HSBC Situational Judgement Test

HSBC looks for employees with a high ability to handle various situations in a specific manner. Applicants have to pass a situational judgement test before being offered a position.

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Ben Hopgood Updated:

About HSBC Situational Judgement Tests

Situational judgement tests are a fair and objective way for HSBC to assess a wide range of applicants, each having different experiences and different qualifications. By analysing the results of a standardised situational judgement test, HSBC are able to quickly see which candidates are suitable for the role and which are not. This sort of information about candidates’ skills is difficult to glean from interviews and qualifications alone, so they use professional psychometric tests.

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Often, HSBC will ask applicants to take a situational judgement test online, which you can take from home. When the situational judgement test is used early on in the application process like this you will have to achieve a minimum score before you progress to the next round (typically a score in the top 50% of applicants is required however this does vary role to role). Further along in the selection process you might be asked to attend an assessment centre or interview where you will be asked to sit a situational judgement test again. This is so HSBC can verify the person scoring highly in the test is indeed the person applying for the job.

HSBC Application Process Stages

Here is the typical process for your application to HSBC.

Stage 1

Application

Applications are made online and require candidates to provide their contact details, education and work experience. This is to ensure that the candidate meets the entry requirements for their selected role. The HSBC application does include uploading a copy of a CV, although it it requested that this does not include the candidates date of birth, as a means of remaining “age neutral”. There can be additional role specific questions depending on the position applied for, these will be multiple choice.

Stage 2

Testing

Upon successful completion of the application form, candidates will be sent a link to the required online psychometric tests; first verbal reasoning, followed by numerical reasoning. Depending on the type of role applied for, some candidates will also be asked to complete a situational judgement test.

Stage 3

Telephone Interview

Successful candidates are then invited to complete a telephone interview, this is values based and will last approximately 45-60 minutes. It is recommended that candidates use the STAR approach when structuring their answers. Applicants should be mindful of their tone of voice, clarity and volume as these will factor largely in the impression given to the interviewer, especially as body language and eye contact will not be possible.

Stage 4

Face-to-Face Interview

The final stage of the HSBC selection process is a face-to-face interview. Sometimes, candidates will be required to bring a copy of their CV with them, but this will be made clear prior to the interview. It is recommended that applicants have a few prepared scenarios which they can use to discuss and demonstrate their strengths. The face-to-face interview is a good opportunity to learn more about the company and the role by asking sensible questions, this also displays enthusiasm. Successful candidates at this stage will be made an offer by HSBC.

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HSBC Situational Judgement Test Questions

Like most situational judgement tests, the one used by HSBC looks at how you would handle and respond to typical, and rare, situations and scenarios that occur in the workplace. The situational judgement test will be assessing your speed and accuracy. The answers are multiple choice and you should try to work quickly within the time limit, but also accurately. Negative marking is unlikely to be used but do not guess answers, as this will show up in your accuracy score. With practice you will become familiar with the type of situational judgement tests used by companies such as HSBC.

Situational judgement tests and who uses them

Companies are using situational judgement tests more and more in their application process that candidates must go through. A person's score in a situational judgement test is a good indicator of how closely their attitudes and responses to situations mimics those of the company they've applied to. This is important in any sector or position.

HSBC use situational judgement tests as part of their recruitment process to help them select the best candidates for a particular role.

So as a graduate or senior candidate applying for a job at HSBC you might feel like the situational judgement test is an unnecessary hoop to jump through. But you should bear in mind that HSBC are asking you to complete the situational judgement test as much for your own benefit as theirs; if you are not suitable for the role, a psychometric test will usually identify this. Research has shown that psychometric tests, such as those used by HSBC, are a better predictor of job performance than traditional selection metrics such as level of degree achieved.

What you should know before taking your situational judgement test

The situations described in standardised situational judgement tests are ones which applicants can expect to face whilst performing the job they've applied for. The difficult aspect comes with identifying the details in the situation, which would help you to choose the appropriate courses of action to take, quickly and accurately within the time limit. Here are a few examples of the most common situations you can expect in your situational judgement test:

  • Unsatisfied customer
  • Stock-related problems, such as delivery
  • Disagreements between work colleagues

Different types of situational judgement tests

Most questions in most situational judgement tests follow a standard format displaying a passage of text, the question and answer options on screen. These can be arranged differently, but each test will stick to the same layout throughout. The question text may contain extra information which adds to what's given in the sequence of images, this might also be necessary to answer the question correctly. You might have to guess which answer option is the next in the sequence, or which options represents a missing step in the sequence. Lastly, the answer options are almost always multiple choice. Multiple choice answers can vary, however. You may have 2 options to pick from, 4, maybe 5, and these will have to be ranked too. The more answer options to pick from, the slimmer the chances are that you can obtain the correct answer by guessing.

Answered questions

Are these tests suitable for HSBC?

Yes. HSBC use verbal reasoning tests to assess applicants in the recruitment process. The practice tests we provide have been designed to mimic the verbal reasoning test's style to create an environment similar to the real assessment. This provides you with confidence that the questions you practice with us now are an accurate reflection of the real assessment.

How difficult are your tests?

The same difficulty as real tests. Generally real employer selection tests don't differ that much in terms of difficulty which is why they compare your score against norm groups. Our practice tests are pitched roughly at graduate level, but this means they are actually suitable for preparing for all levels of job: entry; apprentice; graduate; senior; director.

Are they compatible with my Mac / Tablet / Phone?

Yes, and PC, and Linux and smartphone and Android and...everything. Our practice tests will run on all systems and they are responsive so they will work well on tablets and smartphones too!

How many times can I take the tests?

Unlimited. You can take our practice tests as many times as you like; there is no limit. But to be honest, after taking the same test a few times you start to remember the answers, so that’s why we have lots of tests.