Critical Thinking Test to measure problem-solving and decision-making skills

Mercer | Mettl's Critical Thinking Test evaluates a candidate's ability to perform critical roles at all job levels, from individual contributors to mid- and senior management roles across industries. This Critical Thinking Test is suitable for recruitment, learning, and development. The test assesses candidates in recognizing assumptions, assessing arguments, and drawing valid conclusions. The candidates are given various situations and statements to evaluate them on the abovementioned skills.

Why is a Critical Thinking Test important?

Critical thinking is achieving the desired outcome by thinking rationally and critically. A candidate needs to collect the necessary information from diverse, relevant sources, render accurate judgment based on evidence, identify the assumptions made, and draw conclusions to reach a decision. Critical thinking is essential in a world of ambiguity and change. Good critical thinking skills help interpret complex information, facilitating decision-making.

Critical thinking in the workplace  

A Critical Thinking Test in a workplace is used to identify suitable hires for the organization, understand the current proficiency level of employees in terms of learning and development, and train and develop employees effectively. It identifies high-potential candidates with a healthy pipeline of future leaders and aids in succession planning.

What is inside this Critical Thinking Assessment?

This Critical Thinking Test consists of a situation explaining the question's premise, followed by four statements on either assumptions, arguments or conclusions. An applicant must identify which statements following the premise are assumptions made, which arguments are weak or strong and which are valid conclusions. 

Designed by experts, Mercer | Mettl's Critical Thinking Test contains twenty-one questions to be completed within thirty minutes. The candidate's skills are evaluated on easy, medium and challenging levels. The test is developed as per the guidelines of Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing developed jointly by the American Educational Research Association, EFPA test review model, National Council on Measurement in Education (1999), the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology's Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures (2003), Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (EEOC, 1978), and American Psychological Association.

What skills does this Critical Thinking Test cover?

• Critical thinking  

This test assesses the candidate's skills in critical thinking via questions that assess candidates in recognizing assumptions, evaluating arguments, and deriving conclusions.  

• Verbal ability  

It includes reading comprehension, para jumbles, sentence formation, correction, and sentence equivalence and completion. 

• Data interpretation  

It includes analyzing data and structuring it comprehensively to identify trends and patterns that support decision-making. 

• Domain ability 

This section focuses on the skills needed in making domain-specific business decisions.

What roles can you assess using the Critical Thinking Test?

• Analysts: They gather, interpret, and use complex data to develop actionable steps to improve processes and optimize results. Additionally, they review and analyze robust information, assess organization and client needs, and look for trends or improvement areas. They deliver information to stakeholders and use it to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of a service, product, or system. 
• Executives: They direct, plan, and coordinate operational activities for their organization or company and are responsible for creating the policies and strategies that meet company goals. They often travel to meetings and conferences and visit regional, local, national, or international branches and offices. They strive to cut costs and improve policies, programs, and performance. Executives analyze sales reports and financial statements and oversee general activities that make up the company's mission. They're responsible for budgets and economic activities, approve or negotiate contracts and agreements, and hire other managers or department heads. 
• Data scientists: They apply coding and problem-solving skills, manage big data, and derive valuable insights. They design custom-made solutions from data, helping organizations achieve their objectives and goals. Their responsibilities include data collection, preprocessing and analysis, creating models to address business problems and presenting information using data visualization techniques.

How can the Critical Thinking Test help recruiters hire?

The Mercer | Mettl Critical Thinking Test can help recruiters identify and hire people with this skill. This assessment provides unbiased, objective, numerical results that can be used to determine the top candidates for the roles. Employees with critical thinking skills are an asset to a company because they can solve problems skillfully and independently.