FREE Texas Civil Service Situational Judgment Scenarios Questions and Answers

Question 1

An irate resident comes to your service counter and begins loudly complaining about a missed trash pickup, using profane language.
Several other citizens are in the waiting area.
What is the most appropriate initial response to this situation?

Accepted Answer

Ask the resident to step into a private office or meeting room to discuss the matter away from the public.

Answer

Immediately tell the resident to lower their voice or they will not be served.

Answer

Ignore the profane language and ask them for their address to look up the service record.

Answer

Call security immediately to have the resident removed from the premises.

Question 2

You observe a coworker using a city-owned printer and office paper to print a large batch of flyers for their child's school fundraiser. When you mention it, they say, 'It's for a good cause and the city can afford it.' What is the most professional and ethical course of action?

Accepted Answer

Report the observed behavior to your direct supervisor or the appropriate authority as defined by city policy.

Answer

Join in and print a few flyers for a cause you support.

Answer

Anonymously leave a copy of the city's policy on use of public resources on your coworker's desk.

Answer

Say nothing, as it is for a school fundraiser and not for personal profit.

Question 3

On Tuesday morning, your direct supervisor assigns you a detailed report, due by the end of the day on Wednesday. Later that afternoon, a manager from a different department, who is senior to your supervisor, asks you to immediately compile data for an urgent meeting she has in one hour. This new task will make it impossible to meet your original deadline. What is the best way to handle this situation?

Accepted Answer

Politely explain your current deadline to the senior manager and immediately inform your direct supervisor of the new, urgent request so they can help determine the priority.

Answer

Tell the senior manager you cannot help because your supervisor has already given you a task with a deadline.

Answer

Try to do both tasks at once, even if it means the quality of both will suffer.

Answer

Immediately begin working on the senior manager's request, as she is higher in rank, and hope you can finish your other report on time.

Question 4

While walking past a conference room, you overhear two managers discussing the pending disciplinary action of a colleague. This is confidential personnel information that you are not authorized to know. What is your professional responsibility in this situation?

Accepted Answer

Immediately leave the area and act as though you heard nothing, keeping the information completely confidential.

Answer

Tell the colleague what you heard so they can prepare for the disciplinary action.

Answer

Discuss what you overheard with other coworkers to see if they have more information.

Answer

Report the managers to Human Resources for discussing sensitive information in a place where they could be overheard.

Question 5

A citizen presents you with a unique request for a city service that is not clearly addressed in your department's written policies and procedures. You are unsure if the request can be granted or how to proceed. Which of the following is the best initial action to take?

Accepted Answer

Inform the citizen that you are unsure but will consult with your supervisor or a senior colleague to get a clear and accurate answer for them.

Answer

Deny the request immediately because it is not explicitly covered in the policy manual.

Answer

Make your best guess based on similar procedures and hope it is the correct one.

Answer

Tell the citizen you will handle it and then try to figure it out on your own through trial and error.

Question 6

You are part of a team project with a tight deadline. You notice that one of your team members is consistently failing to complete their assigned tasks on time, which is jeopardizing the entire project. What is the most appropriate first step to take?

Accepted Answer

Speak with the team member privately to ask if they are facing any challenges and offer to help if you can.

Answer

Inform your project manager or supervisor that the team member is falling behind and putting the project at risk.

Answer

Take on the team member's unfinished work yourself to ensure the project stays on schedule.

Answer

Discuss the team member's lack of performance with other colleagues on the project to see if they have noticed it too.