Situational Judgement Tests in Legal Graduate Recruitment: Understanding the Format

Mar 26, 2023

Written By Panashe Nyadundu

The situational judgement test (SJT) is an assessment used by employers to test your ability to choose the most and/or least appropriate behavioural actions in a variety of workplace situations. As employers use the SJT as a way of narrowing down candidates during the hiring process, familiarising yourself with the format of the SJT is essential to give yourself the best chance of securing the role you’re applying for.

Understanding The Format

Ultimately, the SJT does not have a standardised format as different law firms will assess candidates using different criteria.

The overall objective of the SJT is to prove that your values, behaviours and skills align with the company you are applying to. To assess this, the SJT will include a series of hypothetical scenarios that test how well you deal with everyday issues within the workplace. This can appear in a written or video format.

There are two possible ways in which you may be asked to answer sections and or all the SJT. The first being to form a list of all the options from ‘most appropriate’ to ‘least appropriate’. You may have to rank a range of issues such as prioritising different aspects of your workload, how to appropriately deal with a demanding client, and handling a mistake.

Although there is technically a ‘correct’ order, candidates can still pick up points from correctly positioned responses if they do not get the complete order correct.

The second answer structure you may have to use is choosing only one appropriate option from the given scenario. This can look like deciding how to respond to a client, which important email you should answer first or how to ease conflict between colleagues.

Preparing For The SJT

There are several steps that you can take to prepare for the SJT and given that no one test will be the same as different law firms will prioritise different qualities in their candidates, here are two great ways that you can prepare for the SJT.

The first proactive step you can take is to take as many sample SJT tests as possible. These can be found online. Once again, familiarising yourself with the kind of questions that will be asked, and the answers attached to them will improve your overall understanding and performance when you come faced with the real test.

Secondly, understanding the type of law firm that you are applying to is crucial. Look at the firm’s website to find out their values, culture and practice areas. When you’re answering the questions, it’s a good idea to think back to what the firm values and how you can show you embody these values in your answer. However, it’s just as important to answer these questions honestly, you don’t want to end up at a firm where the culture isn’t a good fit.

Useful Resources

To give yourself the best chance of passing the SJT, acquainting yourself with preparation resources will improve your ability in choosing the most/least appropriate everyday workplace challenges during the test.

All the resources below offer free tests. It is not uncommon for websites to charge a fee for practice tests, and although it is not necessary to do this, it is of course up to you to decide if the extra practice will be necessary. However, a quick google search will show plenty of free SJT resources.

- Law Tests: six sample questions

- Assessment Day: 16 sample questions

- Allen & Overy: sample question

Selection & Assessment