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Strategic-thinking

Use strategic-thinking interview questions to find awesome forward-looking candidates who understand your company's needs.

Why strategic-thinking interview questions are important

Strategic-thinking is the ability to make informed business decisions through analysis. Strategic thinkers take a company’s vision and transform it into action.

Your ideal strategic-thinking candidate can:

  • Ace long-term objectives
  • Catch potential risks and plan ahead
  • Use resources efficiently
  • Develop action plans no matter what
  • Deal with competition like a pro

Strategic-thinking interview questions

  • How much time do you put aside for strategic-planning? What does that time look like?
  • How do you communicate your strategic decisions?
  • Have you ever proactively identified and addressed an issue at your company? What happened?
  • How do you set, check and review long-term team goals?
  • Describe a time when your approach didn’t work. What happened?
  • How do you build an awesome action plan?
  • How do you measure how awesome your strategies are?

Candidates to look for 

  • Analytical thinkers: Look for a candidate who compares alternatives and weighs pros and cons.
  • Methodical thinkers: Your ideal candidate will be methodical and assess alternatives and potential risks.
  • They can identify mistakes: Delve into past projects that failed and ask them to evaluate it. 
  • They understand your needs: Use hypothetical scenarios related to the role to test if they understand your needs and objectives.

Candidates to avoid

  • Bad decision-makers: Candidates who lack confidence and seem nervous about decision-making are a no-no.
  • They’re poor leaders: Setting challenging objectives and motivating teams are key to an awesome candidate, so avoid candidates who aren’t confident delegating and can’t engage a team.
  • They’re reckless: Generic, detail-free answers probably won’t be able to think strategically at tricky times.
  • They’re change avoiders: Flexibility is a must when it comes to strategies. Candidates who aren’t great at change management probably won’t be any good at re-evaluating strategies.

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Start optimizing your recruiting process today.

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