How the Kenexa SJT works
IBM sold this test as the Custom Situational Judgment Test. “Custom” matters: employers build it around their own roles and competencies, so the scenarios, and what counts as a good answer, differ from one employer to the next.
It is reported to run 15 to 20 scenarios, each with several possible responses, and to measure collaboration, communication, leadership and professionalism. Each scenario is reported to ask for the most or least effective response. Because the test is built for each employer, read the instructions on every screen.
How to judge the responses
For each scenario:
- Work out who owns the problem and what a good outcome would be before reading the options.
- Prefer responses that act on the problem promptly and keep the right people informed.
- Rank down responses that ignore the issue, hide it, or pass it upwards without trying anything.
- Judge each response on its own merits, then compare them. Two can be good and all can be poor.
- Read the instructions on each screen. Most effective, least effective and rating questions need different answers.
Worked example
A customer emails you with a complaint about an order handled by a colleague who is on leave until next Monday. The customer says they will cancel if they do not hear back this week.
A. Reply today, apologise, check the order notes and either resolve it or give a firm date for a reply, copying in your colleague. B. Forward the email to your colleague’s inbox for when they return. C. Reply to say your colleague is away until Monday and will be in touch then. D. Ignore it, as the order is not yours.
A is the most effective: it answers within the customer’s deadline and keeps your colleague informed. D is the least effective, since the customer hears nothing. B and C fall between: C at least replies, though it still misses the customer’s deadline, while B leaves them with no reply at all.
Tips for the real Kenexa SJT
- Read the employer’s values and job description first. The test is keyed to them.
- Work at a steady pace, about a minute a scenario, even though no time limit is published.
- Do not pick the response that keeps everyone happy if it leaves the problem unsolved.
- Answer as you would actually act in the role, informed by what the employer says it values.
Practise the Kenexa SJT on CogniPrep
Ours practises the rating format: 16 scenarios drawn from a bank of 27, each with four responses you rate from 1, Very Ineffective, to 5, Very Effective. You can change ratings until you submit, and there is no going back to a scenario. There is no clock. Each rating is compared with our expert key, with partial credit for being one point off, and you get a score out of 100, a percentile against CogniPrep players and a breakdown by competency. The real test may ask for the most and least effective response instead, and its key is the employer’s, not ours.