National Grid Situational Judgement Test Help!?!?

Reece-16

Just wondering if anyone out there has answered these questions and can help me because I really want this job but have failed this test once??



Situational judgement test
Please imagine you have been successful in gaining a place on National Grid's Apprentice programme. During your time as an Apprentice you will have a Line Manager, who you report into on a day-to-day basis, and you will also work with a number of other managers, and your fellow apprentices.

In this Test you will be presented with various situations you could encounter during your time on the programme. Please respond according to how you feel you might react to each situation. Please identify what is the most effective and what is the least effective response to each situation.

It is important that you spend the same amount of time identifying the least effective response as you would for the most effective response. Both areas are awarded an equal level of scoring.

It is recommended that you sit this test in one session and that you select a quiet area to do this away from any distractions.

This test has been developed and validated by individuals who are currently performing well on our development programmes and within their permanent roles.

The questions are not relevant for a different career profile and therefore any support that you may be given by a friend or family member could seriously impact the final result of this test.

We do not expect you to have any prior knowledge or experience in this kind of role. We are assessing how you judge a situation and whether you can recognise the most effective or least effective reaction to each of the given situations.

There are no trick questions and you can assume that you would be able to carry out the activities described in each of the response options. Each situation should be considered on its own merits; the situations do not link nor relate to each other. There are 10 scenarios in this Test.

AN EXAMPLE:
You are working with a team who are involved in investigating flood risks which could affect National Grid infrastructure. The information about flood risks in some parts of Northern England requires updating and you have been tasked with doing this. You have very little information to start with and are a bit unsure what you need to do to complete the work. Do you:
Possible actionsMostLeast

1. Carry on researching and reviewing the information currently available and visit the various flood risk areas in the North in order to compile your report
2. Compile an action plan with what you think the key objectives are and meet with your line manager to check you are on track
3. Speak to specialists in the team who frequently deal with flood risks and ask them how they would tackle the project; use their guidance to help you write the report
4. Meet with your line manager to explain that you are unsure of how to complete this project and would appreciate some guidance on how to take this forward
In this example the participant has felt that the 3rd action is the most effective and the 1st action is the least effective.
REMEMBER:
Please make sure you choose a most effective and least effective reaction for each question.
Often you may feel that there is more than one effective response; but please identify the most and least effective action you would take out of the choices given.
It's important that you complete the Test on your own, with no input from anyone else.
Question 1

During one of your courses, which is three weeks in length, you find that you are able to complete all of your assigned tasks quickly, which leaves you with a lot of spare time. You start to feel a little frustrated that you are not using your time constructively, and do not feel stretched. Other people on the course express the same opinion to you. Do you:*
Possible actionsMostLeast
1. Speak honestly with your line manager, outlining your spare capacity and mention how other people are in the same position, asking what other work you can do.
2. Try to proactively spend the time constructively, for example by revising or researching areas of interest which could help your future career.
3. Follow the lead of your fellow apprentices, who enjoy the pace of work; spend the time socialising with them, building relationships on a personal level.
4. Talk to the manager of the training course, telling them that the course is not stretching you as you hoped it would, and is not meeting your expectations.
Question 2

As part of your personal development as an apprentice, you are tasked with completing an NVQ. This involves you documenting reports about your work, and is done without the assistance of others. You’ve been set a number of challenging deadlines as part of your apprenticeship, and you are aware that you are falling behind in updating your NVQ work as a result. Do you:*
Possible actionsMostLeast
1. Monitor how the other apprentices react to the situation, since some of them may be able to share time management tips with you, which will help.
2. Continue to focus enthusiastically on the core of your apprenticeship work, putting the NVQ to one side until you have time to focus on it again.
3. Talk to your line manager to outline your concerns, tell them that there is not currently enough time to complete all your tasks.
4. Set aside time in the evenings to work on your NVQ qualification – it’s not ideal, but it means you’ll be able to complete everything on schedule.
Question 3

As part of your apprenticeship, you’ve been given 30 weeks to complete a technical course, which normally takes 32 weeks to complete. You feel really stretched and struggle to hit all the deadlines for your assignments. You’ve started to miss a few of the deadlines, and you can see that your fellow apprentices are also struggling with the workload. Do you:*
Possible actionsMostLeast
1. Arrange a meeting with your tutor, show them how you have planned out your time and explain you’re struggling with the deadlines, ask for their advice.
2. Inform your line manager that you’re being expected to complete a 32 week course in 30 weeks, highlighting how this is unreasonable and affecting morale.
3. Suggest a meeting with your fellow apprentices, so you can work out who is having problems with which assignments, and share knowledge with each other.
4. Continue to work as best you can on the assignments in the timeframe given, accepting you may miss a few deadlines, but try to put in extra hours.
Question 4

During your apprentice scheme, you’re issued a van to use for work reasons. You’ve noticed that even though the van is in good working order mechanically, it’s carrying an out of date National Grid logo and the bodywork has a couple of dents and beginning to rust. You are concerned about the image it projects for National Grid. Your line manager asks how you are finding the vehicle. Do you:*
Possible actionsMostLeast
1. Inform your manager that you’d like to send him an email about the van, as you have a number of concerns you need to highlight.
2. Explain to your manager politely that you are grateful for the van, however you’re concerned the image it gives National Grid, ask if it’s possible to get another one.
3. Tell him it works perfectly for you, and gets you from ‘a to b’ really well. Don’t mention your concerns about its appearance.
4. Ask your other apprentices what kind of vehicles they have been given, and if theirs look much better you will feel comfortable asking for a replacement.
Question 5

Working with a more experienced colleague, you’ve been sent out on a routine task. Toward the end of your shift, you are both keen to go home, however you discover that there is a gas leak nearby which you have to deal with. Staying behind to find this leak will mean you miss going to the cinema with friends, which you had been looking forward to. However, if the leak is big, then it’s important you try to find it quickly, but you’re under no obligation to work overtime. Do you:*
Possible actionsMostLeast
1. Agree to work just one extra hour as a maximum, since you cannot afford to miss your personal commitments due to work, and this is a fair compromise.
2. Explain honestly to your manager that you’re not able to work any overtime due to personal commitments, offer your apologies and wish them luck.
3. Tell your manager about your personal plans, and ask if they could try to call in someone else to find the leak. Agree to work overtime until they find someone.
4. Call your friends to let them know you will be late, and then stay at work and try to find the source of the leak, even thought it might take many hours.
Question 6

You’ve been tasked to complete a joint project with another apprentice, and you’ve allocated the responsibilities equally between you. So far, you’ve completed your tasks well and you are on track to finish in good time. However, you notice that their part of the project is falling behind schedule, and when you ask them about it, they tell you everything is fine. You can see, however, that they are behind schedule, which indicates there might be a problem completing the whole project in time for the deadline. Do you:*
Possible actionsMostLeast
1. Challenge your fellow apprentice, highlighting the deadlines and saying you’ve noticed they are behind schedule. Ask them if they need help to get back on track.
2. Inform your line manager of what you have observed, and ask them if they can speak with the other apprentice in order to help the project stay on track.
3. Speak with the other apprentices you know, asking them if they are encountering similar issues with their projects, to see if they have experienced similar issues.
4. Allow the apprentice to complete the tasks independently and at their own pace, reasoning that if they fall behind they’ll receive training to help them in future.
Question 7

When you first join as an apprentice, your first 16 weeks are spent in a hotel as you go through the induction process and undertake a lot of training. You work on a project with another apprentice, as partners, however it becomes apparent after some time that there is a personality clash between you both, which makes which makes things a little uncomfortable. Although you can live with the personality clash, the situation is not ideal, and is distracting you from an otherwise enjoyable induction. Do you:*
Possible actionsMostLeast
1. Inform your line manager openly and honestly, that you’re unable to work with this person, and request that you work with someone else.
2. Ask the other apprentices if they would be willing to swap partners with you, since you’re not able to work with this person constructively.
3. Ask another apprentice if they can speak with your partner, and find out how they feel about working with you, and what you can do to ease tensions.
4. Speak with your partner about how you are feeling, and ask how they are finding the situation. Try to work out an agreement or compromise if possible.
Question 8

After your first six weeks in the apprenticeship, you’ve been asked to give a presentation to a group of managers. You’re working as part of a group of six people, many of whom have not given presentations before, and so some people are nervous. You’re worried about how the presentation is going to go, because some people are missing the practice runs, and it doesn’t seem to be coming together. Do you:*
Possible actionsMostLeast
1. Speak on a one-to-one basis with the people you see struggling the most, telling them how to complete their section of the presentation effectively.
2. Call a meeting for everyone in the presentation group. Outline your concerns to them honestly, and get everyone to talk about how you can make it work.
3. Work to the best of your ability on your section of the presentation, allowing your fellow apprentices to also work independently, to help them learn and improve.
4. Inform your tutor that you have a few reservations about the presentations, outlining the issues within the group, and asking for their advice on what to do.
Question 9

In order to progress in your apprenticeship, you need to ensure your work is assessed. However, your assessor is extremely busy and looks after a number of other apprentices. The last three times you asked to be assessed, the assessor had to decline as they were too busy. You’re now worried that you are being held back and not progressing quickly enough. Do you:*
Possible actionsMostLeast
1. Keep speaking with your assessor regularly, pushing them to commit to dates when you can be assessed, and let them know how keen you are.
2. Decide not to pester your assessor too much, and decide instead to let them decide when they are going to assess you, they will get it done eventually.
3. Raise your concerns with your line manager, and highlight that you are worried about completing all your required assessments in order to progress.
4. Compare your progress to your fellow apprentices, in order to see how far behind you are compared to other people, asking them for advice on how to proceed.
Question 10

You’re doing some maintenance work on a piece of equipment, and have been trusted to complete it on your own. Whilst you are doing the maintenance, there is an oil leak which contaminates the equipment. You don’t think that it will cause any harm, and you believe that once you clean it up there will be no lasting damage. You’re conscious that you have a number of other tasks to complete before the end of the day. Do you:*
Possible actionsMostLeast
1. Decide to clean up the leak, then report the incident to your line manager after you have finished your other tasks for the day.
2. Ask your fellow apprentice who is working nearby to come over and assess the leak with you, and jointly decide on the best actions there and then.
3. Clean up the leak carefully, and when you’ve checked the equipment is working move onto your other tasks that you have planned for the day.
4. Report the leak to your manager, asking for their advice on how you should proceed, even though doing this could mean delaying other work later.
Application status

heretolearn_2

It says not to get any help from anyone - as none of us know the answers either!

I wouldn't have come up with most of your options myself, knowing as an employer how my firm would want someone to respond, but that doesn't mean that National Grid would want the same thing from their employees.

I would say that one key factor in this is how much autonomy do apprentices have, and also how much apprentices are encouraged to help each other or not. It could be their attitude that you should develop teamwork and each other and help each other as would probably be the case in most companies, or it could be their attitude that due to the high risk nature of the work you must always go to someone fully qualified for help/advice and not another trainee. I suspect the latter, but I don't really know.

I am happy to advise you to think again about the 'least' answer for question 2. With the 'leasts', you have to think 'what is the worst thing that could happen if I do this' for each option, and find the one with the worst consequences. If you talk to your line manager about your NVQ, what is the worst thing that could happen? S/he tells you to get your finger out and work harder, bit embarrassing for you but no real implications for the employer. What is going to happen if you fail to complete your NVQ both from the point of view of failing to do something you were tasked to do, and from the point of view of the effect of failing the qualification. Don't you think that's considerably worse?

But again, I could be completely wrong here..best just to answer as honestly as possible, but make sure you think everything through thoroughly.

paddyrg

Nobody can answer for you, you must sit with the questions and work out your answers. It's not a case of right/wrong pass/fail but a case of how you understand their culture and how you would fit within that. They will probably bring the answer sheet out at your interview and ask you why you answered question X as you did, digging to make sure you haveactually properly considered all the options and can form a coherent justification for your choice. The interviewer will be more interested by how you came to your decision than the decision itself.

colino

While generally there will be "right" answers, they will be more interested in how the candidate arrived at theirs. This leaves a little problem for those who have clearly been "helped" as they will stumble at this point and weaken their presentation.

System

It sounds a really boring job. I've fallen asleep just reading the questions, and I haven't got to the interview yet.

Owain_Moneysaver

Question 1
1 - do you need to take your line manager's time over this?
2 - fairly good option
3 - timewasting
4 - probably the best option

Question 2
1 - sharing with others time management tips is useful, but won't solve the problem
2 - bad time management, you need to manage your time to meet deadlines
3 - you shouldn't tell your manager there isn't enough time, it's up to you to manage your time
4 - the correct answer if you can meet the schedule, if you still can't then you should discuss with manager

Question 3
1. the sensible answer
2. makes you look like a tell-tale and an agitator
3. sensible but may look like plagiarism
4. no, you have to manage your time to meet deadlines

Question 4
1. this woudl be correct if you suspected mechanical failure or breach of law, but over-official for cosmetic defects
2. probably best
3. you're supposed to pay attention to detail and take a pride in presenting a professional appearance. saying nothing you may come across as slapdash
4. it's not up to you to demand a nicer vehicle just because everyone else has one.

Question 5
1. Childish and petty. If it was your wedding anniversary then possibly, but not the cinema with friends.
2. Helpful to neither your manager nor your customer.
3. Fair enough, bit not going th extra mile.
4. The correct answer, but you bear in mind your responsibility to work safely and the risks of fatigue.

Question 6
1. Sounds confrontational, but proably best if you have the maturity to handle it.
2. Disolays poor staff management skills, but is a safe option.
3. Probably sensible, but doesn't actually solve the problem - and talking about your colleage behind his back to others may be insensitive
4. Vindictive, displays lack of teamwork, not taking responsibility for the problem.

Question 7
1. You have to learn to work with people and can't demand a swap.
2. Ditto, and you also can't countermand your manager's decision over with whom you will work.
3. Might work informally.
4. The correct answer

Question 8
1. or 2 would be sensible
3. not taking ownership of the problem, lack of team work
4. possibly, but it's passing the buck. you need to learn to handle things yourself, but if you don't feel confident in doing so this would be the safe option.

Question 9
1. Causes annoyance.
2. Does not solve the problem.
3. This is a matter to discuss with your manager. after 3 missed assessments there is a problem which needs to be resolved. Your manager can raise it with the assessor's manager.
4. You could, but lacks decisiveness and it's not nice to moan about people behind their backs.

Question 10
1. Yes, provided there is no risk someone might use the machine in the meantime.
2. This is just trying to spread the blame and another apprentice is not qualified to make a decision. You show poor judgement in expecting him to help you like this.
3. Are you qualified to test the equipment?
4. This is the correct course of action as safety of others must come first and your manager is responsible for safety. Also, if the machine has to be repaired or replaced, reporting it early gets this underway and reduces consequential delays.

ian3mith

Them answers are wrong.

tygr

Don't agree with the answer for number 1 given above. I'd ask my line manager for extra work.

I think you need to just work through. As others have said - either you'll fit or you won't and you might not be happy in a place where random strangers on the internet have got you the job!