non-technical

[meridannight]

Tommy told you to do a short cut to get your work done quicker but it ignores safety procedures. do you

a) tell him no and keep working the way you normally do
b) tell the supervisor
c) do it Tommy's way

maybe they didn't fail you because you got it that wrong, maybe their threshold was extraordinarily high? if you scored 75%, it still may not have been enough to pass you. or what if it was multiple choice variant, and you had to choose both a and b, in order to get a maximum score? (it's unlikely on this particular question, but may have mattered on others).

the question is very abstract though. these things should be more specific. because every situation involving safety is different. even very unethical (sane) pilots (for example) would not jeopardize airplane safety while in flight. whereas if it's about some inconsequential abstract safety margin in the book, hardly anyone would bother to follow it, even if they were ethical.

what position were you applying for? if i may ask.

the only place where i was ever given such a test (although a lot more serious version of it, it appears) was in flight academy. it was labeled 'personality test' over there, and it was part of a number of admission tests we were given when we applied. it was either 'pass' or 'fail'. it had questions not unlike the one you brought as example.