GSK Life Job Simulation – Full Guide and Free Practice

The recommended ranking is D, E, A, C, B.

Let’s review every response:

Response A

On the one hand, this response is proactive and shows that you are determined to resolve the issue. On the other hand, it shows a lack of independent decision-making and leadership. As you are going through training to be a team leader, you are not expected to contact your supervisor for such an issue that you are capable of resolving yourself.

Response B

This is the least recommended response. It is a passive response that shows both disregard for the importance of the company policy, as well as lack of decisiveness and leadership, two traits that are essential for a team leader.

Response C

While this response is proactive and shows you care about the company’s policy, it is an overreaction and demonstrates poor communication skills. The issue can be resolved in a much subtler, more appropriate manner.

Response D

This is the most recommended response. It shows that you take the company’s policies seriously, while also demonstrating good teamwork and communication skills.

Response E

This response is second best. While you address the issue by filling in the missing information and notifying Shelly (and all other team members) about the importance of the documentation policy, you are not expected to carry out the task on your own. As a team manager, you should hold employees accountable for their mistakes, so Shelly should have filled in the report herself, as in response D.

The recommended ranking is E, A, C, B, D.

This situational judgment question assesses two main themes: teamwork and ownership/leadership.

Let’s review every response based on these two traits:

Response A

This response demonstrates reasonable communication skills and leadership, as well as proactivity and ownership of the task at hand. However, it somewhat lacks teamwork, as you approach each team member separately, thus preventing productive feedback between team members.

Response B

By communicating with your team via email and with no onboarding, this response lacks teamwork. It also lacks leadership, as you “pass the buck” to your team, instead of offering structure and guidance.

Response C

While this response shows good leadership skills and demonstrates ownership of the project, you show lack of teamwork by handing down orders with no room for discussion or feedback from your team.

Response D

This is the least recommended response. By delegating the task to a single member of your team, you demonstrate both poor leadership skills (not taking ownership of the project) and lack of teamwork.

Response E

This is the most recommended response. Firstly, it demonstrates both effective teamwork, by setting up a meeting with everyone on the team. Such a meeting is likely to get everyone involved and create a sense of cooperation. Secondly, it shows proactive ownership of the project and leadership on your part.

As this is an open-ended mindset question that directly relates to your personal skills and experience, there cannot be any single answer here.

However, here are 3 general tips to consider when responding to such questions:

Start by Recapping the Question

Remember that in the GSK Life Assessment, humans will be assessing your responses to open-ended questions. As such, it is a good idea to start by recapping the main issue of the question before providing a response, for better understanding and context.

Example: “The traits I have that I think can contribute to a team project of data gathering and analysis are…”

Focus on Soft Skills

Soft skills are skills that are applicable to all professions, and revolve around the innate abilities of the individual, rather than acquired knowledge. Examples are communication skills, leadership, empathy, problem-solving, etc.

These traits are usually more relevant and understandable for recruiters, especially in initial stages. If you are a wiz on datasets or time-management platforms, you can mention it, but know that the GSK Job Simulation is generally looking for candidates’ soft skills.

Mention Tangible Accomplishments

It is always better to back up your claims with actual past experience. If it is a job experience, that’s preferable, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be at university, extracurricular activities, or even in your personal life.

So, during your preparation time, think about times in your life where you actually took steps that can exemplify the traits you say you have.

This question is a written response question, so there is, naturally, an infinite number of possible answers.

The following is an example of a good response:

Hi Mary and thanks for checking in.

I am fully aware of the importance of the issue, and we are doing our best to provide the best overview of the problems in the line. I will be ready for our meeting tomorrow with all the relevant data.

However, I should notify you that we have just now learned that a human error on the team led to critical data not considered in our initial analysis. Therefore, some additional, last-minute work will be required to integrate that data. In order to keep to schedule, I will assign an additional team member to the project today.

I will be happy to get any feedback on your part.

Best,

John

Here are some key elements to include in your response:

• Addressing the issue – the main issue here is the integration of the missing data. Any action you take should address it and not ignore it, first and foremost.
• Transparency – do not try to hide the error that has occurred. Be transparent about it and about the ways you are going to address it.
• Accountability – it is your responsibility to make sure the task is met, both in quality and on schedule. It is, for instance, not recommended to ask Mary to reschedule your meeting.
• Solutions, not problems – offer a solution to the problem you have raised. As a team member, you should have the confidence and liberty to solve problems with the means you have.
• Leave room for discussion – as Mary is your manager, it is important to “keep her in the loop”, and to leave her room to provide feedback or make a different decision.

The correct answer is B.

To prioritize what shutdown times should be reduced, we first need to know how much overtime every activity takes, compared to the company standard:

Sample calculations:

* 11.25 = 45 x 25%

** 4.5 = 30 x 15%

As we can see, actual unscheduled maintenance shutdown times are the longest, compared with the recommended time (+6.75 hours), then cleaning (+5.25), and regulatory inspections shutdown times come third (+3.3). Routine and emergency maintenance shutdown times do not pose a problem in line 2.

The correct ranking is E, B, A, C, D.

Below is a summary of the survey data. Bolded percentages are given in the answer options:

Based on the evidence in Mohammed’s email, what is the most commonly held view by O&M employees?

1. Equipment is inadequate.
2. The presence of a manager could improve productivity.
3. Manufacturing schedule interferes with work.
4. Training is not comprehensive.
5. O&M schedule does not interfere with work.