How to assess critical thinking of a candidate ?

What Steps Can Help Us Determine an Applicant's Ability to Think Critically?

Q: As a CPA firm, we find that many of the accountants we hire are fine for
routine compliance issues. However, many seem to lack good analytical skills.
They are unable to project or think beyond the basic answers. It's easy enough
to test for and teach basic skills. Good analytical skills can't be taught. How
do we test or look for that ability in applicants?

- At a Loss, office manager, services, Plantation, Florida


A: You're right: Soft skills are very hard to teach. People either have the
capacity or they don't. Although they can be developed with coaching, it is
always more effective to hire someone with the right skills for the job. To do
this, it is important to include a personal skills assessment in the selection
process. A validated assessment that measures soft skills often leads to results
that indicate the level of analytical problem-solving.

Or you could simply incorporate very detailed interview questions that truly
reveal whether an applicant has the analytical skills you are looking for.

Interview questions to assist in identifying analytical skills include:

a) Describe a situation when you anticipated a problem. What, if anything, did
you do about it?

b) Give an example of when your diagnosis of a problem proved to be correct.
What approach did you take to diagnose the problem? What was the outcome?

c) Describe the most difficult work problem you've ever encountered. What made
it difficult? What solution was implemented and how successful was it in solving
the problem?

d) What steps do you take toward developing a solution?

e) What factors did you consider in evaluating solutions?

Including an assessment in the selection process will determine whether the
candidate has the analytical skills needed, but what about other qualities that
you have not pinpointed? To make the hiring process even more effective,
consider benchmarking the job to truly understand other skills, behaviors and
motivators needed for superior performance-and then assess candidates to see how
they compare.

Currently, my preliminary research on personal assessments indicates that people
with analytical problem-solving skills are somewhat unique. They usually also
have a passion, or motivation, for knowledge and the skill of continuous
learning. Often, they also are described as suspicious, incisive, critical,
exacting, organized and of high standards.


[Source: Bill Bonnstetter, Target Training International Ltd., Scottsdale,
Arizona, August 1, 2008]