Situational Judgement Tests: How They Work and When to Use Them
A situational judgement test (SJT) puts a candidate in a short, realistic work scenario and asks how they would respond. It is a popular screening tool for roles such as customer service, sales and management because it looks like the job. This guide explains how SJTs are built and scored and what to expect from them.
How an SJT works
Each item describes a work situation, for example an angry customer, a missed deadline or a conflict between two team members, followed by several possible responses. Candidates choose or rank responses. In the most-and-least-effective format used by the AXIS360 SJTs, the candidate picks the response they think is most effective and the one they think is least effective.
How scoring is decided
SJTs do not have objectively right answers in the way arithmetic does. A scoring key is built, usually from the judgement of experienced people in the role, and a candidate earns points for matching it. In the AXIS360 SJTs, a match on the most-effective choice earns more than a match on the least-effective choice. The quality of the key is therefore central: a key written for one organisation or culture may not suit another, so scenarios and keys should be reviewed against your own roles.
What the research says
McDaniel, Morgeson, Finnegan, Campion and Braverman (2001) combined 102 validity coefficients from 10,640 people and found a corrected mean validity of about .34 for situational judgement tests and job performance, with validity that generalised across studies. They also found SJTs related to cognitive ability (about .46 across 79 correlations), and that the strength varied with the type of instructions used.
This is evidence about SJTs as a method. The validity of any particular SJT depends on how it was built and keyed, and AXIS360 has not yet published validity studies for its own situational judgement tests.
Where SJTs fit best
SJTs suit first-stage or second-stage screening when you have many applicants for a role with clear on-the-job situations.
- Customer service and contact-centre roles: handling complaints, escalations and difficult conversations.
- Sales roles: handling objections, qualifying leads and managing follow-up.
- Management roles: giving feedback, handling conflict and delegating.
Limits to keep in mind
Candidates can usually tell which response sounds ideal, so SJTs measure what people know about good practice as well as what they would do. Language and cultural context affect interpretation. Use the result with a structured interview and role-specific evidence, and avoid a single cut-off score without local validation.
Frequently asked questions
Is an SJT a personality test?
No. It samples judgement in work situations. It correlates with cognitive ability and with some personality traits, but it is a different method.
How many scenarios should a good SJT have?
Enough to cover the main situations in the role without fatigue. AXIS360 SJTs use about 20 scenarios.
Can candidates fake an SJT?
Candidates can pick the answer that sounds best, which is one reason SJTs work better as a screen alongside an interview than as a sole decision.
Related
Assessments: Customer Service SJT · Sales SJT · Management SJT · Verify Express
Solutions: BPO Volume Hiring Solution · Manager Selection Solution
More guides: What psychometric tests are · Choosing a psychometric test provider
Sources
- McDaniel, M.A., Morgeson, F.P., Finnegan, E.B., Campion, M.A. & Braverman, E.P. (2001). Use of situational judgment tests to predict job performance: A clarification of the literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(4), 730-740.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Questions or corrections: nizam@nonverbals.com.