No matter the domain, industry, or seniority level, problem solving skills are an essential tool for any employee. With carefully-crafted interview questions, you can get a solid understanding of how candidates will respond to real-world challenges they're likely to face at your organization. Zero in on candidates' problem-solving prowess with our curated list of the best interview questions.
Unlocking a Candidate's Problem Solving Abilities
By probing a candidate's problem solving skills, you'll get a more thorough understanding of their approach, thought process, and skill in solving challenges and having impact in the workplace. With problem solving interview questions, the objective is to get a better sense for how a candidate approaches:
- Identifying and analyzing problems
- Creating action plans
- Implementing solutions
- Evaluating results
- Taking learnings forward for the future
In job interviews, you'll want to dig into specific examples of candidates' problem solving process in real-world scenarios, and test how they would deal with hypothetical problems that might arise in your own company.
Problem Solving Interview Questions
- Describe a time when you solved a problem without input from someone more senior to you.
- How do you decide when to handle a problem independently or seek help?
- Tell me about a time when you preemptively addressed a complex problem before it escalated.
- If faced with two urgent tasks simultaneously, how would you prioritize them?
- Describe a time when you developed an innovative solution with limited resources or information.
- Describe a time when you had to develop a solution for a problem when you had limited resources or information.
- Tell me about a situation where you came up with a creative solution to a problem.
- Walk me through an experience of tackling a daunting project.
- Tell me about a time when you had to change your strategy last minute.
- Describe a time when you faced significant obstacles to solving a problem.
- Can you give me examples of metrics you use to measure the success of your problem-solving efforts?
- How do you decide when a problem is "solved"?
- Can you tell me about a time when you've solved a problem that required making tradeoffs between short and long-term outcomes?
General problem solving & decision making skills interview questions
Effective problem-solving goes hand in hand with sound decision-making. Identifying candidates who can independently tackle issues and make well-reasoned decisions is crucial.
Here are some interview questions to explore how candidates approach their decision making process in problem solving:
- Describe a time when you solved a problem without input from someone more senior to you.
- How do you decide when to handle a problem independently or seek help?
- Tell me about a time when you preemptively addressed a complex problem before it escalated.
- If faced with two urgent tasks simultaneously, how would you prioritize them?
What to look for in responses:
These interview questions will help assess how job candidates use critical thinking and initiative to tackle problems. Do you they wait for others to tell them when to fix something, or do they proactively find opportunities to make improvements? Look for answers demonstrating an analytical approach to the prioritization and execution of problem solving. Make sure you dig into the candidate's thought process behind how they assess tradeoffs and think about the impact of potential solutions.
Interview questions for assessing creativity in problem solving
Few problems can be solved without some degree of creativity. To get a sense for these skills in a potential candidate, you can pose problem-solving questions that dig into the their past experiences with delivering original and out-of-the box solutions.
To gauge a candidate's creative problem-solving skills, consider these job interview questions:
- Describe a time when you had to develop a solution for a problem when you had limited resources or information.
- Tell me about a situation where you came up with a creative solution to a problem.
What to look for in responses:
These questions uncover the candidate’s ability to think outside the box. If they struggle to come up with detailed answers, it's likely a sign they rely on tried and tested ways of doing things rather than searching for innovative solutions. Look for answers that showcase originality, inventive use of resources, and the ability to deliver practical solutions under constraints.
As when testing most competencies, it's important to hear real-world examples of problem solving rather than generic answers that don't reveal anything about how they approached complex situations in previous roles. As always, look for answers that use the STAR (situation-task-action-result) method to effectively demonstrate how the candidate uses creativity to solve problems.
Problem solving interview questions for adaptability and resourcefulness
The ability to adapt and be resourceful is essential in fast-paced work environments and is a key component of strong problem-solving capabilities.
Here are some interview questions you can use to assess these skills:
- Walk me through an experience of tackling a daunting project.
- Tell me about a time when you had to change your strategy last minute.
- Describe a time when you faced significant obstacles to solving a problem.
What to look for in responses:
Responses to these questions should highlight the candidate’s flexibility and resourcefulness as demonstrated in previous experiences. Effective answers typically include examples of problem solving by adjusting strategies, on-their-feet thinking, and maintaining composure under pressure. You'll want to get a clear understanding of whether a candidate can thrive in challenging situations. Do they break down in stressful situations or do they maintain composure and find a way forward? Do you they know when to ask for help to maximize chances of success? These are the types of questions you'll want to address in your probing.
Problem solving interview questions that test results-orientation
Execution is one thing, but strong problem solving skills must also include a focus on results, measurability, and long-term impact.
Here are some interview questions to assess how a candidate thinks about the results of their problem solving:
- Can you give me examples of metrics you use to measure the success of your problem-solving efforts?
- How do you decide when a problem is "solved"?
- Can you tell me about a time when you've solved a problem that required making tradeoffs between short and long-term outcomes?
What to look for in responses:
You'll want to see that a candidate doesn't have a "box ticking" mentality, where they want to close out a problem just to check it off their list. Do they think critically about how to define and measure success, or do they take a binary problem solving approach? A candidate's problem-solving skills are only as good as their ability to understand the quality of their solutions and the tradeoffs of their impact.
Summary
Carefully crafted problem-solving questions can play a crucial role in assessing a candidate’s ability to navigate difficult situations and devise effective solutions. We hope this guidance on problem solving interviews helps you more thoroughly understand a candidate's approach.
