What is a situational judgment test?

A situational judgment test (SJT) describes a realistic workplace scenario and asks candidates to choose the most (and sometimes least) effective response from a set of options, rather than answering questions about themselves directly.

Employers use SJTs because they predict how a candidate is likely to behave in real situations on the job, complementing skills and personality assessments with a more applied, scenario-based signal.

Assessments in this category

• General Workplace SJT — everyday workplace scenarios covering judgment, priorities, and professionalism.
• Customer Service SJT — de-escalation, policy vs. empathy balance, and service recovery scenarios.
• Sales SJT — objection navigation, ethical sales judgment, and deal-risk recognition.
• Management SJT — performance issues, delegation, and cross-team conflict scenarios.

Why use situational judgment tests when hiring?

SJTs are harder to game than self-report personality questionnaires, since candidates are judged on realistic choices rather than describing their own traits. They also give hiring teams a preview of how a candidate handles ambiguity, conflict, and pressure before those situations happen on the job.

They work well as a screening step for roles with frequent judgment calls — customer-facing, sales, and people-management roles in particular.

How to choose the right SJT

Use General Workplace SJT for most roles as a broad judgment signal. Use Customer Service SJT or Sales SJT for front-line, customer-facing roles, and Management SJT when hiring for a role with direct reports or cross-team coordination responsibilities.

SJTs pair well with Emotional Intelligence or Communication Skills for a fuller picture of how a candidate handles people-facing situations.