The Ultimate Guide to Cracking Situational Judgement Tests in Legal Graduate Recruitment

Jun 01, 2023

Written By Claudia Chan

Situational judgement tests (SJT) are designed to assess how you would respond to situations that may come up in your everyday life as a lawyer. They are a test of a candidate’s decision-making and judgement skills. This article seeks to explain what they are, why employers use them, what to expect and how you can prepare.

What is a situational judgement test?

Each scenario varies widely, but frequent topics include: prioritising your workload when an unexpected task is introduced, what to do when you make a mistake, or deciding what to do when your supervisor is working from home while you are working at the office.

SJTs are often computer-based. However, the exact format may vary. Sometimes the test will include video clips or animations that you must watch prior to answering the questions. A SJT typically lasts 30 minutes.

Law firms use SJTs as a means to assess whether a potential candidate displays the qualities and skills that would set them up for success as a trainee in their firm.

What to expect in a situational judgement test?

When completing a SJT you will be presented with a situation that you are likely to encounter as a trainee solicitor or an associate. You will be presented with a number of corresponding possible responses that you could take in that given situation. There are a variety of SJT formats, the following is a list of the most common formats used.

1. Most and least effective. You are presented with four or five possible responses and you are required to decide which is the ‘most’ and ‘least’ effective.

2. Most and least likely. You are tasked with choosing your most likely and least likely response if faced with this situation.

3. Ranked responses. You are tasked with numerically ranking your choices according to what is most appropriate and least appropriate, or what you are most and least likely to do. This is a variation of the most and least likely assessment format.

While there are technically no correct or incorrect responses, there are some scenarios that are preferred by the firm you are applying for. SJTs are always multiple choice.

It should be noted that if you have a disability such as dyslexia, it makes you eligible for extra time. Disclose this to graduate recruitment so they can make arrangements accordingly. Often, the question of requiring extra time for recruitment tests are factored into the initial application form.

How can you prepare for a situational judgement test?

Practice. Practising in advance is ideal to ensure that you perform to the best of your ability. This is because you can familiarise yourself with the format and content of the test. You can also identify which section you struggle with and focus on honing in on the particular skills required for that section to improve.

Furthermore, practising will allow you to reach the pace required until you feel confident in your ability to complete the test on the actual test date. There are a number of free SJTs online.

Research the employer. Law firms often provide hints as to what qualities they are looking for in potential trainees. These can be found in graduate recruitment brochures and the law firm’s website. Identify the key skills and qualities that they are looking for and keep note of them.

While it’s important to answer the questions honestly, your approach to a question that asks how you would handle a client problem will differ depending on what the firm values most in their employees.

Understand the role you are applying for and the skills required at that level. Candidates often neglect the fact that the test is assessing whether you have the skills to be a trainee. Being a trainee solicitor means that you are operating at the junior end of the firm.

Responses that require lots of time and work from senior staff members may not be desired. A trainee is unlikely to delegate work, so selecting that option suggests that you are unaware of how trainees operate within the law firm hierarchy.

Read the instructions. Reading the instructions carefully both before the section of the test and during the test is critical to prevent silly mistakes. The information given is included to guide you, so make the most of it.

Only focus on the responses provided to you. You may encounter a response that is not the course of action that you would most naturally choose; this is ok! You are unlikely to have encountered situations in a professional, legal scenario, thus you would not think of a particular course of action. Just focus on the responses provided and consider which is the most effective and appropriate response.

Don’t overthink! Approach each question by considering each situation, identifying the issue and simply choosing what you think is the most effective. There is no need to stress about identifying the ‘perfect answer’ because you’re not a lawyer yet. Law firms are aware that you won’t necessarily know what you should be doing; this is what you are going to learn as a trainee.

Selection & Assessment