Assessment centre
E-tray exercise practice
A mock inbox: prioritise, reply and do the numbers.
Example email
For each email, choose a priority, choose an action and, where asked, work out a figure or write the opening of a reply.
Email 1 in the exercise
Hannah Beck (Tolland CFO) is on at 12:00 today and she will ask where we think the market values them. Latest peer data attached, prices at last night's close.
Pennine Wrap is mid restructuring and its multiple is meaningless, so leave it out. I want the simple mean EV / EBITDA of the other peers, one decimal place, in my inbox by 11:30 so I can sanity check it before I dial in.
Then put the same number on page 7 of the book. Thanks. D
- Time
- Kvanta inboxes run 40 to 60 minutes in Real mode.
A working day in an inbox: set priorities, choose actions, work figures out of attachments. Three fictional firms.
Practise this format
Need extra time or a different format? Every timed practice has 1.25x and 1.5x options. See reasonable adjustments.
About this test
An e-tray exercise puts you in a job with an inbox full of emails and attachments and a limited time. You decide what is urgent, reply, delegate or file, and sometimes do a calculation from a table. Many firms now use job simulations that feel like an e-tray, with ranking, data tables, written answers and recorded video.
Ours has 10 to 20 emails with attachments and runs 40 to 60 minutes, set at a fictional firm. Review follows an assessment-centre style competency by exercise matrix, so you see which competencies each of your decisions evidenced. Scoring in real e-trays is not public, so we make no claim about it.
What we know about this format
Each point carries a badge showing where it comes from. Where only candidates have reported something, the badge says so.
What do the confidence badges mean?
- Vendor-published Stated in the test publisher's own document or practice site.
- Academic From peer-reviewed research.
- Official employer Stated on the employer's own page.
- Near-official Near-official: an employer-run practice portal, or a vendor or employer-quoted press release naming the employer.
- Candidate-reported Reported by candidates. Treat as likely but unconfirmed.
- Third-party From prep sites, press or forums. Not confirmed by the employer or publisher.
- Official employer
The Civil Service Fast Stream used an invigilated e-tray in 2010. Its current case study assessment gives 7 background documents, then 24 situations, with most and least effective choices or ratings on a 4-point scale, untimed.
- Official employer
Deloitte's job simulation uses ranking, picking the best response, written answers and recorded video.
- Official employer
HSBC: about 40 minutes per stage with mock emails, data tables and audio or video.
- Official employer
EY: pick options, read tables and graphs, drag and drop, apply rules, record video, time-limited.
- Academic
A meta-analysis of 31 studies (3,958 people) supports in-tray exercises for high-stakes selection.
Source · Whetzel et al. 2014.
- Third-party
Any firm's actual e-tray scoring is not public.
E-tray exercise
- Third-party
E-tray and in-tray exercises are timed, usually 30 to 80 minutes. Kvanta inboxes run 40 to 60 minutes in Real mode.
Source · A mid-range choice inside a wide reported range.
- Third-party
Full exercises include up to about 15 emails and several documents. Kvanta inboxes have 13 to 18 emails so that every trap type fits.
Source · No employer states an email count.
- Third-party
Emails come with attachments. Tasks include choosing an action from a list, ranking responses and writing a reply.
- Official employer
HSBC describes online assessments that can include mock emails, data tables and graphs, and time-recorded items.
Source · Not a pure e-tray.
- Official employer
The Civil Service Fast Stream used an invigilated e-tray in 2010 and now uses an untimed online case-study assessment of background documents and situations.
- Academic
In-basket exercises have good evidence behind them for predicting job performance (31 studies, 3,958 people).
Source · Whetzel, Rotenberry and McDaniel, 2014.
- Academic
Priority scoring gives partial credit for being near the keyed answer (4 minus the distance), as the NHS Foundation Programme situational judgement test does. Kvanta adapts the idea to four priority levels.
Source · A published method, not any employer's e-tray scoring. No employer publishes that.
Questions people ask
What is an e-tray exercise?
It is a simulation of a work inbox. You prioritise emails, respond or delegate, and sometimes analyse data, to show planning, judgement and written communication.
How should I prioritise?
Sort by urgency and importance, look for dependencies between emails, and note what can wait or be delegated. Then act in that order. Our review shows what each choice evidenced.
Do I need to do calculations?
Often a few. Ours embed tables and ask for quick percentage or ratio work.
How long does it take?
Ours runs 40 to 60 minutes. Real exercises vary, and many firms now use shorter job simulations of about 40 minutes.
Is e-tray still used?
Some firms use a version under another name, such as a job simulation. The examples in the sources show the variety.
Is there a right answer for each email?
Often there are better and worse choices, and a few clearly poor ones. Real marking criteria are not public, so we show a rationale for each choice.
Is this the real exercise?
No. It is original practice at a fictional firm.
Where this appears in firm processes
- RSM UK Official employer
See all firm pages. Check your own invitation, because processes change each cycle.
Independent practice. Not affiliated with or endorsed by any test publisher or employer.
Practice builds familiarity. Assessment centres vary a lot between firms, and assessors score against criteria we cannot see, so treat this as rehearsal, not prediction.
Use Kvanta to practise and learn. In a live assessment, do not use AI tools, notes or another person unless the employer says you may. Read our approach to integrity.