Problem Solving Assessment for Hiring
Assess a candidate’s ability to diagnose issues, weigh options, and choose practical solutions before making a hiring decision.
- Duration: approximately 12 minutes
- Questions: 24
- Format: Multiple choice
- Measures: Root Cause Analysis, Solution Generation, Decision Prioritization, Practical Judgment
- Best for: Operations, support, technical, and management roles where resolving real work problems matters
What is a problem solving assessment?
A problem solving assessment is a pre-employment test that measures a candidate’s ability to diagnose issues, weigh options, and choose practical solutions in realistic work scenarios. Rather than testing abstract puzzle-solving, it measures how someone approaches the kind of problems that come up in day-to-day work.
Employers use problem solving assessments because the ability to resolve issues efficiently and sensibly affects performance across almost every role, and it is difficult to judge accurately from a résumé alone. This assessment gives hiring teams direct evidence of how a candidate actually approaches a problem, not just how they describe past ones.
This assessment is typically used early in the hiring process, often alongside role-specific assessments, so results are available before the interview stage.
What does the assessment measure?
Root Cause Analysis
The ability to identify the underlying cause of a problem rather than just its symptoms.
Solution Generation
The ability to generate practical, workable options for resolving a problem.
Decision Prioritization
The ability to weigh trade-offs and choose the most appropriate option given constraints.
Practical Judgment
The ability to apply common-sense reasoning to realistic work situations.
What candidates can expect
Candidates complete 24 multiple-choice questions in approximately 12 minutes. Each question presents a realistic work scenario with a problem to diagnose or resolve, and candidates choose the most appropriate response from several options. Instructions are shown before each question, the assessment can be completed on desktop or mobile, and progress is saved automatically.
Problem Solving Assessment sample questions
Representative examples created for this page, not questions from the live assessment bank.
Example 1 — Root Cause Analysis
A team’s reports are consistently late, but only since a new approval step was added. What is the most likely root cause?
- A. The team is unmotivated
- B. The new approval step is creating a bottleneck
- C. The reports are too long
- D. The deadline was moved earlier
Correct answer: B. The timing change lines up directly with the new approval step, pointing to it as the likely cause.
Example 2 — Solution Generation
A customer repeatedly submits incomplete order forms, causing delays. What is the most practical first step?
- A. Reject all future orders from the customer
- B. Redesign the form to flag missing fields before submission
- C. Escalate to management immediately
- D. Ignore the issue since it is the customer’s error
Correct answer: B. Preventing the error at the source addresses the actual cause with the least disruption.
Example 3 — Decision Prioritization
You can fix a minor display bug now or a data-accuracy bug affecting invoices, but not both before a deadline. Which should you prioritize?
- A. The display bug, since it is visible
- B. The data-accuracy bug, since it affects invoices
- C. Neither, wait for more time
- D. Ask the customer to choose
Correct answer: B. A data-accuracy issue affecting invoices carries higher business risk than a cosmetic display issue.
Example 4 — Practical Judgment
A colleague asks you to approve an expense that is slightly outside policy but for a reasonable business reason. What is the most appropriate response?
- A. Approve it without documentation
- B. Deny it without discussion
- C. Escalate it with a documented justification for a decision
- D. Approve it and tell no one
Correct answer: C. Escalating with documentation resolves the exception properly while maintaining accountability.
When to use a problem solving assessment
Use this assessment when a role requires resolving day-to-day issues, weighing trade-offs, or making practical decisions.
Before interviews
Use results to identify strong practical problem-solving before scheduling interview time.
During candidate screening
Add objective evidence of decision-making for operations, support, or management roles.
When comparing finalists
Compare candidates on the same realistic scenarios rather than relying on interview stories alone.
Roles where problem solving matters
Operations Manager, Customer Support Specialist, Project Coordinator, Technical Support Specialist, Team Lead, Account Manager, and Store Manager.
How the Problem Solving Assessment is scored
Each correct response earns one point. Questions are mapped to one of four dimensions, and performance is calculated overall and by dimension. Results are shown as descriptive performance bands rather than percentile rankings.
These bands describe performance on this assessment. They are not population percentiles and do not predict job performance on their own.
Strong
Consistently accurate performance across the assessed tasks.
Moderate
Generally accurate performance, with some errors or inconsistency.
Developing
Lower accuracy across the assessed tasks, an area that may be worth verifying further.
What you receive after a candidate completes the assessment
- Overall result
- Dimension-by-dimension results across root cause analysis, solution generation, prioritization, and judgment
- Strengths identified from the assessment
- Areas to verify further with the candidate
- A plain-language interpretation of the results
- Suggested interview questions based on the results
How should employers interpret problem solving results?
Results are grouped into Strong, Moderate, and Developing bands for the overall score and each of the four dimensions. A Strong result means the candidate consistently chose sound, practical responses across the assessed scenarios; a Developing result flags an area worth exploring further in the interview, not a reason to reject a candidate outright.
A lower result should not automatically determine a hiring decision. Assessment results should be considered alongside interviews, experience and other job-relevant information.
Interview questions for evaluating problem solving
- “Tell me about a time you diagnosed the real cause of a recurring problem at work.”
- “Describe a situation where you had to choose between two imperfect options under time pressure.”
- “Walk me through how you approached a problem that didn’t have an obvious solution.”
- “Give an example of a time you fixed a problem in a way that prevented it from recurring.”
- “Tell me about a decision you made that involved weighing competing priorities.”
- “Describe a time you had to solve a problem with limited resources or authority.”
Assess problem solving alongside other skills
- For operations hiring: Problem Solving, Situational Judgment, Attention to Detail, and Administrative Skills.
- For technical roles: Problem Solving, Logical Reasoning, Cognitive Ability, and Attention to Detail.
- For management roles: Problem Solving, Leadership, Critical Thinking, and Communication Skills.
How the assessment is developed
This assessment is developed using established principles of situational item design. Its questions are built around four defined dimensions and realistic workplace scenarios, such as diagnosing causes, generating options, weighing trade-offs, and applying practical judgment.
We do not currently have a formal independent psychometric validation study, an established normative sample, or a published reliability coefficient for this assessment.
Questions are reviewed for clarity and job relevance, and the assessment is intended to be used as one input alongside interviews, experience, and other job-relevant information, not as a sole hiring decision.
Frequently asked questions
What is a problem solving assessment?
A problem solving assessment is a pre-employment test that measures a candidate’s ability to diagnose issues and choose practical solutions in realistic work scenarios.
How long does the assessment take?
The assessment takes approximately 12 minutes to complete, covering 24 multiple-choice questions.
What does a problem solving test measure?
It measures root cause analysis, solution generation, decision prioritization, and practical judgment.
Which jobs require strong problem solving?
Roles involving day-to-day issue resolution, such as operations, support, and management positions.
How are candidates scored?
Candidates earn one point per correct answer. Scores are calculated overall and by dimension, then shown as Strong, Moderate, or Developing performance bands.
Can I use this assessment before an interview?
Yes. Many employers use it as part of an initial screen, before scheduling interviews.
Should assessment results determine whether someone is hired?
No. Results should be considered alongside interviews, experience, and other job-relevant information, not used as the sole basis for a hiring decision.
Can I combine this with other candidate assessments?
Yes. It is commonly paired with Situational Judgment, Logical Reasoning, or Leadership depending on the role.
Assess problem solving before you hire
Invite candidates to complete the assessment and receive clear, dimension-level results you can use to guide interviews and hiring decisions.