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How to pass a Situational Judgement Test (SJT) with flying colours

How to pass a Situational Judgement Test (SJT) with flying colours

You know you HAVE to pass the selection test that’s looming over you. If you don’t, you’ll be stuck where you are even longer, and let’s face it, you’ve already mentally started spending your potential increase in salary.

So what do you do now?

Well, first thing is to be proactive. Rocking up and hoping for the best isn’t going to cut it. You need to be much more confident and that only comes with knowing you’ve targeted your efforts and properly committed to succeeding. You don’t find sports stars simply turning up and hoping they’ll do well, do you? They do everything they can to make as sure as humanly possible that they will get the result they deserve.

Let’s assume you’ve already done the smart thing and ordered your Pass Your SJT Workbook (why wouldn’t you, it’s designed to do exactly what you are looking for). Let’s also assume you’ve put the time into going through the exercises, experienced those ‘ah-ha’ moments as you’ve read exactly where you went wrong, and pretty much understood why another choice would have been the better course of action after all. Is there anything else you can do?

Definitely. There is a real difference between what you learn and what you implement. We’ve all worked with bosses who go off to management training courses and can spout best practice but don’t ever apply it to actually being a good manager. Now you are in a similar position.

  • The Workbook has guided you about what you need to do differently, how you need to think differently. Now you need to put it into practice. Be much more mindful, at work and even at home, of the decisions you make. Consider wider implications before you act. Weigh up the impact on others. Think about your end objectives and whether your actions will move you closer or further from these. If you want to do well on an SJT the chances are you will have to polish how you behave. The best way of doing this is to really start thinking about what you do, how you do it and why you do it.
  • Go over the competencies of the organisation you are hoping to join. You’ll probably read through them and tick off ‘yep, I do that, yes, yes’ but do you really? Take a look at your performance at work and be honest with yourself. Are there areas you could improve?
  • Take a look around you. It’s easy to criticise our colleagues for being lazy, useless or just annoying, but think more carefully about what they do. What do they do that actually works really well? What definitely doesn’t? Why? Apply the same principle to senior managers. You’ll have a good idea of which ones are any use and which ones are a waste of space but use your observations to help you improve your management style by applying what you learn to your own performance.

You can’t cheat an SJT, but you can prepare to nail it. The best way of passing is to be excellent. The best way to be excellent is to reflect and review, evaluate and make changes, act consciously and weigh up decisions thoughtfully. This will make you a better applicant, a better candidate and ultimately a better employee.

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