Situational Judgement Test

Situational judgement tests are designed to examine your ability to deal with everyday workplace challenges.

When you take the test, you’ll be faced with a series of different problems or scenarios. Your job is to select the most appropriate answer, or show ‘what you would do’ so employers can get a better sense of how well you’ll fit into the firm you’ve applied for.

The main skills you’ll need to show are good communication, commercial awareness, relationship building and teamwork.

Situational judgement tests are probably the most widely used aptitude test by employers. Why? Because they are a great way to test a candidate’s reactions to commonplace work challenges.

The legal sector is highly competitive to break into, so employers will use this test as part of the hiring process, to ensure they're filtering out any candidates who don’t have the necessary competencies to succeed in the role.

In the test you’ll respond to each scenario from a choice of possible answers. It’s important to read the question carefully and try to determine what skills you’re being tested on.

While your gut reaction is important, you also need to think about the kind of firm you’ve applied for and the competencies your new employer is going to want to see.

You won’t have very long to answer each question, so we recommend practising situational judgement tests before the big day.

Everything from relationship building and communication, to analytical and creative thinking, emotional intelligence and common sense.

Some of the scenarios may seem obvious, suggesting your skills in this areas are already developed, but some may not be so obvious - and those are the areas you need to work on.

With a legal career in mind, it’s important you consider the competencies, skills and values most firms are going to want you to showcase.