Strategic Thinking

In the ever-evolving landscape of modern business, strategic thinking stands as a cornerstone of success. Identifying candidates who not only grasp but also excel in strategic thinking is a critical aspect of your recruitment journey.

  • What is a strategic thinking test?

    A strategic thinking test is designed to measure an individual's prowess in critical strategic competencies, ranging from problem-solving to analytical thinking and the ability to formulate effective organizational strategies.

    Integrating this comprehensive test into your recruitment process ensures that candidates not only grasp strategic principles in theory but also possess the practical skills essential for excelling in strategic leadership roles.

    In today's ever-evolving business landscape, where strategic thinking acts as the guiding star for organizational success, the Strategic Thinking Test emerges as an invaluable instrument for identifying exceptional strategic thinkers capable of steering your organization forward.

Identify the best candidates and hire faster

Our pre-employment tests let you drill down to the best candidates at the click of a button.

  • Find those candidates who will excel in the role.

    Select the assessments that match the skills or behaviours for the position. You can test for software or coding competency, soft skills like teamwork, or personality traits, to be sure those who pass have high potential.

  • Reduce costs and time.

    No more laborious sifting of resumes or cover letters. Pick your ideal assessment mix, invite your applicants to take them, see the results in your dashboard. Get to the interview stage fast.

  • Eliminate bias.

    All your candidates take the assessments on a level playing field. Only their results determine whether they get shortlisted.

  • Why is a strategic thinking test so important when hiring?

    Assessing strategic thinking skills can pose a significant challenge when relying solely on conventional hiring methods like resume screening and interviews. This is where the integration of a strategic thinking test into your recruitment process emerges as a valuable asset, ultimately saving both time and resources.

    Amidst a sea of applications for strategic leadership positions, identifying candidates with exceptional strategic thinking abilities can become a time-consuming and intricate task.

    The test provides an efficient solution for evaluating a diverse pool of candidates, ensuring that each candidate undergoes the same standardized assessment. Its quantifiable results offer recruiters objective data to pinpoint top-performing strategic thinkers.

    Consequently, the process of selecting applicants who meet or exceed your strategic thinking standards becomes more streamlined, often leading to more productive interviews and reduced overall hiring costs.

    The Strategic Thinking Test proves indispensable when recruiting candidates for a wide range of strategic leadership roles, especially positions such as:

    • Chief Executives
    • Urban and Regional Planners
    • Chief Sustainability Officers
    • Public Relations Specialists
    • Search Marketing Strategists
    • Management Analysts

Sample Strategic Thinking question

You are the CEO of a software development company, and your flagship product, which was once highly popular, has been losing market share to competitors. You are facing a critical decision about the product's future.

What should you do?

  • Continue with the current product strategy and collect more information about market trends before making a decision.

  • Release a new version of the product with minor updates and marketing campaigns to start regaining market share.

  • Discontinue the product to cut losses and focus on new product development with potential for immediate success.

  • Review the product's past performance in light of the current market and try to forecast future trends before deciding.

How to assess strategic thinking skills using our test

Our strategic thinking test asks a variety of questions that vary in difficulty level. Candidates who demonstrate strong skills should be able to answer most of the questions correctly.

The test provides valuable data insight into the strengths and weaknesses of a candidate. The test is structured using multiple-choice questions: a familiar format for most test-takers, that allows for instant and objective scoring.

As well as the correct answer, there are typically 2-3 distractors, representing common misconceptions and mistakes. This helps make the test more challenging, so a candidate's ability can be measured more accurately.

Test scores are provided to the user and can be compared to other test-takers in your talent pool, to see how they perform relative to each other.

Each test has been thoroughly reviewed to ensure accuracy and validity in line with industry standards. It has been written, examined, and edited by I/O psychologists and psychometric professionals. It has also been reviewed by a diverse sample of job seekers to check for any issues including sensitivity, face validity, fairness, and accessibility.

This test is continually monitored so our team can optimize performance and regularly assess fairness issues.

Validated

Predictor of job success

Picked provides evidence-based recommendations for tests to use for over 750 jobs. Our recommendation engine leverages data from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) developed by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA).
  • Assessments

    A full suite of assessments

    Our platform comes with 12 tests across both foundation and advanced levels so they’re suitable for everyone. Including aptitude, behavioural and personality tests, you’ll have a full range of tests to help you find the candidates you’re seeking.

  • Analytics

    An array of candidate metrics

    For each of your candidates, you’ll be given a comprehensive report. Included will be all the metrics you need to build a detailed picture of each candidate and ensure you’re making the right hiring decisions.

“The platform is so simple to use. I had used competitor providers for over six years and will never go back. Fast, efficient and friendly!”
Greg Chambers, HR Business Partner, Littlefish Ltd
Greg Chambers, HR Business Partner, Littlefish Ltd

Strategic Thinking FAQs

Is the strategic thinking test hard?

It is moderately difficult for those who would be applying for roles that require significant strategic thinking. This often means more senior positions so junior or early career professionals may find the test difficult.

What is strategic thinking?

Strategic thinking is the ability to analyze complex situations, identify long-term goals, and develop innovative approaches to achieve those goals. It involves a forward-looking, holistic mindset that considers various factors, anticipates future challenges, and adapts to changing circumstances to achieve desired outcomes.

When should I use a strategic thinking test?

When strategic thinking is critical to a job, its associated hiring process benefits from this test being used in an early stage. This limits the candidate pool down to those who have the required skills for further evaluation, saving time and improving the quality of hire.

Can I pair the strategic thinking test with other tests?

Yes, we recommend that you use a few (3-5) different tests together to provide a more holistic profile of each candidate. For example, pairing a soft skills test like strategic thinking with numerical reasoning and our HEXACO personality test would comprehensively assess candidates for a financial advisor position.

“An unbeatable service, impressive platform and fantastic value for money.”
Laurence Fishman, Partner, NLPCA
Laurence Fishman, Partner, NLPCA

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