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What Is the State Farm Assessment Test?
The State Farm Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other Attributes Assessment (KSAO) is the second assessment in State Farm agents hiring process. It follows the SLCP Questionnaire. The test is designed to assess a candidate’s behavioral and cognitive traits via a work-day simulation that includes various scenarios and conflicts.
Test Structure and Question Format
The KSAO Assessment contains 3 sections:
- Virtual Role Play – An interactive, animated simulation of a day’s work in the office.
- Situational Judgment Test (SJT) – Short, animated scenarios to which you should respond.
- Personality Questionnaire – Self-report statements you should rank how well they describe you.
Let’s describe each section in detail.
Section #1 – Virtual Role Play
This section constitutes the majority of the test and will take you about 1 hour to complete.
The section is structured as an interactive text-based adventure with visual elements. Throughout the virtual role play, you navigate your first day on the job as an office manager, in an animated setting through text-based interactions.
(Illustration)
Various conflicts and questions will arise from these interactions between you, your employees, customers, and managers, and you are required to respond accordingly. As this section depends on your actions, there is no set number of questions, but it will be around 20-25 questions.
You will encounter 3 question types on this section:
Type #1 – Numerical Reasoning
In this question type, you will be required to provide a direct answer to questions related to numerical data. The data sources are provided to you in the beginning of the assessment, and you may get back to them at any time.
(Illustration)
You can find sample questions and answers for all KSAO Assessment question types in the Free Practice section.
Type #2 – Situational Judgment
Situational judgment questions will begin with an interaction between yourself and a character in the office. You will then be presented with several responses to the situation and will be required to rate their effectiveness on a scale of 1-7.
(Illustration)
Pro Tip
In situational judgment questions on the KSAO test, you will need to RATE the responses, not rank them. Therefore, two responses may get the same rating.
Type #3 – Decision-Making
Decision-making questions will test your ability to accurately analyze and prioritize problems, separate the wheat from the chaff, and provide reasonable solutions.
This question type resembles, in formatting and structure, situational judgment questions.
(Illustration)
Section #2 – Situational Judgment Test
The second section of the test will be fully dedicated to situational judgment questions. Before each question, you will be presented with a very brief animated scenario and will be required to rate the effectiveness of 4 or 5 possible responses on a scale of 1-5.
The questions on this section are rather similar to the SJT questions on section 1, although they tend to be simpler.
This section contains 17 questions.
Section #3 – Personality Questionnaire
The third and final test section includes around 100 questions formed as short statements describing you. You need to rank how well these statements describe you. The format is very similar to that of the State Farm SLCP Assessment.
The statements can be ranked on two scales:
Agreement Scale
This scale ranges from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree).
Frequency Scale
This scale ranges from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always).
What Does the State Farm KSAO Test Measure?
In contrast to what the name suggests, the State Farm Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other Attributes Assessment does not assess knowledge. It mostly assesses your expected workplace behavior, personality traits, and approach to problem-solving.
Test Invitation
If you have successfully passed the State Farm SLCP Questionnaire, an invitation to take the State Farm KSAO Assessment will be sent to you via email. That invitation will be sent approximately 10 minutes after completing the SLCP Assessment.
Similar to the SLCP test, the KSAO Assessment will be taken on State Farm’s RPX system. Read the Test Overview section for further details.
State Farm KSAO Test Interface
The State Farm KSAO Assessment operates on the company’s hiring and screening platform – RPX. The testing experience itself is rather clear and smooth.
Here are some things to note regarding the test interface:
- The assessment must be taken on a computer and is incompatible with mobile devices.
- You can change submitted answers on sections 2 and 3 (Situational Judgment and Personality Questionnaire, respectively). You cannot change your answers on section 1 (Virtual Role-Play).
- In rating questions (SJT and Decision-Making), several responses can have the same rating.
Free State Farm KSAO Practice Test
This free sample practice test aims to emulate a small portion of the State Farm KSAO test, and to cover the various question types you will encounter on the 3 sections of the assessment.
The test contains 6 questions and is untimed.
Good luck!
Scenario
This is your first day of work at Fugger Financial Services, Inc., a financial advisory firm. As of today, you are the manager of the Midtown branch of the agency, where a small staff of 10 employees operates.
The most pressing issue in the Midtown branch is the constant decrease in revenue over the past year. A meeting on the matter has been scheduled for this afternoon.
Section 1 – Virtual Role-Play
Question 1 – Numerical Reasoning
Answer and Explanation
The correct answer is D.
The change in revenue equals:
[Change in Customers] x [Average Revenue per Customer]
The change in the number of customers equals this year’s existing customers less last year’s existing customers.
Let’s present all relevant information in a table:
The total decrease in revenue from last year to this year is, therefore, approximately $49k.
Question 2 – Situational Judgment
Recommended Answer
- Highly Effective – C, E
- Somewhat Effective – D
- Ineffective – A, B
Let’s evaluate each response:
Response A – Tell Brandon that you agree that chance has more effect on sales than anything else.
This is a very ineffective response. Such a response characterizes you, right off the bat, as a manager who does not have any real expectations from employees, or leadership and guidance to offer them. Such a response is passive and does not suit a person in a management position.
Response B – Tell Brandon that with the losses in the consulting department this year, you wouldn’t be too optimistic about him keeping his job.
This response is also very ineffective. It does not provide any solution to the situation, and merely offers an impulsive, emotional comeback. Such a statement shows poor leadership and conflict resolution skills.
Response C – Ask Brandon to think about any ideas that could still make a difference and present them in the meeting later.
This is an effective response, as it both shows motivation to solve the issue and trust in Brandon, even if he does not believe in himself. Getting feedback from the staff is crucial in solving a problem that is very new to you as a manager.
Note that while this response is rather similar to response E, it is even more effective, as it defines a specific task and timeframe, necessitating a commitment on Brandon’s part.
Response D – Tell Brandon you believe that things are going to change. You will be setting some new rules, and you expect everyone to fall in line.
This response is slightly ineffective. While it shows motivation and resolve, it lacks teamwork and people skills. State Farm does not look for authoritative tyrants, but managers that can harness their interpersonal skills to create cooperative problem-solving methods.
Response E – Ask Brandon what he thinks could be done differently to increase sales in the agency.
This is an effective response, for the same reasons as response C. However, it is slightly less effective than response C, since it does not require any special commitment on Brandon’s part.
Question 3 – Decision-Making
Recommended Answer
- High Priority – B, D
- Low Priority – A, C, E
Let’s evaluate each action:
Action A – Hire additional marketing staff to bring in more new customers.
According to the graph, there is very little difference between the overall number of new customers between last year and this year. As a matter of fact, the overall number of new customers is identical – 163.
Therefore, the decrease in the total number of customers is not due to a lack of new customers, but due to existing customers leaving.
Action B – Develop a training plan to improve the team’s customer service.
According to the survey, bad customer service is the no. 1 reason for existing customers choosing to leave the agency. As we’ve seen, low customer retention is mainly responsible for the decrease in revenue. Therefore, improving customer service and thus minimizing customer loss is a top priority.
Action C – Double the price of health insurance products.
Health insurance products (and insurance products in general) contribute very little to the overall revenue of the agency, being priced the lowest. Therefore, doubling their price is not likely to drive a major change.
Action D – Talk to the person in charge of tax planning and learn what they do differently.
Of all products the agency offers, tax planning is the only one to actually increase in revenue compared to last year. It is, therefore, a good idea to learn what the person in charge of this product does differently.
Action E – Redesign products to better suit customers’ needs.
While the survey does mention products not matching customers’ needs as a major reason for customer loss, it is only relevant to insurance products. As previously mentioned, insurance products contribute little to the overall revenue of the agency, so improvements in these products are at a lower priority.
Pro Tip
The questions on the State Farm KSAO test are interrelated. Themes discussed in previous questions should be taken into account when solving later questions.
Section 2 – Situational Judgment
Question 4
Recommended Answers
- Highly Effective – D
- Somewhat Effective– B
- Ineffective – E, A, C
Let’s evaluate each response:
Response A – Tell Simone to refer the call to your office.
This response ignores the customer’s request not to talk to anyone else and might irritate her even further. In addition, as a new manager on his or her first day on the job, it is unlikely that you will be able to provide a quick solution to an issue you are unfamiliar with.
Response B – Tell Simone to tell the customer that she will look into these extra charges and will contact her again within 2 hours with a response.
While this response does not give the customer exactly what she wanted, it is a somewhat effective response due to two main reasons:
- A specific person is held accountable to resolve the issue (Simone)
- A short time frame is defined (2 hours)
With good communication skills, it is likely that a customer will be willing to wait for 2 hours until the issue is resolved.
Response C – Tell Simone to keep the customer on hold as you both look through the issue together.
While this response shows willingness to help and good team spirit, keeping a customer waiting on the line while you look into the issue is likely to leave her frustrated and annoyed.
Response D – Tell Simone to provide the customer with a refund.
Given the situation at hand, this is the most effective response. When dealing with an angry customer who considers canceling her subscription, and your personal lack of experience, it is best to offer a refund and look into the issue later. In addition, from the documents provided in section 1, it is clear that customer retention is a major contributor to the decrease in revenue over the past year.
Response E – Tell Simone to tell the customer that she is referring the issue to the service department, and they will look into it as soon as possible.
This is an ineffective response because it provides none of the conditions given in response B. No one is held accountable, and no time frame is given. That is likely to leave the customer annoyed and with no clear understanding of who will resolve the issue, when, and how.
Section 3 – Personality Questionnaire
Question 5
Recommended Answer
This statement relates to your Achievement Drive trait. High achievement drive is desirable for people in sales and leadership positions, such as a State Farm agent.
A high score on this particular statement indicates high achievement drive, and therefore, a desirable candidate will agree with the statement.
Question 6
Recommended Answer
This statement relates to the Innovative trait. State Farm puts a particular emphasis on candidates’ ability and willingness to constantly learn and improve.
A high score on this particular statement indicates low innovation, and therefore, a desirable candidate will disagree with the statement.
Question 7
Recommended Answer
This statement relates to the Initiative trait. People with high initiative take additional responsibilities and challenges upon themselves, even those that aren’t officially theirs. State Farm values high initiative among its agents.
A high score on this particular statement indicates low initiative, and therefore, a desirable candidate will disagree with the statement.
Pro Tip
The personality traits measured by the KSAO assessment are similar to those measured by the preceding SLCP test, so it’s important to make sure your profile is consistent.
