What do Situational Judgement Tests assess?
A Situational Judgement Test or SJT is a type of psychometric test that presents candidates with real-life work situations and then asks them to decide on the best response to that situation. The Law SJT is a situational judgement test that is specifically geared towards trainee solicitors and paralegals.
Typical roles that would use our Law SJT are:
1. Trainee Solicitors
2. Paralegals
Overview of the Law SJT
Our Law SJT presents candidates with 16 distinct situations that trainee solicitors and paralegals may find familiar. For each situation, candidates taking the test are asked to review 4 possible responses and select 1 response they consider ‘most appropriate’ and another as the ‘least appropriate’. As with all our SJTs, the Law SJT is untimed but typically takes up to 15 minutes to complete.
Law firms like Allen & Overy, Baker McKenzie, Linklaters, Cliford Chance, DLA Piper and many more are all using SJTs to support their recruitment process of trainee solicitors. This is because SJTs are a great way to test a candidate’s reactions to commonplace work challenges. The legal sector is highly competitive, so employers will use SJTs as part of the hiring process, to ensure they're selecting the candidates who possess the necessary competencies to succeed in the role.
Our Law SJT measures 4 competencies / behaviours:
1. Purposeful Engagement: Supporting colleagues & solicitors in an effort to improve and maximise outcomes (i.e., efficiency & quality).
2. Creating Clarity: Establishing a clear, precise & accurate understanding of situations & tasks to facilitate effective action and valid decision-making.
3. Driving Peak Performance: Routinely delivering a high quality, efficient & adaptive client-focused service (i.e., colleagues, solicitors & clients).
4. Professional Credibility: Demonstrating a genuine commitment to company standards and best practice.
Each competency comprises of 4 behavioural indicators, and each indicator is measured by a specific question in the Law SJT. This ensures a comprehensive and valid assessment of the competency. It also ensures that the interpretive reports provided are accurate and valid.
Example Law SJT question
Law SJT - Sample Reports
On completion of the Law SJT, you can download 2 reports as standard:
1. Recruitment Report, where the content is designed for an organisation and supports a recruitment decision. This report provides tests scores, behavioural interpretation, and interview questions.
2. Candidate Report, where the content is designed for a candidate(s) and provides feedback on the test performance. This report provides behavioural interpretation and suggests development goals for improving their competencies.
Free Situational Judgement Test
Take a free situational judgement test. On completion you will be able to download a detailed report based on your results. We will not ask you for any personal information to be able to view your report.
How to do well in your Law SJT
To do well in a Law SJT, it is good to implement the following tips:
1. Read the passage: Make sure you fully read and understand the whole passage prior to looking at the responses, as the nuances of the situation will help decide which response is ‘most appropriate’.
2. Think about the next level up: The responses that are ‘most appropriate’ are often those which you would imagine being applicable, not only for the experience you are at today, but also at levels higher up (e.g., a newly qualified solicitor).
3. Avoid responses that deflect: Similarly to looking at the next level up, while the ‘least appropriate’ response will not be obviously incorrect, it is likely to focus more on how someone else needs to fix the problem, rather than you taking responsibility. However, this is a tricky one, as it also needs to be balanced with not taking on too much or tackling something independently that you might not be competent or experienced enough to manage.