The most effective response is to log the form as received, write up the postmark and the circumstances, and put it to Thursday’s panel as a late application: the rules already contemplate exactly this case, the decision is expressly the panel’s, and they can only make it with the postmark and the circumstances in front of them. It beats dating the form as received before the deadline because it was posted in time, since that reaches the same result by making the record say something untrue and removes the evidence the panel would have relied on. It beats returning the form with a note that applications closed at 5pm, because that ignores the part of the rule written for delays outside the applicant’s control. The least effective response is assuring the claimant today that the application will be accepted: a recently bereaved person is told a decision has been made when it has not, and if Thursday’s panel decides otherwise they hear it twice. That makes it worse than back-dating, which is dishonest on the file but raises no false hope, and worse than returning it, which is harsh but true. The principle: sympathy is a reason to put a case properly to whoever decides, never a reason to promise their decision in advance.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are a contracts assistant at Brantwood Services. You manage twelve live contracts, which your team agrees is a full load. Your manager asks you to take four more from a colleague on long-term sick leave, starting today. Two of your twelve are at renewal and need a fortnight of work each in the next month. Nobody else in the team is under twelve, and your manager has asked for an answer this morning. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Refuse the four, pointing out that twelve is what the whole team agrees is a full load, and leave your manager to find somewhere else for them before the end of today.
   2. Tell your manager you can take the four, and set out that the two renewals need a fortnight each next month so they can decide what moves or slips.
   3. Take the four and hand two of your existing contracts over to a colleague without telling your manager which ones you have moved.
   4. Take the four and say nothing about the two renewals, and work through the month at whatever pace it turns out to need.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell your manager you can take the four, and set out that the two renewals need a fortnight each next month so they can decide what moves or slips.

   Least effective: C. Take the four and hand two of your existing contracts over to a colleague without telling your manager which ones you have moved.

   A: Answers the number and not the problem: nobody else in the team is under twelve, so a refusal leaves four contracts with nowhere to go and gives your manager nothing new to work with.

   C: Passes work on without owning it: two contracts move to a colleague who is also at twelve, your manager does not know which ones, and nobody can tell who is responsible for them.

   D: Accepts the load and hides its shape: sixteen contracts including two renewals needing a fortnight each is not a month that can be worked at whatever pace it needs, and nobody has been told.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager you can take the four, and set out that the two renewals need a fortnight each next month: the four have to go somewhere and nobody is under twelve, so refusing solves nothing, and the renewals are the fact that actually changes the decision. It beats refusing the four and pointing to twelve as a full load, because that leaves them with no home and your manager with no new information. It beats taking them and saying nothing about the renewals, because sixteen contracts with two renewals in them is not a load that can be absorbed silently. The least effective response is taking the four and handing two existing contracts to a colleague without saying which: they go to somebody also at twelve, your manager is not told, and responsibility is unclear to everybody. That makes it worse than refusing, which leaves ownership clear, and worse than silent absorption, which keeps the work with the person who knows it. The principle: when you are asked to go past a full load, accept or decline on the record and give the decision-maker the fact that changes their options.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are a records officer at Redhill Directorate. You and a colleague, Tomas, were both asked to write half of a data quality report due on Friday. Tomas has sent you two paragraphs and nothing since, and has missed two agreed check-ins. When you asked, he said he is snowed under. It is Wednesday. The report goes to a board that has asked for it twice, and you have not spoken to your team leader. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send your half to the board on Friday with a note explaining that Tomas did not deliver his, and let the board draw its own conclusions about him.
   2. Tell Tomas today exactly what you need from him by Thursday morning to finish the report, and say you will write to your team leader tonight if it does not arrive.
   3. Write Tomas's half yourself tonight and tomorrow, leaving the report complete on Friday, and say nothing to anybody about where the second half of it actually came from, or who wrote it.
   4. Tell your team leader this afternoon that Tomas has delivered two paragraphs in a week, and leave them to decide what happens before Friday.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell Tomas today exactly what you need from him by Thursday morning to finish the report, and say you will write to your team leader tonight if it does not arrive.

   Least effective: A. Send your half to the board on Friday with a note explaining that Tomas did not deliver his, and let the board draw its own conclusions about him.

   A: Undermines a colleague in front of the audience: the board wanted a report and gets half a report and a grievance, and Tomas first learns what you think of his week from a board paper.

   C: Absorbs the failure and hides it: Friday is met, the board never learns the report was written by one person, and the same split is agreed again next quarter.

   D: Escalates before the deadline it could still save: Tomas has not been told what is needed by when, and a team leader hearing it on Wednesday afternoon has less to work with than he does.

   The most effective response is to tell Tomas today exactly what you need from him by Thursday morning, and say you will write to your team leader tonight if it does not arrive: there is still a day, he has never been told what is needed by when, and a stated deadline with a stated consequence gives him the chance and you a clean route. It beats writing his half yourself tonight and saying nothing about where it came from, because the board never learns the split failed. It beats telling your team leader he has delivered two paragraphs in a week, because Tomas has not yet been told and Thursday is still available. The least effective response is sending your half to the board with a note explaining that he did not deliver his: the board asked twice for a report and receives half of one with a complaint attached, and he reads your account of his week in a board paper. That makes it worse than writing it yourself, which delivers what was asked for, and worse than escalating, which is aimed at getting the report finished. The principle: give the colleague a specific ask and a stated consequence before the deadline, and never make the deliverable the place you register the complaint.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are a business support officer at Calder Group. You run bookings for a public advice service. A woman emails asking to cancel her Thursday appointment and rebook in six weeks. In the same email she mentions she is being evicted on the fifteenth of next month. The adviser she is booked with covers housing, and the appointment in six weeks would fall after the eviction date. There is a duty housing slot most weekday mornings. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Reply asking whether the eviction date is why she wants to move the appointment, keep Thursday open for now, and tell her about the duty housing slots.
   2. Reply confirming the six-week rebooking and assure her the adviser will still be able to help then, since housing advice is available at any stage of a case.
   3. Cancel Thursday and rebook in six weeks exactly as she has asked, and add a note to the file about the eviction date she mentioned.
   4. Reply telling her that the appointment in six weeks falls after the fifteenth, and ask her to let you know what she would like to do.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Reply asking whether the eviction date is why she wants to move the appointment, keep Thursday open for now, and tell her about the duty housing slots.

   Least effective: B. Reply confirming the six-week rebooking and assure her the adviser will still be able to help then, since housing advice is available at any stage of a case.

   B: Gives an assurance the timing does not support: the appointment she is being confirmed into falls after the date she is evicted, and telling her it will still help is the reason she will not look for anything sooner.

   C: Acts on the words and files the reason: the note records an eviction date that nobody will read before the appointment she has just moved past it.

   D: Names the problem and leaves the solution out: she now knows the date does not work and still has no idea that duty slots exist, which is the part that would actually help her.

   The most effective response is to reply asking whether the eviction date is why she wants to move the appointment, keep Thursday open for now, and tell her about the duty housing slots: her email contains a request and a fact that makes the request harmful to her, and holding Thursday keeps every option open until she has decided. It beats cancelling Thursday and rebooking in six weeks with a note about the eviction date, because a note on the file is read by nobody before the date passes. It beats telling her the six-week appointment falls after the fifteenth and asking what she would like to do, because that gives her the problem without the duty slots. The least effective response is confirming the six-week rebooking and assuring her the adviser can still help: it books a slot that lands after the eviction and adds a reassurance that makes it less likely she looks for help sooner. That makes it worse than the cancellation with a note, which at least records the reason, and worse than flagging the date, which is incomplete but true. The principle: when a request and a fact in the same message pull against each other, answer the fact before you act on the request.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a records officer at Calder Group. Six weeks ago you loaded a list of new supplier bank details. This morning you notice that two rows were transposed, so two suppliers have each been receiving the other’s payments since then. About fourteen thousand pounds has moved the wrong way. Your team leader is at her desk, and the payments team can hold tomorrow’s file if they are told before 9am. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell your team leader now and ask the payments team to hold tomorrow's file, because another run would move more money to the wrong two suppliers before anyone has corrected the rows.
   2. Correct the two rows this morning and email finance to say that the supplier bank details have been amended, without mentioning that six weeks of payments have already gone to the two wrong accounts.
   3. Correct the two rows and write to both suppliers explaining what happened and asking them to return the money that was not theirs.
   4. Correct the two rows quietly this morning and mark the load as checked, and let the fourteen thousand pounds work itself out between the two suppliers over the coming months.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Tell your team leader now and ask the payments team to hold tomorrow's file, because another run would move more money to the wrong two suppliers before anyone has corrected the rows.

   Least effective: D. Correct the two rows quietly this morning and mark the load as checked, and let the fourteen thousand pounds work itself out between the two suppliers over the coming months.

   B: Reports the fix without the problem: finance is told details changed and is not told that six weeks of payments went to the wrong accounts, so nothing is recovered and nobody looks.

   C: Acts on the outside before the inside: writing to suppliers before your own team and finance know commits the organisation to a version of events nobody has checked, and tomorrow's file still runs.

   D: Marks a load as checked that was wrong: the record now says the supplier details were verified, the two suppliers keep the wrong money, and the only person who knows has decided to wait.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader now and ask the payments team to hold tomorrow’s file: money is still moving the wrong way, tomorrow’s run can be held if they hear before 9am, and an error six weeks old is exactly when somebody senior needs to see it rather than be told a fix has been made. It beats correcting the two rows and emailing finance that the bank details have been amended, because finance cannot recover money it has not been told about. It beats correcting the rows and writing to both suppliers asking for the money back, because that commits the organisation before anybody internal has checked the facts. The least effective response is correcting the rows quietly and marking the load as checked: the load is recorded as checked when it was wrong, fourteen thousand pounds stays with the wrong suppliers, and tomorrow’s file runs. That makes it worse than the finance email, which is incomplete but visible, and worse than writing to suppliers, which is out of order but actively tries to get the money back. The principle: an error already downstream is escalated for the damage it has done, not just corrected for the damage it would do next.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are a records officer at Calder Group. Your team leader has told you to spend today preparing the quarterly retention report, which is due in three weeks. Yesterday you told the audit team you would have twelve requested files digitised and sent to them by five today; they have a review meeting tomorrow morning. Digitising takes most of a day. Your team leader is at her desk. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Assure the audit team the files will arrive by five, then spend the day on the retention report and send whatever you have managed to digitise.
   2. Tell your team leader now that you promised the audit team twelve files by five, and ask whether the retention report can start tomorrow instead.
   3. Do the retention report as instructed and email the audit team to say the files will follow next week, after their review meeting.
   4. Split the day between the two, and send the audit team six of the twelve files at five with a note saying the rest will follow.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell your team leader now that you promised the audit team twelve files by five, and ask whether the retention report can start tomorrow instead.

   Least effective: A. Assure the audit team the files will arrive by five, then spend the day on the retention report and send whatever you have managed to digitise.

   A: Gives an assurance the day cannot support: digitising twelve files takes most of a day and the day is going on the retention report, so the audit team plan a meeting around files that will not arrive.

   C: Ranks the instruction above the commitment without asking: the retention report is due in three weeks and the audit meeting is tomorrow, and your team leader has not been given the chance to weigh that.

   D: Splits a deliverable that was promised whole: six files at five leaves the audit team choosing which half of their review to do, and the retention report is half done as well.

   The most effective response is to tell your team leader now that you promised the audit team twelve files by five, and ask whether the retention report can start tomorrow: one job is due in three weeks and the other is reviewed tomorrow morning, only she can rank them, and she is at her desk. It beats doing the retention report as instructed and telling the audit team the files follow next week, because the report has three weeks and the audit meeting has one night. It beats splitting the day and sending six of the twelve at five, because that leaves the audit team to work out which half of their review they can still do. The least effective response is assuring them the files will arrive by five and then spending the day elsewhere: they walk into tomorrow’s review having planned around twelve files that do not exist. That makes it worse than following the instruction, which is inflexible but tells them the truth in time, and worse than sending six, which is unsatisfactory but delivers something real. The principle: when an instruction collides with a promise, take it to whoever set the instruction, and never buy time with an assurance the day cannot support.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are an enquiries officer at Redhill Directorate. A man writes asking for a copy of a form so he can appeal a decision. The letter also says the decision was made about his late mother’s estate and that he is the executor. Executors do not use that appeal form; there is a separate estate route with a different deadline, which is in eleven days. The appeal form he has asked for would be rejected as out of scope. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send his letter over to the appeals team and tell him they will be in touch, then close the enquiry on your side.
   2. Send him the estate route form instead, explain why the appeal form would be rejected, and tell him the estate deadline falls in eleven days.
   3. Send him the appeal form he has asked for and add a line saying that executors may need to use a different route instead.
   4. Reply telling him that the appeal form is not the right one for executors, and ask him to write again if he wants the correct form.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Send him the estate route form instead, explain why the appeal form would be rejected, and tell him the estate deadline falls in eleven days.

   Least effective: A. Send his letter over to the appeals team and tell him they will be in touch, then close the enquiry on your side.

   A: Passes the enquiry on without owning it: the appeals team do not handle estates, the eleven-day estate deadline is nowhere in what you have sent them, and he is waiting for a call that answers a different question.

   C: Answers the request and hedges the need: he receives the form that will be rejected, plus a sentence he has no way to act on, and the eleven days run either way.

   D: Corrects the form and withholds the deadline: he now knows the appeal form is wrong, does not know which one is right, and has to write again inside eleven days to find out.

   The most effective response is to send him the estate route form instead, explain why the appeal form would be rejected, and tell him the estate deadline falls in eleven days: what he asked for would be rejected, what he needs has a deadline, and one reply with the form, the reason and the date is the only version that leaves him able to act. It beats sending the appeal form with a line saying executors may need a different route, because that still sends the wrong form. It beats telling him the appeal form is not right for executors and asking him to write again, because that costs another exchange out of eleven days. The least effective response is sending his letter to the appeals team and closing the enquiry: they do not deal with estates, nothing records the eleven-day deadline, and he waits for a response to a question nobody is answering. That makes it worse than the wrong form with a warning, which at least hints at the right route, and worse than the bare correction, which is accurate. The principle: when the request would fail and the real need is visible in the same letter, answer the need and say why.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a programme support officer at Brantwood Services. Purchase orders over five thousand pounds need a second approver before they are raised, and the second approver for your programme is on annual leave until Monday. A supplier will hold a six thousand four hundred pound order at today’s price only until 5pm. Your manager is contactable, and a named deputy approver is listed for exactly this situation, though nobody in your team has used them before. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Contact the named deputy approver now, explain the price deadline and the amount, and ask them to give the second approval today, telling your manager you have done so.
    2. Raise the order and sign the second approval off in your manager's name, then mention it to them when they are next free, keeping the price you were quoted.
    3. Ask your manager to approve it themselves as a one-off, noting on the order that the usual second approver is away and that the price expires at 5pm.
    4. Let the price expire and raise the order on Monday when the second approver is back, telling the supplier the order is coming and asking what the new price will be.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: A. Contact the named deputy approver now, explain the price deadline and the amount, and ask them to give the second approval today, telling your manager you have done so.

    Least effective: B. Raise the order and sign the second approval off in your manager's name, then mention it to them when they are next free, keeping the price you were quoted.

    B: Puts your name to somebody else's approval: the second approver exists so that two people have actually looked at a large commitment, and an approval signed in an absent manager's name means one person looked.

    C: Escalates prematurely: a named deputy exists for exactly this situation, and asking a manager to step outside the control is a bigger ask than using the route designed for it.

    D: Gives up before the options are used: the deputy approver is listed for this case and has not been asked, so the price is lost to an assumption that the control cannot be satisfied today.

    The most effective response is to contact the named deputy approver now, explain the price deadline and the amount, and ask for the second approval today: the control exists to put a second pair of eyes on a large commitment, a deputy is listed for precisely this case, and using them satisfies the control and the 5pm price at once. It beats asking your manager to approve it themselves as a one-off, because it does not need an exception when a designed route is available. It beats letting the price expire and raising the order on Monday, because that loses money to an assumption nobody has tested. The least effective response is signing the second approval off in your manager’s name: only one person has looked at a large order, and the record now says two did. That makes it worse than the one-off exception, which keeps a real second person in the decision, and worse than waiting for Monday, which costs money but leaves the control intact. The principle: when a control blocks the work, use the route the control provides before asking for an exception, and never satisfy it on paper only.