Civil Service Management Judgement Test: Examples & Practice
The Civil Service Management Judgement Test (CSMJT) is a crucial component of recruitment for those seeking a management role in the UK civil service.
The Civil Service Management Judgement Test is in a Situational Judgment Test format and is not time limited. The test is designed to assess your decision-making skills, analytical thinking, and management skills.
The Civil Service Management Judgement Test is challenging, as it requires specific skills and knowledge at a managerial level. Still, with the proper preparation and expert guidance, you can drastically increase your chances of success.
For more detailed information, practice questions, and tips, keep reading!
What Is the Civil Service Management Judgement Test?
The Civil Service Management Judgement Test is an online situational judgement test. The test measures your ability to demonstrate judgement and decision-making regarding daily management of others.
The aspects of Behaviour, which is assessed in the current test, have been selected by the UK Civil Service as the most important for management positions.
Behaviours are one of the five elements in the Success Profiles Framework, used in the Civil Service to provide a flexible and reliable assessment of their candidates.
According to the Civil Service Offical information, the five aspects of behaviour measured in the test are:
- Collaborative - Empowering and developing others, working as a team, sharing knowledge.
- Decisive - Using evidence to make effective and fair decisions
- Empathetic - Considering others’ needs and feelings, acting in a calm and resilient manner.
- Confident - Having courage in your convictions, taking responsibility and setting expectations
- Agile - Self aware and able to adapt quickly to change
How Is the Civil Service Management Judgement Test Structured?
You will view 15 workplace situations, along with 4 possible reactions. You must read the scenario, then choose which one action you would be most likely to take, and one action you would be least likely to take.
The test is not timed, however most people take between two and four minutes to answer one scenario.
Sample Questions with Full Solutions
Question 1
You are training a new employee. You meet with him to go over some tasks the team usually performs. During this meeting, he seems to have a hard time with one of the team’s regular procedures, making errors again and again when you ask him to perform this task. You consider this task very easy and are surprised at his difficulty in performing it.
Which of the following actions would you be Most likely to take?
A. Take a break before continuing the training. Maybe the employee got tired and is not focused. You also need a rest that you won'nt lose your patience.
B. Ask the employee to explain the task to you
C. Decide that the emplotee won't preform this particular task in the future. You prefer giving him taskt that fit his strenghts.
D. Ask your manager to reconsider her decision to hire him. If he is having difficulties with such simple task, it is troubling to think what would happen with the more complex ones.
Which of the following actions would you be Least likely to take?
A. Take a break before continuing the training. Maybe the employee got tired and is not focused. You also need a rest that you won'nt lose your patience.
B. Ask the employee to explain the task to you
C. Decide that the emplotee won't preform this particular task in the future. You prefer giving him taskt that fit his strenghts.
D. Ask your manager to reconsider her decision to hire him. If he is having difficulties with such simple task, it is troubling to think what would happen with the more complex ones.
The answer to the MOST question is B, and the answer to the LEAST question is D.
Response A is an excellent temporary solution. If the employee is tired and you are losing your patience, it is best to take a break. However, you can't be sure the reason for the employee’s lack of understanding is tiredness. This response doesn’t suggest a way to establish what the problem is.
Response B establishes the problem. By asking the employee to explain the task, you can see what he understood and what he got wrong. After installing the problem, you can focus on what he misunderstood. Thus, you'll have more information to solve the problem. The situation in the scenario is one of communication—you explain something, and the employee misunderstands. This solution creates effective communication between you two. From this point, you can spend more time training the employee on this task while focusing specifically on the problem and adapting your explanations to his needs.
Response C might be your final decision, but it’s giving up too quickly on the employee. This task is considered easy; therefore, the problem is probably in the tutoring process. This response lacks determination.
Response D shows a lack of determination. This new employee is still adjusting to his new job, and you need to get to know him and discover the best ways to work with him. In addition, if your manager hired him, she probably found him valuable, which should encourage you to make another effort.
Question 2
Nellie is your most competent employee. She has the lowest error rate, she always precedes her deadlines, and she is very knowledgeable. She is aware of her value to the department and is not ashamed to use it in arguments with other employees, even when it’s irrelevant. Other employees say that she thinks she 'knows it all' and avoid any interaction with her, professionally or socially.
What should you do?
Which of the following actions would you be Most likely to take?
A. Move Nellie to a separate office to reduce her interaction with other people
B. Tell Nellie that you appreciate her professional contirbution, but you need her to be more cooperative with the team.
C. Dont get involve. If Nellie doesnt mind being left out, her social status is non of your business
D. Encourage the team not to take her comments personally.
Which of the following actions would you be Least likely to take?
A. Move Nellie to a separate office to reduce her interaction with other people
B. Tell Nellie that you appreciate her professional contirbution, but you need her to be more cooperative with the team.
C. Dont get involve. If Nellie doesnt mind being left out, her social status is non of your business
D. Encourage the team not to take her comments personally.
The answer to the MOST question is B, and the answer to the LEAST question is A.
In this scenario, you face a conflict between team members. You are not told explicitly about any effect this has on your employees’ work. Still, you are told that team cooperation is affected (as employees avoid Nellie on professional matters), as is the workplace atmosphere. As you are responsible for your employees and the quality of their work, you should address this issue.
Isolating Nellie (response A) is an extreme move. While it may have to come to this, this response avoids trying to resolve the conflict itself between the employees. As a general comment, when taking such a step, you should consider how it would seem to Nellie and the rest of the team—would it appear as a punishment or a prize to get her own office?
Showing appreciation for Nellie’s work and asking for her cooperation (response B) informs her that this behaviour is indeed a problem. Moreover, it could encourage her to help. This response shows team-building skills. Showing appreciation and engaging Nellie to become a part of the solution, instead of simply marking her as the problem, are more likely to gain her cooperation. This response could be confusingly interpreted as unfavourable, but looking at the response's content, you can see that it combines an appreciation for the employee and a change request. Of the given answers, this is the best one.
Response C tries to protect Nellie, but it denies that there is a problem. As mentioned before, you are told that this behaviour indeed affects work—it restricts team cooperation (team building). In addition, you want your employees to feel comfortable in their team (responsibility for subordinates).
Encouraging the team not to take Nellie’s comments seriously (response D) is a response that could be appropriate after other courses of action have been tried. This response avoids trying to resolve the conflict between the employees, and assumes that Nellie can’t change her ways and become part of the team.
Question 3
You manage a quality assurance (QA) team in a telecommunications company. Your boss, the head of the QA department, holds weekly meetings with all subordinate team managers such as yourself. The purpose of these meetings is to give the managers guidelines for the next week.
Your boss is a charismatic and ambitious person who tends to speak often about his vision of the department, future goals, and destinations. However, when referring to the tasks of each manager, his requests are somewhat abstract. You feel frustrated as you are not receiving specific operational guidelines to execute your team's tasks.
What would you do in this situation?
Which of the following actions would you be Most likely to take?
A. Set up a personal meeting with your boss and tell him that his instructions are too vague and general for you to handle, and that you need him to be more specific about operational teamwork.
B. Try to see it as an opportunity to work more independently within your team. Come up with a working method of your own for the team that will be directed at achieving your boss's objectives.
C. Find out from the other team managers whether they are coping with similar problems. If so, ask them how they deal with them, and act accordingly.
D. Wait until the end of the quarterly meeting, when the boss asks the team managers for feedback, and politely tell him how you feel about the meetings.
Which of the following actions would you be Least likely to take?
A. Set up a personal meeting with your boss and tell him that his instructions are too vague and general for you to handle, and that you need him to be more specific about operational teamwork.
B. Try to see it as an opportunity to work more independently within your team. Come up with a working method of your own for the team that will be directed at achieving your boss's objectives.
C. Find out from the other team managers whether they are coping with similar problems. If so, ask them how they deal with them, and act accordingly.
D. Wait until the end of the quarterly meeting, when the boss asks the team managers for feedback, and politely tell him how you feel about the meetings.
The answer to the MOST question is A, and the answer to the LEAST question is D.
In this situation, you are faced with ambiguity due to your boss's management style. The main objective of this item is to evaluate your ability to work under management.
Notice that you are asked to choose two responses: the best and the worst. The best way to approach this sort of question is comprised of two steps: 1. marking each response as generally positive or negative, and 2. comparing the positive and the negative responses.
Let's consider each response individually:
Response #1: Deals with the problem head-on. You are informed that your manager's requests are somewhat abstract and that you therefore lack the specific operational guidelines to execute your team's tasks. Speaking directly with your manager will enable you to clarify task guidelines and execute them more accurately. Although this response may appear to indicate an inability to deal with ambiguity, it is the best response in this given situation. Communicating ambiguity is effective here, as it's better your manager makes clarifications rather than you start the task without understanding what it entails. The communication skills this response exhibits are an important element of working under management.
Response #2: Deals with the problem by taking initiative and creating your own management style. Here you show an ability to deal with ambiguity, find creative solutions to problems, and exhibit high levels of autonomy. However, you do not clarify the guidelines for the task and may therefore fail to execute this task as your manager anticipated. This response demonstrates many desirable competencies, including independence, strategic skills, and problem solving.
Response #3: Does not target the problem directly or actively search for a solution. This response lacks problem-solving skills and strategic skills. It also shows poor communication skills as you seek for the answer elsewhere, rather than addressing your manager directly. You are informed that when referring to the tasks of each manager, your boss's requests are somewhat abstract. You can therefore assume the other managers are facing the same ambiguity as yourself.
Response #4: Is a passive response as you take no action for solving the problem. Passivity is an extremely undesirable characteristic of a future manager. This is therefore the worst response choice out of the given four.
The two positive responses are #1 and #2 as both challenge the problem and find an appropriate solution. Response #1 appears to be the better response as it shows your ability to work under management and it addresses the main problem at hand—clarifying goals with superiors.
The two negative responses are #3 and #4 as neither addresses the problem directly or actively searches for a solution. Response #4 is the worst response due to its passive nature.
*Although we mark response #1 as the best response, the choice between response #1 and #2 should be based on the information you have gathered on the company you are applying to, as sometimes the company may indicate a preference for one or another style. For instance, in this scenario, the organisation you are applying to may place more emphasis on autonomy than collaboration and would therefore opt for response #2 as it shows independence. It is therefore important you consider the organisation’s values when answering SJT questions.
How to Prepare for the Civil Service Management Judgement Test?
- Know the Civil Service competency framework: Understanding the competency framework is critical to passing the test. The test assesses how well you match the competencies required for a management role in the civil service.
Practice, practice, practice: The more you practice, the more comfortable you will be with the format and types of questions. Utilize mock tests and previous test papers to get a feel for the types of questions asked.
Read the instructions carefully: Ensure that you have understood the instructions before starting the test. The test questions are designed to be tricky, so take your time to read them carefully before answering.
Focus on the suitable answer, not the popular one: The test is designed to assess your judgement, so avoid choosing the most popular answer, or the one you think the assessors want to hear. Choose the answer that you believe is best for the scenario presented
What Other Civil Service Exams I'll Likely Need to Take?
As part of your recruitment process for the Civil Service, you may be asked to take several testsת or just one - depending on the job and its requirements.
Here is a list of all the Civil Service tests –