Critical-thinking

Why critical-thinking skills are awesome

Critical-thinkers evaluate situations with their stellar reasoning skills to reach logical decisions. As an employer, you want critical-thinkers because their independent mindsets are always seeking ways to improve processes.

Critical-thinkers are responsible, consistent, unbiased and creative. 😍

Top tip: Critical-thinking candidates will be best at answering realistic questions related to the job. Avoid Google-style brainteasers and stick to real-life situations like “How would you explain this software to someone who’s never used it before?” 

Critical-thinking interview questions

• Have you ever had to make a decision with incomplete info? Tell us about it. 
• How would you handle someone else’s mistake if it impacted your work? 
• Pretend I’m your manager and convince me to try a new approach to a task.
• How would you steer a team who aren’t agreeing on a project? 
• What would work better in sales: increase cost to achieve higher income or lower cost to make your customers happy?

Candidates to look for

• Analytical thinkers: Look for a candidate who compares alternatives and weighs pros and cons.
• Balanced approach: Employees don’t always have detailed action plans. Look for candidates who strike a balance between good vs fast decisions.
• Innovative candidates: Look for candidates who are advocates for change and open to new procedures.
• Problem-solvers: Candidates who show enthusiasm and see a problem out are the ones to look for.

Candidates to avoid

• They don’t care about data: You want a candidate who backs their solutions up with fact. Otherwise how do they know it will work?
• Lack logic: Candidates who lack logic and make rash assumptions tend to jump in too fast.
• Low initiative: If you ask a question and they don’t answer, it shows they aren’t natural problem-solvers. Look for candidates who at least try, even asking for help is better than nothing.
• They don’t think outside the box: No one appreciates an obvious answer. Avoid candidates who go straight to the first answer they think of.