Common examples of critical thinking include checking where a statistic came from before repeating it, asking what a proposal takes for granted, noticing that two things happening together does not prove one caused the other, and comparing options against evidence rather than gut feeling. In each case the person stops to test a claim before acting on it. The examples below show what that looks like at work, in everyday life and in a job interview.
Employers often measure these skills with a test. You can see the kind of questions they use in a free critical thinking test in the style of the Watson Glaser.
Examples of critical thinking at work
Each example below shows a situation, the easy reaction, and what a critical thinker does instead.
1. Reading a rise in complaints correctly
A customer service manager sees that complaints rose from 40 last month to 60 this month, a jump of 50%. The easy reaction is to assume service has got worse. A critical thinker asks what else changed. Orders rose from 2,000 to 3,600 over the same period. As a rate, complaints went from 40 ÷ 2,000 = 2% of orders to 60 ÷ 3,600, which is about 1.7%. Service has not got worse per order. The business is simply busier.
2. Questioning a supplier’s claim
A supplier says its software “cuts admin time by half”. A critical thinker asks: half of what, measured how, and for which customers? A figure from a single favourable client is weaker evidence than a trial in your own team.
3. Spotting a hidden assumption
A colleague suggests moving a weekly meeting online “so more people can attend”. The suggestion assumes that the people who miss it do so because of travel. If they miss it because of clashing deadlines, moving it online will not help. Naming the assumption points to the real question to ask.
4. Separating correlation from cause
Teams that use a new project tool hit more deadlines. Before crediting the tool, a critical thinker checks who chose to adopt it. If the best organised teams adopted it first, they may have hit more deadlines anyway.
5. Weighing a decision on evidence
Two candidates are shortlisted. One interviews confidently, the other gives quieter but more detailed answers. A critical thinker scores both against the same criteria agreed in advance, so a strong first impression does not decide the outcome on its own.
6. Testing your own conclusion
An analyst finds that a marketing campaign worked. Before reporting it, she looks for evidence that would prove her wrong, such as whether sales rose just as much in areas that never saw the campaign. If they did not, her conclusion is stronger for having been tested.
Examples of critical thinking skills in everyday life
Critical thinking is not only for work. You use the same skills when you:
- read a headline that says a food is “linked to” a health outcome, and check whether the article shows cause or just a pattern
- compare two phone contracts on the total cost over the full term, not just the monthly price
- notice that a glowing online review comes from an account that has only ever posted one review
- hear a friend’s story about a bad experience with a company, and remember that one story is not a pattern
- change your mind when someone shows you good evidence you had not seen
Each of these draws on a specific skill: interpreting information, evaluating evidence, recognising assumptions or reflecting on your own view. Our guide to what critical thinking skills are explains each one.
Examples to use in a job interview
Interviewers often ask for an example of a time you solved a problem or made a difficult decision. They are listening for evidence that you think critically. A good answer follows a clear structure: the situation, what you did, and the result.
Here is a short example answer:
“Our team was asked to cut printing costs, and the first idea was to ban colour printing. Before agreeing, I looked at the print logs. Most of the cost came from a few large reports printed every week, many of which were never read. We moved those reports online instead, which saved more than the colour ban would have done, and nobody lost something they needed.”
This works because it shows the candidate checking the evidence, finding the real cause and choosing a solution on that basis. When you prepare your own answers, pick examples where you questioned an assumption or used data to change a decision.
On a CV, describe what you did rather than simply claiming the skill. “Reviewed supplier data and found a cheaper option for the same specification” says far more than “strong critical thinker”.
An example from a critical thinking test
Recruitment tests turn these skills into short questions. Here is one in the style of a recognising assumptions question.
Statement: “We should offer the new product to existing customers first, because they already trust our brand.”
Proposed assumption: “Customers who trust a brand are more likely to try its new products.”
Answer: assumption made. The statement gives trust as the reason for offering the product to existing customers first. That reason only works if trust makes people more willing to try something new. The argument depends on it, so it is assumed.
Now try a different proposed assumption: “Existing customers will all buy the new product.” Answer: assumption not made. The statement only says they are a good group to start with. It does not need every one of them to buy.
You will find worked examples for all five question types in our guide to Watson Glaser test examples and tips.
How to build these habits
The people in these examples are not doing anything unusual. They are asking a small set of questions consistently: what exactly is being claimed, what is the evidence, what is assumed, and what else could explain it. Our guide on how to improve critical thinking skills shows how to make those questions automatic.
If you have a critical thinking test coming up, practise with questions that give you feedback. A timed critical thinking practice test shows you which question types need the most work.
