CASPer Tip #1: Use a standard approach but answer in your own voice

For best CASPer test answers use a standard approach – but don’t sound like a robot

There are many ways to break down a CASPer scenario, and most of them will bring out the correct points to maximize your score–up to a point. Beyond that personal style, insight, and depth is needed to get to the very top of the scale with your CASPer test answers.

However, these standard approaches are very useful, particularly for not missing any critical points.

One such approach would be:

SITUATION: recap the situation and questions

STAKEHOLDERS: identify the stakeholders, and their perspectives

OUTCOMES: List possible courses of action and their consequences

DECISION: State your decision and reasoning behind it

Many candidates’ answers that display exactly like that though. They not only have a canned feel to them, which tends to invoke a knee-jerk negative response from the grader, but can also bind the response up too much, preventing exploration of the question most naturally playing to the candidate’s experience and strengths.

Our advice

on CASPer answers are to follow this or a similar approach in breaking down the scenario, and then answer in a natural voice. Your own voice.

Because people often run out of time on CASPer, it is often advisable to state your decision or position first, along with the reasoning. Then tease out the nuance and demonstrate your understanding of the situation. So of course following the above pattern isn’t generally good strategy in the actual response.

Of note, if it takes a lot of time to get your thoughts together for natural writing, or if you’re not taking CASPer in your first language, you may want to use a formula for answering, but we recommend refraining from titling the sections as above. For example:

SITUATION: Justin is asking for this opporuntiy of when he normally deserves it because he sees that Monica, who is next in line, doesn’t actually have a present need or desire for it.

STAKEHOLDERS: etc…

Should read something more like:

Because Monica doesn’t seem to need or even want this opportunity at this time, Justin felt emboldened to ask for it even though it’s not his ‘turn’. While this may seem reasonable, he did not anticipate that…

More info at https://rwftraining.com/caspertestprep