Google Hiring Assessment (GHA / Work Styles)

Requirements

Part 1 — Work Styles inventory / forced-choice triples

• Current common format: each prompt shows three workplace statements; choose one as Most like me, then choose one of the remaining two as Least like me.
• Earlier variants used single-statement Likert choices (Strongly Disagree / Disagree / Agree / Strongly Agree); the same consistency signal still applies.
• Coverage: ambiguity tolerance, collaboration, thoroughness, adaptability, communication, decisiveness, self-motivation, problem solving, leadership.
• The forced-choice triples often contain three positive traits, so the question is about your dominant working style rather than finding a single obviously correct answer.
• Common work-style clusters: reliable delivery / timeline ownership, collaboration across teams, careful reflective communication, structured problem solving, security / policy mindset, comfort with ambiguity.

Part 2 — Situational Judgement (~10–15 items)

• Each item: a workplace scenario + 4 actions. Pick MOST likely and LEAST likely to do (cannot pick the same one for both).
• Recurring scenario families: gift / conflict of interest, confidential information leakage (laptop on vacation, coffee shop call, friend borrowing work laptop), policy vs deadline, manager unavailable, helping a colleague being treated unkindly, competitor offer, accepting a referral that benefits a friend.

September 2026 three-part variant

• Complete forced-choice work-style triples, a separate Strongly Agree / Strongly Disagree section, and MOST / LEAST likely workplace scenarios in the same assessment. There is no coding.
• The agreement section includes process improvement, adaptability, learning from mistakes, feedback, teamwork, and resilience. Pay attention to absolute terms such as only, all, completely, and regardless.

Examples

Likert items to mark as "Strongly Agree":

• I quickly adjust my pre-existing work plans to meet changes in project goals.
• I complete my tasks effectively despite changing requirements.
• I am able to succeed in ambiguous work situations.
• I share resources with my colleagues to help them complete their work.
• I identify potential risks before I decide on a course of action.
• I keep detailed notes about the decisions made in meetings.

Likert items to mark as "Strongly Disagree":

• I can overlook small, but important, errors in my work.
• When deciding between projects, I usually pick the project that will allow me to avoid working with others.
• I write reports with an emphasis on speed over accuracy.
• I require clear instructions at work to be effective.
• I cannot progress on a project when I don't have all the information I need to complete a task.

Sample SJT scenarios:

1. A client offers a gift card after a project completes; company policy forbids gifts.
2. You discover a coworker was mistakenly credited for your work right before annual review.
3. A friend at a struggling competitor asks for confidential customer information.
4. A new PM is being mocked by teammates for not catching up technically.
5. Your manager calls to discuss confidential matters while you are in a coffee shop.

Additional workplace scenarios:

• A sales-system error awards you a colleague's credit, which would let you meet your annual target. Decide how to handle the mistaken credit.
• Your friend's startup is one of the software vendors under consideration, while policy requires an objective evaluation. Decide who should make the purchase decision.
• Sensitive employee data must stay on company devices, but the required software on your work laptop fails before tomorrow's deadline. Decide how to handle the delay without moving the data to a personal laptop.

Notes

• The Likert column order is Strongly Disagree → Disagree → Agree → Strongly Agree (Strongly Agree is the rightmost, not the first). Several candidates have reported submitting reversed answers by accident and being immediately flagged.
• Submissions are final per question; you cannot go back to edit.
• Total time is 30–60 minutes; pacing varies, but completing slowly does not appear to penalize.
• Most candidates pass within 24–72 hours; passing the GHA does not guarantee continuing — some candidates still see resume rejection arrive after a pass.
• The 2026 forced-choice ranking format is now the main pattern in recent samples; consistency is still the dominant signal.
• Candidates commonly pass within two days after submission, then wait for recruiter or hiring-manager routing.

Preparation

• Pre-commit to a coherent "work persona" before opening the test: strong ownership, collaborative, methodical, comfortable with ambiguity. Apply it uniformly across the ~50 inventory items.
• For the SJT, default to: follow policy, escalate to manager, decline gifts, never share confidential data, never use a competitor's code, ask before accepting external offers/help.
• Re-read every statement before submitting — reverse-worded items ("I avoid…", "I cannot…") are easy to flip.
• Triple-check the column order before answering the first question.