Situational Judgement Test for Investment Banking

An investment banking situational judgement test asks you to choose how to act in a workplace scenario. The difficult part is often the order of your actions: identify the risk, protect the work, and involve the right person without avoiding your own responsibility. Read the employer's instructions before deciding whether you must rank responses or select one option.

Deutsche Bank's current early-career FAQ lists a situational judgement test among its online assessments. That is an employer example, not a universal banking process. The framework and scenarios below are IB Offer practice material, not a bank's answer key. Deutsche Bank application FAQ.

TL;DR

• Separate what the scenario states from what you are assuming.
• Judge the immediate action before imagining the entire solution.
• Explain both what you would do and who needs to know.
• Use the firm's instructions and policies when the scenario provides them.
• The practice set reveals three authored outlines. It does not issue an employer test score.

How do you compare two plausible responses?

Try this four-column scratch table before choosing. It forces you to explain why an option is better, rather than selecting the response with the most professional-sounding words.

A statement such as “tell my manager” is incomplete. Explain what you would report, how urgent it is, and what you can do while the manager decides. Equally, “fix it myself” is incomplete if other people are about to use the wrong output.

How would you handle a model error before a deadline?

Original practice scenario: A draft valuation uses debt of 120 million. The latest company filing shows 210 million. The draft has not left the team, and a colleague will use its equity value in a presentation in ten minutes. You can reproduce the difference, but you do not know whether the larger figure includes a liability excluded by the team's valuation policy.

Consider these responses:

1. Change debt to 210 million and send the presentation without mentioning it.
2. Ask the model owner to verify the classification, flag the affected valuation to the presentation owner, and help check the result before delivery.
3. Wait until the presentation finishes, because the model owner is responsible.

The second response is the strongest under these stated facts. It addresses both uncertainty and imminent use. The first silently treats an unresolved classification as settled. The third lets a known concern travel into a deliverable.

Your explanation matters more than memorising “always escalate.” If the issue were a harmless formatting error in your own unsent table, the appropriate action could be much smaller. Change one fact and reconsider the response.

Practice inside this guide

Situational judgement practice

Question 1 of 3

You find a material error in a teammate's model shortly before delivery. What do you do first?

Your answer

Reveal model structure

What changes when two urgent requests conflict?

Original practice scenario: One banker asks for a buyer list by 15:00. Another asks for a valuation update by 14:30. Each task needs an hour, and it is 13:45. Both assume you are available.

An answer that promises both creates an impossible schedule. A better response makes the conflict visible early: confirm what each person needs, explain the time required, and propose an order or a reduced first deliverable. Ask the owners to resolve a priority conflict you cannot decide yourself.

A useful message includes the facts: “The valuation update needs an hour. I can deliver the buyer list at 15:45, or send an initial list at 15:00 if someone can check the remaining names. Which output is needed for the client first?” This is a practice example, not a required script.

How should you approach confidentiality scenarios?

Identify what the proposed action would disclose. A friend's question can reveal information even if you never send a document. Avoid confirming a confidential rumour, and use the relevant internal route when there is a suspected disclosure.

CFA Institute's professional standards include duties concerning confidential information and conflicts of interest. They provide useful reading on competing responsibilities, but do not replace an employer's policy or supply its assessment answers. CFA Institute Code and Standards.

How do you review a practice answer?

Write the fact that decided your choice. Then explain why the next-best option was weaker. Finally, change the scenario: suppose the work has already reached the client, or the task owner cannot be reached. Does your response still protect the right thing?

For broader preparation, use the assessment centre guide. Practise collaboration separately with the group exercise guide, and use the behavioral question set to explain decisions from your own experience. When the scenario turns on a conflict of interest or a disclosure rather than a scheduling call, work through the ethical dilemma questions instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there one correct answer for every bank?

Do not treat this page as a universal scoring key. Use the facts, options, values and instructions supplied in the actual assessment. Our examples explain a defensible decision under their stated assumptions.

Is the practice here timed or AI graded?

This set gives three local prompts and authored answer outlines. It is not timed employer-test software and does not grade your answer with AI. Signup follows the third rep for further practice.

Should I choose the option that escalates every problem?

No automatic rule replaces judgement. Identify the significance, urgency and decision owner. Explain what you can resolve and what requires another person's authority.

Sources

• Deutsche Bank: student and graduate FAQ (checked 5 September 2026).
• CFA Institute: Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct (checked 5 September 2026).