Select MOST/LEAST appropriate actions (SJT)
Company: Google
Role: Data Scientist
Category: Behavioral & Leadership
Difficulty: easy
Interview Round: Onsite
## Situational Judgment Test (SJT): Choose MOST/LEAST likely actions
For each situation below, pick:
- **MOST likely** action you would take
- **LEAST likely** action you would take
Assume you are an analyst/IC at a large company with standard policies on **data confidentiality**, **respectful workplace behavior**, and **using only company equipment for sensitive information**.
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### Scenario 1: Sensitive data + personal device under deadline
You are under an urgent deadline to analyze data for a senior leader by tomorrow. The data includes **sensitive employee information**. Per policy, sensitive data should **only be accessed on company equipment**.
You are working after business hours. Your work laptop’s analysis software is failing with errors and you cannot fix it.
**Options**
A. Email the data to your personal laptop to try to run the analysis there.
B. Send the data to a coworker who does not normally have access to the data, to try the analysis.
C. Explain to the senior leader that you will miss the deadline due to technical difficulties.
D. Remove the confidential parts of the data to try running the analysis on your personal laptop.
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### Scenario 2: Inappropriate comment + respectful workplace
You notice a new analyst on your team telling your coworker that they “don’t look like someone who works in this industry.” Your coworker laughed in the moment, but later tells you the comment made them feel uncomfortable. Company policy holds all employees accountable for ensuring a **safe and respectful work environment**.
**Options**
A. Suggest your coworker speak to the new analyst about the comment.
B. Talk to the person who made that comment about how the joke was inappropriate.
C. Send out a general email to your team about respecting other coworkers.
D. Give the coworker who received the comment advice on how to better fit into the workplace.
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### Scenario 3: Confidential report + coworker only has personal laptop
Your team shared a **confidential report** with senior leaders that **should not be shared on non-company equipment**. The main author is on vacation. A leader asks an urgent follow-up question. You message your coworker, but they don’t remember the details and only have a **personal laptop** with them.
**Options**
A. Contact your coworker and read the relevant report section to them.
B. Ask the stakeholder if you can provide a response the following week.
C. Email a copy of the report to your coworker’s personal email account.
D. Schedule a video conference with your coworker and share the report section on your screen.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates situational judgment, ethical decision-making, and adherence to data confidentiality and respectful workplace policies relevant to a Data Scientist role.
Solution
## How to reason about SJT items like these
When the situation involves **policy, confidentiality, security, or respect**, the scoring typically rewards:
1. **Policy compliance and risk reduction** over speed/convenience.
2. **Least-privilege access** (don’t expand who can see sensitive data).
3. **Direct, timely, respectful intervention** for workplace conduct.
4. **Transparent communication + escalation to the right channel** (IT/security/manager/HR) rather than creating new violations.
A good mental model:
- If an option **creates a new policy breach** (moving data to personal devices, sending to unauthorized people), that is usually the **LEAST** appropriate.
- If an option **contains the issue** and routes it through approved processes (delay + explain + seek IT/security help), that is usually the **MOST** appropriate.
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## Scenario 1 (Sensitive data + personal device)
**Key issues:** sensitive employee data, explicit policy: only on company equipment; urgent deadline.
- **A (email to personal laptop)**: clear policy breach; creates security and compliance risk.
- **B (send to coworker without access)**: violates least-privilege and access controls; also a policy/security breach.
- **D (remove confidential parts then use personal laptop)**: *still* risky and often still a policy breach because (i) “de-identified” may be reversible, (ii) policy may prohibit any transfer of derived datasets, (iii) you’re self-adjudicating what is “confidential.”
- **C (tell senior leader you’ll miss deadline)**: not ideal operationally, but it is the only option that doesn’t immediately violate confidentiality rules. In practice you’d pair this with contacting IT/on-call support and proposing a safe alternative timeline.
**Most likely:** **C**
- Best among given choices because it preserves policy compliance and manages expectations.
**Least likely:** **B**
- Sending sensitive data to someone who is not authorized is a severe governance failure (and often audited). You’re expanding access and leaving a trail of improper sharing.
*Note:* Many companies would consider **A** and **B** both “worst”; if forced to choose one, **B** is often judged harsher due to unauthorized disclosure to another person.
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## Scenario 2 (Inappropriate comment)
**Key issues:** respectful workplace, addressing harm, coaching/correcting behavior, supporting impacted coworker.
- **B (talk to the person who made the comment)**: direct, timely, addresses behavior at the source; aligns with accountability.
- **A (suggest coworker speak to them)**: supportive but places burden on the impacted person; can be okay if they *want* to, but not as strong as you addressing it when you witnessed it.
- **C (general email)**: indirect, can feel performative, may not correct the specific behavior; could also embarrass the team.
- **D (advise coworker to fit in)**: victim-blaming; reinforces bias; misaligned with respectful workplace expectations.
**Most likely:** **B**
- Corrects behavior and sets expectations.
**Least likely:** **D**
- Inappropriate and harmful; contradicts inclusion/respect principles.
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## Scenario 3 (Confidential report + coworker on personal laptop)
**Key issues:** confidential report must not be shared on non-company equipment; urgency; coworker lacks access to compliant device.
- **C (email report to personal email)**: explicit policy breach and creates uncontrolled copies.
- **D (video call + screen share)**: tempting workaround, but if the coworker is viewing on a personal laptop, you’re still exposing confidential content on non-company equipment (often disallowed).
- **A (read the section to them)**: avoids sending files/copies; still shares information, but it can be a narrower exposure than transmitting the document. In real life you’d also verify whether the coworker is authorized and whether verbal disclosure is permitted.
- **B (respond next week)**: safe but may be unreasonably slow given “urgent.” Better would be: respond with what you can now, or route to someone with appropriate access, or ask the leader for a short delay while you retrieve details via compliant means.
**Most likely:** **A**
- Best among options because it avoids distributing the document to non-company systems; it’s the least-bad way to get needed context quickly.
**Least likely:** **C**
- Direct violation (creating a persistent, unsecured copy on personal email).
*Nuance:* Some orgs also prohibit any disclosure of confidential report contents to someone without compliant access at that moment; if so, the “best” action would be to escalate to an on-call/another authorized team member with company equipment—however that option is not provided.