Back to Written tests and practical tasks
Lesson 3 of 5 · 6 min read
The five questions that come back
- Learn
Written tests are written by busy managers, and busy managers reuse the same five question types. If you have an outline ready for each, you never face a blank page: you write the headings from memory, then fill them with the facts in the question and your own experience. Learn the outlines below like you learned the STAR letters.
- Draft a memo or a letter: to a partner, a ministry office, a supplier or a community committee. Marked on structure, tone and whether the reader knows what to do at the end.
- Write a work plan for a three-month activity: a training, a distribution, a survey, a campaign. Marked on realism: activities in the right order, who does what, a target with a number.
- Analyse a small budget or data table and explain the variances: a budget-versus-actual sheet, monthly admissions, sales by branch. Marked on arithmetic first, reasons second, recommendations third.
- Describe how you would handle a case or situation: a complaint, a suspected fraud, a safeguarding report, an angry customer, a missing shipment. Marked on the order of your actions and the rules you follow.
- Explain a technical term or process from the job: accrual accounting, cold chain, a logframe, procurement thresholds, a lesson plan, a database backup. Marked on accuracy and on whether you can make it simple.
To / From / Date / Subject (one line that says the news)
Purpose: one sentence.
Background: two or three lines, with dates and numbers.
Points or options: numbered, one idea each.
Request or next step, with a date.
Name, title, phone.Objective: one sentence with a number (train 40 CHWs in 6 villages by June).
Table: Activity | Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 | Responsible | Budget line.
Targets and how you will measure them (2 or 3 indicators).
Risks and what you will do about each (rains, security, staff leave).
Reporting: what, to whom, when.1. What the table shows: period, currency, total budget, total spent.
2. Variance per line: actual minus budget, and as a percentage.
3. The two or three biggest variances, named.
4. A likely reason for each: price, quantity, timing, or an error.
5. One action per variance: investigate, reallocate, request approval, correct.Immediately: what you do in the first hour (safety, stop the harm, inform your line manager).
Find out: what you check and who you ask, without investigating alone.
Act: the options, the one you choose and why.
Follow up: record, report, prevent a repeat.
The rule it rests on: code of conduct, safeguarding policy, procurement manual, xeer or law.Definition in one sentence.
Why it matters (what goes wrong without it).
How it works, step by step (3 to 5 steps).
One example from Somalia or Somaliland, with a number.
A common mistake and how to avoid it.