How To Add Critical Thinking Skills On Resume With Examples

Why is critical thinking important? First and foremost, that is what practically every employer seeks. Second, in a day of fake news, conflicting data, and an overwhelming amount of information to comprehend every day, critical thinking is the only way to make sense of the world.

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is the ability to think in an ordered and rational manner in order to comprehend the relationships between concepts and/or facts. It helps you decide what you believe in. In other words, “thinking about thinking” entails detecting, analyzing, and then correcting faults in our thinking.

How to Be a Critical Thinker?

To become one takes time, practice, and patience. But something you can start doing today to improve your critical thinking skills is apply the 7 steps of critical thinking to every problem you tackle—either at work or in your everyday life.

Steps of Critical Thinking

1. Identify the problem or question.

• Be as precise as possible: the narrower the issue, the easier it is to find solutions or answers.

2. Gather data, opinions, and arguments.

• Try to find several sources that present different ideas and points of view.

3. Analyze and evaluate the data.

• Are the sources reliable? Are their conclusions data-backed or just argumentative? Is there enough information or data to support given hypotheses?

4. Identify assumptions.

• Are you sure the sources you found are unbiased? Are you sure you weren’t biased in your search for answers?

5. Establish significance.

• What piece of information is most important? Is the sample size sufficient? Are all opinions and arguments even relevant to the problem you’re trying to solve?

6. Make a decision/reach a conclusion.

• Identify various conclusions that are possible and decide which (if any) of them are sufficiently supported. Weigh strengths and limitations of all possible options.

7. Present or communicate.

• Once you’ve reached a conclusion, present it to all stakeholders.

Why You Need Critical Thinking Skills ?

Let’s run a quick experiment:

We’ll see if drinking coffee is good for you. First, search for “reasons not to drink coffee.” Wow! Reduced anxiety (source), better teeth (source), weight loss (source), and a healthier heart! Oh, God! I will never touch another cup of coffee again!

What about “reasons to drink coffee?” Lower rates of sadness (source), improved memory (source), increased longevity (source), and, get this, a healthier heart. Ah well. I will never trust the internet again.

What’s the twist? These are not just some unsupported online claims. Every single one of the conclusions listed above is supported by legitimate, peer-reviewed research. So, how can you reconcile these opposing claims?

By thinking critically: Okay, but that does not solve the question of what critical thinking means. So, what does that even mean? Let’s begin with a definition of critical thinking.

Let’s go back to our coffee example and examine it critically, point-by-point.

1. The problem in question was: “is drinking coffee good for you?”

This approach is way to broad. First of all, what does “good” even mean? Secondly, we don’t know if we’re talking about long- or short-term effects of drinking coffee. It’s also possible that drinking coffee might benefit some aspects of your health while being detrimental to others. So, let’s narrow down the problem to: “is drinking coffee good for your heart?”

2. Listed above, there are only two pieces of research on the impact of drinking coffee on your heart.

The first one suggests that drinking coffee “could account for premature deaths in the region of 14% for coronary heart disease and 20% for stroke.” According to the second one, “moderate coffee consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of the Coronary Artery Disease.” We’ve made two other major mistakes in reasoning: first of all, two sources only are not enough.

Secondly, we haven’t taken into account that heart is a very complex organ: just like it is the case with the rest of our body, coffee might be good for some of its functions while bad for others.

3. Both articles cited have appeared in prestigious, peer-reviewed journals.

But

The first one has been based on literature review only; no original studies. The second one, although conducted in a large (25.000 participants) sample of men and women, includes only Korean population—people whose hearts can be affected by other factors such as diet or climate.

4. While the two sources don’t appear biased, we were.

We based our initial Google searches on assumptions: “reasons not to drink coffee” (assuming: coffee is bad for our health) and “reasons to drink coffee” (assuming: coffee is worth drinking). Google’s search algorithms made sure we found articles in line with our assumptions.

5. Considering all of the above, we can positively state that the information we gathered was not significant for solving the initially stated problem.

6. The only conclusion that can be reached is: according to the data we gathered, drinking coffee might or might not be good for our hearts, depending on many factors and variables we failed to take into account.

7. Even if the conclusion is “the question cannot be answered at this point,” it’s still worth presenting and communicating.

It is important to understand the limitations of our understanding on a certain topic.

The point is  – Certainty is extremely difficult to achieve. And critical thinking abilities are required for us to recognize and capitalize on errors in our reasoning and knowledge gaps!

Why Are Critical Thinking Skills Important?

When you think critically, you will continuously question what appears to be obvious. For example, even if something looks to be working perfectly at work, critical thinking might help you uncover new, better ideas.

Critical thinking skills are essential for self-development and progress. That’s why they’re so valuable in today’s work market.

Just think about this:

A recent report by the AACU revealed that 93% of employers value critical thinking over the candidate’s undergraduate degree. So—

Let’s go through how you can showcase your critical thinking skills to boost your chances of landing a better job!

Critical Thinking Skills List for Your Job Search

Top Critical Thinking Skills: Examples

• Analysis: the ability to collect and process information and knowledge.
• Interpretation: concluding what the meaning of processed information is.
• Inference: assessing whether the knowledge you have is sufficient and reliable.
• Evaluation: the ability to make decisions based on the available information.
• Explanation: communicating your findings and reasoning clearly.
• Self-Regulation: the drive to constantly monitor and correct your ways of thinking.
• Open-Mindedness: taking into account other possibilities and points of view.
• Problem-Solving: the ability to tackle unexpected problems and resolve conflicts.

How to Put Critical Thinking on a Resume: Examples

The greatest strategy to demonstrate and prove your critical thinking abilities is to add instances in your previous job description bullet points.

Like in these examples:

Examples of Critical Thinking Skills on a Resume—Nursing

• Evaluated and analyzed cases at hand to determine the priority of treatment.
• Clearly communicated and explained my rationales to doctors and other members of the nursing staff.

Examples of Critical Thinking Skills on a Resume—Engineering

• Identified 8 major hidden design defects with failed constructions.

Examples of Critical Thinking Skills on a Resume—Customer Service

• Interpreted the results of phone surveys to develop a new strategy for handling customer complaints.

Critical Thinking Interview Questions and Answers: Examples

1. Describe a situation where you challenged the way you and your colleagues did their jobs?

Our online ordering page let clients order incompatible components, causing heavy complaints. I asked if we could put a product check in place. The software engineer added warnings when two products weren’t compatible. Complaints went down by 35%.

This answer shows:

• Self-regulation
• Problem-solving

2. Describe a situation where you saw a problem and took steps to fix it.

Our rechargeable forklifts had two different plugs. If you used the wrong one, you could wreck a $3,500 battery. I added zip-ties as cord-shorteners so you could only reach the right outlet. We haven’t lost a battery since.

This answer shows:

• Evaluation
• Problem-solving

3. Tell me about a time you had to persuade someone to see your side of things.

The owner was convinced our gift shop was a moneymaker. I analyzed our cash flow and found it was running at a 10% deficit. I built data visualizations that showed we could increase store revenue 40% through focusing on more popular products.

This answer shows:

• Analysis
• Interpretation
• Explanation

Don’t feel like a good enough critical thinker? Not to worry. There are easy ways to improve your critical thinking. You can actually start today!

Because you’ll need them

Employers test your critical thinking skills in many different ways, including on the job interview stage when they ask you lots of different questions.

How to Improve Critical Thinking Skills

To start working on your critical thinking skills, begin with applying these simple strategies:

1. Ask Simple Critical Thinking Questions

• What do I already know?
• How do I know that?
• What am I trying to prove?
• What are my motivations?

2. Oppose “Common Sense”

The problem with common sense is that it’s so… common.

“No way this business idea can ever be profitable.”

Oh really? Why exactly not? Ramit Sethi is making a killing selling a $300 online course on how to choose a good personal assistant. If that’s profitable, think what else can be.

3. Be Aware of Your Biases

The most common types of cognitive bias you need to avoid are:

• Confirmation Bias: we always subconsciously assume we’re right.
• Action Bias: we act too quickly before thinking something through.
• Association Bias: why did the rain dance always work? Because they’d dance until the rain came.

4. Read a Lot

This will not only help develop your critical thinking skills but actually most skills you can think of. To get a sound start on the theory and strategies behind critical thinking, check out:

• Critical Thinking for Dummies
• How to Think Critically: A Concise Guide
• Critical Thinking Skills: Effective Analysis, Argument and Reflection
• Critical Thinking: Your Guide to Effective Argument, Successful Analysis and Independent Study
• What is Unconscious Bias? (+How to Avoid It in the Workplace)

Key Takeaway

Here’s all you need to know about critical thinking skills in a nutshell:

• The key critical thinking skills are: analysis, interpretation, inference, explanation, self-regulation, open-mindedness, and problem-solving.
• In order to apply the basic principles of critical thinking, follow these steps: identify the problem, gather data, analyze and evaluate, identify assumptions, establish significance, make a decision, and communicate.
• To become a better critical thinker: ask simple questions, challenge common assumptions, be aware of your biases, and read more.