Select MOST/LEAST appropriate actions (SJT)

Situational Judgment Test (SJT): Choose the MOST and LEAST appropriate action

This question reproduces the format of a pre-interview Situational Judgment Test (SJT) — the kind used in Google's Hiring Assessment and similar screens. There is no code, no behavioral story, and no live interviewer: you read a short workplace scenario and choose, from a fixed list of actions, which one you are MOST likely to take and which one you are LEAST likely to take.

Assume you are an analyst / individual contributor at a large company with standard, explicitly-stated policies on data confidentiality, respectful workplace behavior, and using only company-issued equipment to handle sensitive information. For each of the three scenarios below, select exactly one MOST likely action and one LEAST likely action, and be ready to justify the reasoning behind both.

Constraints & Assumptions

• The stated company policies are firm rules, not suggestions: sensitive/confidential data is to be handled only on company equipment, and every employee is accountable for a safe and respectful workplace.
• You must pick from the given options only — you cannot invent a fifth action (e.g. "call the IT help desk"). Where a better real-world move exists outside the list, note it in your reasoning but still choose the best available option.
• The scenarios are independent, but your answering persona should be consistent across all three: the same values must drive every choice.
• A real deadline or urgency is genuine pressure but does not, by itself, authorize breaking a confidentiality or respect policy.

Clarifying Questions to Ask

A strong candidate confirms scope before answering. Reasonable up-front questions:

1. Are the listed policies hard requirements with no documented exceptions, or do they allow a manager-approved override?
2. Is there an on-call / IT / security escalation path available, even though it isn't among the answer options?
3. Does "MOST/LEAST likely" want my actual instinct, or the most defensible professional action? (For scoring purposes, treat it as the most defensible action.)
4. Is partial disclosure (e.g. verbal-only, or de-identified data) treated the same as full disclosure under these policies?

Part 1: Sensitive employee data, deadline, broken work laptop

You are under an urgent deadline to analyze data for a senior leader by tomorrow. The data includes sensitive employee information. Per policy, sensitive data should only be accessed on company equipment. You are working after business hours, and your work laptop's analysis software is failing with errors you cannot fix.

Which action would you be MOST likely and LEAST likely to take?

• A. Email the data to your personal laptop to try to run the analysis there.
• B. Send the data to a coworker who does not normally have access to the data, to try the analysis.
• C. Explain to the senior leader that you will miss the deadline due to technical difficulties.
• D. Remove the confidential parts of the data, then try running the analysis on your personal laptop.

What This Part Should Cover

• Recognizing that a deadline does not override a confidentiality control, and naming the policy explicitly.
• Identifying the one fully-compliant option and selecting it as MOST.
• Distinguishing degrees of breach: why disclosing to an unauthorized third party is worse than transferring to your own device or self-adjudicating "de-identified" data.
• Awareness that de-identification can be reversible and that the candidate shouldn't be the one deciding what counts as confidential.

Part 2: Inappropriate comment, respectful-workplace policy

You notice a new analyst on your team telling your coworker that they "don't look like someone who works in this industry." Your coworker laughed in the moment, but later tells you the comment made them feel uncomfortable. Company policy holds all employees accountable for ensuring a safe and respectful work environment.

Which action would you be MOST likely and LEAST likely to take?

• A. Suggest your coworker speak to the new analyst about the comment.
• B. Talk to the person who made that comment about how the remark was inappropriate.
• C. Send out a general email to your team about respecting other coworkers.
• D. Give the coworker who received the comment advice on how to better "fit in" at work.

What This Part Should Cover

• Acting on a witnessed incident directly and proportionately, rather than deflecting or staying performative.
• Not placing the burden of resolution on the person who was harmed.
• Recognizing the victim-blaming option as harmful (not merely ineffective) and therefore the clear LEAST.
• Judgment about escalation: handling it directly first, while knowing when a pattern would warrant involving a manager / HR.

Part 3: Confidential report, coworker has only a personal laptop

Your team shared a confidential report with senior leaders that should not be shared on non-company equipment. The report's main author is on vacation. A leader asks an urgent follow-up question. You message your coworker, but they don't remember the details and only have a personal laptop with them.

Which action would you be MOST likely and LEAST likely to take?

• A. Contact your coworker and read the relevant report section aloud to them.
• B. Ask the stakeholder if you can provide a response the following week.
• C. Email a copy of the report to your coworker's personal email account.
• D. Schedule a video conference with your coworker and screen-share the report section.

What This Part Should Cover

• Re-applying the same "control beats urgency" principle from Part 1, but discriminating between options by mechanism of disclosure.
• Recognizing that emailing a copy to a personal account creates a lasting, uncontrolled artifact — the least reversible breach.
• Weighing the genuine MOST-likely close call (verbal disclosure vs. delaying the response) and articulating why.
• Noting that screen-sharing still renders confidential content on a non-company device, even though it leaves no file.