Hiring candidates with solid decision-making skills is more critical than ever. According to a recent Gartner survey, 65% of decisions made today are more complex than they were two years ago due to an increase in stakeholder involvement and available choices.
If you’re looking for candidates who can make thoughtful decisions with confidence, we’re here to help.
In this article, you’ll find 17 interview questions to help you gauge a candidate’s decision-making abilities. Along with general decision-making questions, you’ll also find questions for related competencies, including business acumen and intuition.
Read on to uncover all of the decision-making interview questions.
General Decision-Making Interview Questions
- Tell me about a time when you had to make a tough decision. Why was it difficult? What was the outcome?
- Tell me about a time when you misjudged a situation and made the wrong decision. What happened, and what did you learn from the experience?
- Tell me about a time when you had to make a big decision on short notice. Walk me through your decision-making process and the outcome.
- If you could go back and change a major decision you made at work, would you? If yes, what would you change, and why would you change it?
- Tell me about a time when you had to weigh the risks and rewards of a decision carefully. What was your thought process, and what did you decide?
- Let’s say you were asked to make a major decision at work, and you could only consult one person. Who would you consult and why?
- When you have to make a big, difficult decision, what is your typical approach? For example, do you ask for advice or go with your gut?
- Tell me about a time when you fully trusted your own decision-making abilities. What made you feel confident about your decision?
- Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision with limited information. What information did you have available, and how did it help lead you to your conclusion?
- Tell me about a time when you had to delay making a decision due to a lack of information. What additional information did you need in order to make the decision?
Business Acumen Interview Questions
- Tell me about a time when you conducted a competitive analysis. What steps did you take, and what were your key takeaways?
- In your opinion, what do you think is the largest opportunity for our company at this time?
- Let’s say our company has decided to pivot our business model or value proposition. What pivot would you suggest we make? Walk me through how you arrived at your answer.
- Tell me about a company or brand you think has built or improved its reputation recently. What key decisions do you think they made to achieve a better reputation?
- What’s an industry you think needs to be disrupted? What would that disruption look like ideally?
- What’s an area in which you think our competitor(s) are outperforming us? What should we do to address that disparity?
- What do you think is the next new frontier for our industry?
Filter questions by competency, department, and role with our free question-finding tool.
Intuition Interview Questions
- Tell me about a time when you went with your gut, and it ended up being the right choice.
- How would a colleague describe you as a teammate in two to three words?
- Tell me about a time when you were asked to make a final call. How did you make your decision? What was the outcome?
- Tell me about a time when solving a problem required reading between the lines. What did you have to figure out, and how did it shape your decision-making?
- Tell me about a time when your coworkers were unreceptive to an idea of yours. How did you react?
Hire better with help from 300+ interview questions
Looking for more helpful interview questions? With our interview question-finding tool, you can access 300+ interview questions that you can filter by competency, department, and role.
Download the Interview Question Finder to unlock a free bank of interview questions. Or, visit the Interview Question Resource Hub to find more interview questions by competency and role.