Visa Assessment Tests

Visa Situational Judgement Test

1. Question 1 of 10

   You are a risk assistant. A long-standing customer’s account has been restricted while a review runs and he is telephoning daily. You cannot tell him why, and you do not know how long it will take. He is polite, plainly worried, and says he has bills he cannot pay. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Tell him you will chase the review team every day and let him know the moment there is any news at all about when the restriction might be lifted.
   2. Tell him honestly that you cannot say why or for how long, explain exactly what you can do about the bills in the meantime, and agree a day each week when you will call him.
   3. Tell him you cannot discuss the review at all and that he will have to wait to be contacted, without offering anything about the bills or about when he might hear something.
   4. Assure him the review will be finished within a few days, because that is usually how long these take and it will stop him telephoning every single morning while it runs.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Tell him honestly that you cannot say why or for how long, explain exactly what you can do about the bills in the meantime, and agree a day each week when you will call him.

   Least effective: D. Assure him the review will be finished within a few days, because that is usually how long these take and it will stop him telephoning every single morning while it runs.

   A: Promises a level of contact you cannot sustain: a daily chase you do not control becomes a daily failure he notices.

   C: Refuses everything because one thing is confidential: the bills and the contact pattern are both things you could actually help with.

   D: Gives a timescale you do not have: he plans his bills around it, and when the few days pass he has been told something untrue by the one person he trusts here.

   The most effective response is to tell him honestly that you cannot say why or for how long, explain exactly what you can do about the bills, and agree a day each week when you will call: it is honest about the two things you cannot give him, and gives him the two you can, which are practical help and a predictable call. It beats telling him you cannot discuss the review and that he must wait to be contacted, because confidentiality about the review does not extend to his bills. It beats promising to chase the review team every day and call the moment there is news, because promising daily news you do not control fails publicly. The least effective response is assuring him the review will be finished within a few days: a timescale is invented to end an uncomfortable call, and a worried customer plans his finances on it. That is a false assurance rather than an unhelpful or over-generous answer. The principle: be honest about the gap, and be generous with what you can control.

2. Question 2 of 10

   You are a management accounts assistant. Every month you rekey the same figures between two systems, which takes half a day and causes errors. You could write a small spreadsheet tool that does it automatically. Tools that move data between these systems have to be registered and reviewed by the systems team first. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Build a prototype, show your manager the half-day saving, and ask them to put it to the systems team for registration before anybody uses it for real.
   2. Ask the systems team to build the tool themselves, since they own the registration process and will know how it should be done.
   3. Carry on rekeying each month and raise the idea at the next systems team forum in three months, when there is a proper slot for suggestions like this one.
   4. Build the tool and start using it for this month's close, and register it with the systems team afterwards once it has proved that it works properly.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Build a prototype, show your manager the half-day saving, and ask them to put it to the systems team for registration before anybody uses it for real.

   Least effective: D. Build the tool and start using it for this month's close, and register it with the systems team afterwards once it has proved that it works properly.

   B: Hands away the part you are best placed to do: you know the process and the failure modes, and their queue is long.

   C: Delays the decision for a quarter: three more months of half-days and known errors, to wait for a meeting.

   D: Builds a workaround around a control: a month's reported figures come out of an unreviewed tool, and registration afterwards cannot undo that they already have.

   The most effective response is to build a prototype, show your manager the half-day saving, and ask him to put it to the systems team for registration before anybody uses it for real: the prototype makes the case concrete, he owns the priority, and registration happens before anything real depends on it. It beats carrying on rekeying and raising the idea at the systems forum in three months, because three months of known errors is a real cost. It beats asking the systems team to build the tool themselves, because handing it to a long queue loses the knowledge that makes it work. The least effective response is building the tool, using it for this month’s close, and registering it afterwards: a month’s figures are produced by a tool that the review exists to look at before it is trusted. That is going around a stated control rather than moving too slowly or too fast. The principle: build it, show it, and get it approved before anything real runs on it.

3. Question 3 of 10

   You are a branch adviser. You realise you gave a customer the wrong overdraft rate last week: you said 19% and it is 24%. He has since applied for it. The paperwork he signed shows the correct rate and he may never notice the difference. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Let your own mistake stand now that the paperwork is signed, since nobody has queried the rate and raising it would only unsettle a customer who is perfectly happy.
   2. Telephone him today, tell him you quoted the wrong rate, confirm what the real one is, and check that he still wants to go ahead on that basis.
   3. Post him a copy of the rate card with the correct figure highlighted on it, so he can see the right rate without having an awkward conversation about the mistake.
   4. Tell your manager what happened and ask her to decide whether the customer needs to be contacted about the difference in the rate.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: B. Telephone him today, tell him you quoted the wrong rate, confirm what the real one is, and check that he still wants to go ahead on that basis.

   Least effective: A. Let your own mistake stand now that the paperwork is signed, since nobody has queried the rate and raising it would only unsettle a customer who is perfectly happy.

   A: Hides your own error behind his signature: he agreed to something on a figure you gave him, and the only person who knows the two do not match has decided he does not need to.

   C: Corrects without owning: a highlighted rate card does not tell him he was given a wrong figure or invite him to change his mind.

   D: Escalates a decision you can make: telephoning a customer to correct your own quote is within your gift, and it delays a call he should get today.

   The most effective response is to telephone him today, tell him you quoted the wrong rate, confirm the real one, and check that he still wants to go ahead: he made a decision on a number you gave him, the gap is five points, and only a direct call lets him reconsider. It beats posting him a rate card with the correct figure highlighted, because that does not tell him he was misinformed. It beats telling your manager and asking her to decide whether he needs contacting, because correcting your own quote does not need authorising. The least effective response is letting the mistake stand now that the paperwork is signed: he keeps a product he agreed to on a wrong figure, and the paperwork is used as the reason he need not be told. That is concealment rather than an incomplete or slow correction. The principle: he decided on your number, so he is owed the correction directly.

4. Question 4 of 10

   You are an accounts assistant. A supplier’s credit insurer emails asking you to confirm that your firm has “no disputed invoices” with them. There are two disputed invoices, both small, and your manager is on leave for a week. The insurer says a reply is needed within two days or cover will be withdrawn. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Leave the email until your manager returns, since a request of this kind is plainly above your level to answer either way.
   2. Assure the insurer that there are no disputed invoices, since the two in question are small and will almost certainly be resolved within the week anyway.
   3. Reply that the request has to be answered by somebody with authority, tell the insurer when that will be, and put it to your manager's cover today.
   4. Reply setting out the two disputed invoices and the amounts, so that the insurer has an accurate answer inside their two-day deadline.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Reply that the request has to be answered by somebody with authority, tell the insurer when that will be, and put it to your manager's cover today.

   Least effective: B. Assure the insurer that there are no disputed invoices, since the two in question are small and will almost certainly be resolved within the week anyway.

   A: Lets a deadline run out: cover is withdrawn in two days, and a cover exists precisely so that a week's absence does not do that.

   B: Asserts something you know is untrue to a third party: an insurer withdraws or maintains cover on it, and the two disputes exist today whatever happens next week.

   D: Answers on the firm's behalf without authority: an accurate disclosure to a credit insurer is still a disclosure somebody senior should make.

   The most effective response is to reply that the request has to be answered by somebody with authority, tell the insurer when that will be, and put it to your manager’s cover today: it declines to answer without authority, protects the two-day deadline by saying what is happening, and puts it in front of the person standing in. It beats replying with the two disputed invoices and the amounts, because the disclosure itself needs authority even when it is true. It beats leaving the email until your manager returns, because a week’s silence loses the cover. The least effective response is confirming there are none on the grounds that the two are small and will be resolved within the week: a false confirmation goes to somebody who will act on it, from a person with no authority to send it at all. That is a false statement rather than an over-reach or a delay. The principle: when you cannot answer, say who can and by when, and start that today.

5. Question 5 of 10

   You are an audit associate. Two schedules are due to your manager by Friday and each takes a day. It is Wednesday morning. A colleague uses the first one on Thursday to start his own testing; the second is only read at the Friday review. Nobody has told you which order to do them in. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Do the schedule your colleague needs first so that his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second one on Thursday in good time for the Friday review.
   2. Ask your manager on Thursday morning which of the two she would rather have first, and work on neither of them until she has come back to you.
   3. Start with the schedule for the Friday review and leave the other until Thursday afternoon, without telling your colleague that his testing will not be able to start.
   4. Split Wednesday and Thursday between the two schedules so that both of them are partly done by the time the Friday review comes round.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: A. Do the schedule your colleague needs first so that his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second one on Thursday in good time for the Friday review.

   Least effective: C. Start with the schedule for the Friday review and leave the other until Thursday afternoon, without telling your colleague that his testing will not be able to start.

   B: Spends a day of a two-day budget on a question with an evident answer: one schedule has somebody waiting on it and the other does not.

   C: Costs a colleague a day without warning him: he plans Thursday around a schedule that will not arrive, and the person who knew that on Wednesday says nothing.

   D: Splits effort so nothing finishes: two half-schedules on Friday morning are worth less than one complete one, and his Thursday is lost either way.

   The most effective response is to do the schedule your colleague needs first so his Thursday is not lost, then finish the second on Thursday for the Friday review: only one of the two has a person waiting behind it, both still land by Friday, and nothing is lost. It beats asking your manager on Thursday morning which she would rather have first, because a whole day goes on a question whose answer is on the page. It beats splitting Wednesday and Thursday between the two, because two unfinished schedules help nobody. The least effective response is starting with the Friday review schedule and not telling your colleague his testing cannot start: he loses a day he has planned around, and the one person who could have told him on Wednesday says nothing. That is silence about something he needed rather than a defensible ordering. The principle: when your order costs somebody else a day, they hear about it before the day starts.

6. Question 6 of 10

   You are an accounts assistant. The month-end file is due at 9am and you are an hour behind at 8am. The only way to make it is to skip the second review of the intercompany balances, which has caught an error twice this year. Nobody checks whether that review was done. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Send the file at 9am with a note saying the intercompany review has not been done, so the deadline is met and the gap is stated.
   2. Do the intercompany review properly and send the file when it is finished, without telling anybody in advance that it will be late.
   3. Message your manager at 8am to say the file will be late by about an hour because the intercompany review is outstanding, and ask whether to hold or send.
   4. Skip the intercompany review to make the 9am deadline, and keep to yourself that the review everybody assumes has happened was not done this month.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Message your manager at 8am to say the file will be late by about an hour because the intercompany review is outstanding, and ask whether to hold or send.

   Least effective: D. Skip the intercompany review to make the 9am deadline, and keep to yourself that the review everybody assumes has happened was not done this month.

   A: Meets the deadline and leaves the risk live: a note does not perform the review, and the error it catches twice a year is still in the file.

   B: Chooses correctly and says nothing: the review gets done, and whoever is waiting at 9am has no idea why nothing has arrived.

   D: Hides a missing check behind an on-time file: the file looks exactly like every other month, and the one fact that would tell anybody otherwise is held by the only person who knows.

   The most effective response is to message your manager at 8am to say the file will be about an hour late because the intercompany review is outstanding, and ask whether to hold or send: an hour late with the review done is probably the right trade, but it is her trade to make, and 8am is early enough. It beats sending the file at 9am with a note saying the review has not been done, because a note does not do the review. It beats doing the review properly and sending it late without warning, because the right answer delivered unannounced still leaves people waiting on nothing. The least effective response is skipping the review to make 9am and keeping that to yourself: a check with a track record of catching real errors is dropped, and the fact is kept from everybody who would want to know. That is concealment rather than a defensible trade. The principle: the choice between late and unchecked belongs to your manager, and they need it early.

7. Question 7 of 10

   You are a research assistant. A chart you produced last month has a scale error that makes a decline look like growth. It was used in a pitch to a client three weeks ago, which the firm won. Nobody has questioned it. The same chart is in the pack for a second client next week. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Raise it directly with the colleague who presented the pitch, and leave it to him to decide whether your manager needs to be told about the chart.
   2. Correct the chart quietly in next week's pack, without telling anybody that the version used in the pitch three weeks ago showed a decline as though it were growth.
   3. Correct next week's pack and mention the earlier pitch to your manager at your next scheduled catch-up in a fortnight's time.
   4. Tell your manager today about the error, both where it has already been used and where it is about to be used again, and correct next week's pack now.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Tell your manager today about the error, both where it has already been used and where it is about to be used again, and correct next week's pack now.

   Least effective: B. Correct the chart quietly in next week's pack, without telling anybody that the version used in the pitch three weeks ago showed a decline as though it were growth.

   A: Gives the decision to the person with most reason to bury it: he presented the wrong chart to a client he won.

   B: Withholds where the error has already been: a client made a decision on a chart that pointed the wrong way, and the only person who knows has fixed the future and left the past.

   C: Delays the half that matters most: the client who has already acted is the exposure, and a fortnight is a long time on that.

   The most effective response is to tell your manager today about the error, both where it has already been used and where it is about to be used again, and correct next week’s pack now: both exposures go to her together, and the fixable one is fixed the same day. It beats correcting next week’s pack and mentioning the earlier pitch at your catch-up in a fortnight, because that delay on a client who has already acted is the real risk. It beats raising it with the colleague who presented the pitch and leaving him to decide whether your manager hears, because the presenter is the last person who should make that call. The least effective response is correcting the chart quietly in next week’s pack and telling nobody about the pitch: the future is repaired and a client who decided on a reversed chart is left where they are, with only one person knowing. That is silence about the part that matters rather than slowness or misrouting. The principle: fix forwards and disclose backwards, on the same day.

8. Question 8 of 10

   You are an assurance trainee. While testing a client’s supplier list you notice a small firm offering a service you have been trying to buy privately for months, at a price far below anything you have found. The list is confidential client information. Nobody would ever connect an enquiry from you to the engagement. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Contact the small firm privately for your own benefit, since the price is public once you ask and the client loses nothing at all by your using them.
   2. Wait until the engagement has finished and approach the firm then, since the information will no longer be current client work at that point.
   3. Ask your senior whether it would be acceptable to approach the firm, and go ahead if she says she cannot see any harm in it.
   4. Leave it entirely alone, do not contact the firm, and if it is preying on your mind mention it to your senior so the boundary is on the record.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: D. Leave it entirely alone, do not contact the firm, and if it is preying on your mind mention it to your senior so the boundary is on the record.

   Least effective: A. Contact the small firm privately for your own benefit, since the price is public once you ask and the client loses nothing at all by your using them.

   A: Takes a personal advantage out of confidential client information: the only reason you know the firm exists is the engagement, and that is exactly what makes it not yours to use.

   B: Waits out the calendar rather than the principle: the knowledge still came from confidential client information whenever it is used.

   C: Seeks permission for the wrong question: a senior's casual yes does not change where the information came from.

   The most effective response is to leave it entirely alone, not contact the firm, and mention it to your senior if it is preying on your mind: the information is the client’s, no version of using it becomes acceptable through timing or permission, and recording the temptation protects you. It beats asking your senior whether it would be acceptable to approach the firm, because permission from a senior does not alter the source. It beats waiting until the engagement has finished and approaching them then, because waiting changes nothing about where the knowledge came from. The least effective response is contacting the small firm privately for your own benefit: confidential client information is converted into a personal saving, on the reasoning that nobody would connect it. That is self- dealing rather than a poorly reasoned attempt to do it properly. The principle: information you only have because of the engagement is not yours to spend.

9. Question 9 of 10

   You are a research assistant. A colleague has left for two weeks and his half-finished sector note is now yours, due Friday. You already have your own note due Friday. The two together are four days of work and there are three days left. Your manager is available this afternoon. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

   1. Work on both notes in parallel and get as far as you can with each, so that neither is completely missing on Friday.
   2. Prioritise your own note and finish it properly on Friday, then make a start on his the following Monday once the week's pressure has come off.
   3. Take both notes and the four-days-in-three problem to your manager this afternoon, with a suggestion for which one should move and why.
   4. Say in front of the team that this is what happens when people go on leave with work half done, and that your own note will be late because of somebody else's planning.
   Show the answer

   Most effective: C. Take both notes and the four-days-in-three problem to your manager this afternoon, with a suggestion for which one should move and why.

   Least effective: D. Say in front of the team that this is what happens when people go on leave with work half done, and that your own note will be late because of somebody else's planning.

   A: Splits effort so nothing finishes: two half-notes on Friday are worth less than one finished one, and the choice is still not made.

   B: Decides between two commitments alone: which note matters more is your manager's judgement, and his may be the one somebody is waiting for.

   D: Makes an absent colleague the subject instead of the work: the four days still do not fit into three, and the team hears a complaint rather than a choice that needs making.

   The most effective response is to take both notes and the four-days-in- three problem to your manager this afternoon, with a suggestion for which should move: four days do not fit in three, only she can drop one, and arriving with a proposal makes it a decision rather than a complaint. It beats working on both notes in parallel and getting as far as you can, because two unfinished notes help nobody. It beats prioritising your own note and starting his on Monday, because the ranking is not yours to make alone. The least effective response is saying in front of the team that this is what happens when people go on leave with work half done: it turns a scheduling problem into a public grievance about a colleague who is not there, and the decision is no closer. That is personalising it rather than ordering the work badly. The principle: take the arithmetic and a proposal to the person who can change the scope.

10. Question 10 of 10

    You are a customer service adviser. A colleague tells you she gave a customer the wrong charges figure last week, that the customer accepted it, and that she has decided not to raise it because “it worked out fine”. She asks you not to mention it. The team logs pricing errors weekly. Which response below would be most effective, and which would be least effective?

    1. Agree to keep it between the two of you and leave the weekly log alone, since the customer accepted the figure and no harm has come of it in the end.
    2. Tell her the log exists for exactly this and that you would rather she entered it herself, and say plainly that you will raise it if she does not.
    3. Say nothing to her about it at all and enter the error in the weekly log yourself later on, since the log needs to be accurate whatever she has decided to do about it.
    4. Tell your team leader today what she has told you, without giving her the chance to enter it in the log herself first.
    Show the answer

    Most effective: B. Tell her the log exists for exactly this and that you would rather she entered it herself, and say plainly that you will raise it if she does not.

    Least effective: A. Agree to keep it between the two of you and leave the weekly log alone, since the customer accepted the figure and no harm has come of it in the end.

    A: Joins a decision to hide it: the log's only purpose is counting errors like this one, and two people have now agreed it will not be counted.

    C: Logs it behind her: she asked you directly, and finding her own error in the log without warning is worse for both of you.

    D: Escalates before asking: she may well log it if asked plainly, and going straight up makes an error into a conduct question.

    The most effective response is to tell her the log exists for exactly this, that you would rather she entered it herself, and that you will raise it if she does not: it gives her the chance to put it right, is completely clear about what happens if she does not, and protects the log either way. It beats entering the error in the weekly log yourself without saying anything to her, because logging it silently is the same ambush with extra steps. It beats telling your team leader today what she has told you, because she has not yet been asked. The least effective response is agreeing to keep it between you and leave the log alone: the weekly log is deliberately left wrong by two people who both know it, so a pricing error that happened is recorded as one that did not. That is agreeing to conceal it rather than raising it clumsily. The principle: give them the chance, and say what you will do if they decline it.