Top 5 Emotional Intelligence Interview Questions
The essential emotional intelligence questions that reveal how candidates handle workplace relationships and pressure.
PAGE CONTENTS
THE REAL COST OF POOR DECISION-MAKING
Why strong decision-making skills are critical for business success
Every day, your employees make decisions that impact your bottom line. From minor tactical choices to strategic pivots, the quality of their decision-making determines whether your organisation thrives or stumbles.
Yet most organisations wait until the interview stage to assess this critical skill, discovering too late that a candidate who interviewed brilliantly freezes under pressure or makes consistently poor judgement calls.
The stakes are higher than you think: Research from McKinsey shows that executives spend 23 hours per week in meetings making decisions, yet 61% of that time is ineffective (McKinsey, 2019). When you hire someone with poor decision-making skills, you're not just getting subpar choices – you're creating bottlenecks that ripple through your entire organisation.
The business impact of decision-making skills:
- Speed matters: Organisations that make decisions quickly are twice as likely to report financial returns of at least 20% (Bain & Company, 2020)
- Quality counts: Poor decision-making costs Fortune 500 companies an estimated $250 million annually (Harvard Business Review, 2019)
- Leadership multiplier: 95% of senior managers believe their organisation's decision-making could be improved (PwC, 2021)
The good news? Decision-making skills can be reliably assessed before you invest hours in interviews. But first, you need to understand what you're actually looking for.
What makes a good decision-maker?
Effective decision-making isn't just about intelligence or experience. It combines several cognitive and behavioural traits:
✓ Critical thinking: Ability to analyse information objectively and evaluate arguments
✓ Cognitive flexibility: Capacity to adapt thinking when presented with new information
✓ Risk assessment: Skill in weighing probabilities and potential outcomes
✓ Emotional regulation: Maintaining objectivity under pressure or uncertainty
✓ Systems thinking: Understanding how decisions impact interconnected elements
These aren't traits you can fully assess with a 45-minute interview. You need a more systematic approach.
THE SMART APPROACH
Why you should combine assessments with interview questions
Here's the problem with relying solely on interview questions to assess decision-making: candidates have ChatGPT, interview coaching, and countless online resources to prepare perfect answers.
They know you'll ask about "a time they made a difficult decision." They've rehearsed their STAR responses. They've polished their stories until they shine. But rehearsed answers don't predict real-world performance.
The interview paradox: The candidates who interview best for decision-making roles are often those who've had the most time to prepare and practice – not necessarily those who make the best decisions under real pressure.
The power of combining methods
Smart organisations use a two-stage approach:
| Stage | Method | What It Measures | Key Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | Psychometric assessments | Cognitive ability, critical thinking, personality traits | Objective, scalable, predictive |
| Stage 2 | Structured interviews | Applied judgement, communication, cultural fit | Context-specific insights |
This approach solves multiple problems:
- You screen out weak decision-makers before investing interview time
- You get objective data to compare candidates fairly
- Your interviews become more focused and productive
- You reduce unconscious bias in the selection process
What assessments reveal that interviews can't
Well-designed assessments measure the cognitive machinery behind good decisions:
✓ Processing speed: How quickly someone can evaluate complex information
✓ Pattern recognition: Ability to spot trends and connections others miss
✓ Logical reasoning: Capacity to build sound arguments and spot flaws
✓ Risk tolerance: Natural comfort level with uncertainty and ambiguity
At Test Partnership, our critical thinking assessments and personality questionnaires provide this foundational data in just 20-30 minutes per candidate, before you invest a single minute in interviews.
PROVEN INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
5 interview questions that reveal decision-making ability
Once you've used assessments to identify candidates with strong decision-making potential, these interview questions help you understand how they apply those skills in practice.
Remember: You're not looking for perfect answers. You're looking for thought processes, self-awareness, and the ability to learn from experience.
"Tell me about a time when you had to make an important decision without having all the information you wanted. How did you approach it?"
What to listen for:
- Recognition of what information was missing and why it mattered
- Strategies for working with uncertainty (assumptions made, risks identified)
- How they balanced speed vs accuracy
- Whether they built in checkpoints or reversibility
Shows systematic thinking even under constraints. Identifies critical vs nice-to-have information. Makes explicit assumptions and plans to validate them. Demonstrates comfort with calculated risk.
"Describe a situation where different stakeholders wanted contradictory outcomes. How did you decide which path to take?"
What to listen for:
- Stakeholder mapping and influence analysis
- Attempts to find win-win solutions
- Clear criteria for making trade-offs
- Communication strategy for the decision
Demonstrates political awareness without being political. Shows empathy for different perspectives. Makes decisions based on organisational priorities, not personal preferences. Takes ownership of difficult choices.
"What's the worst professional decision you've made in the last two years? What would you do differently?"
What to listen for:
- Genuine ownership vs deflection
- Quality of self-reflection and learning
- Understanding of root causes vs symptoms
- Specific changes they've implemented
Takes full accountability without over-dramatising. Identifies specific decision-making flaws (rushed, biased, incomplete analysis). Shows they've internalised lessons and changed behaviour. Demonstrates growth mindset.
"Walk me through how you prioritise when everything seems urgent and important."
What to listen for:
- Structured approach vs reactive scrambling
- Clear criteria for importance vs urgency
- Stakeholder management strategies
- Recognition of opportunity costs
Has a clear framework (Eisenhower matrix, OKRs, etc). Distinguishes between urgent and important. Comfortable saying no or negotiating deadlines. Considers team capacity and burnout. Links decisions to strategic goals.
"Describe a crisis or urgent situation where you had minutes, not hours, to make a decision. How did you handle it?"
What to listen for:
- Ability to quickly identify critical factors
- Grace under pressure vs panic
- Decisiveness balanced with prudence
- Post-crisis review and adjustment
Stays calm and focused under pressure. Rapidly triages to essential decisions. Delegates or defers non-critical elements. Makes peace with imperfection. Conducts thorough post-mortem.
WARNING SIGNS
Red flags that indicate poor decision-making skills
Sometimes what candidates don't say reveals more than what they do. Watch for these warning signs during interviews:
Analysis paralysis: Can't give concrete examples of decisions made, only processes followed
Blame shifting: Every poor outcome was someone else's fault or due to circumstances
Rigidity: "I always..." or "I never..." statements suggesting inflexible thinking
Gut-only approach: No framework or process, just "instinct" without validation
Over-confidence: Never admits to mistakes or shows no learning from experience
The danger of charm over competence
Here's an uncomfortable truth: poor decision-makers often interview brilliantly. They're confident, articulate, and tell compelling stories. But confidence isn't competence.
This is exactly why combining assessments with interviews is so powerful. The data doesn't lie. If someone scores poorly on critical thinking but interviews well, you know to probe deeper. Are they all style and no substance?
MAKING IT WORK
How to implement this approach in your hiring process
Ready to stop guessing about decision-making skills? Here's your practical roadmap:
Step 1: Add assessments to your screening process
Before you review CVs or conduct phone screens, have all candidates complete:
- A critical thinking assessment (15-20 minutes)
- A personality questionnaire focusing on judgment-related traits (10-15 minutes)
This immediately filters out weak decision-makers and gives you objective data for comparison.
Step 2: Use assessment data to guide interviews
Review assessment results before each interview. If someone scores low on risk tolerance, probe how they handle uncertainty. If they show strong analytical skills but weak interpersonal awareness, explore stakeholder management.
Step 3: Structure your interview process
Use the five questions above consistently across all candidates. Score responses using a simple rubric:
| Score | Criteria |
|---|---|
| 1. Poor | No clear process, blames others, can't provide examples |
| 2. Basic | Some structure, limited self-awareness, simple examples |
| 3. Good | Clear framework, owns mistakes, relevant examples |
| 4. Excellent | Sophisticated thinking, continuous learning, strategic examples |
Step 4: Combine data points for final decisions
Weight your decision based on:
- 40% - Assessment results (objective cognitive and personality data)
- 40% - Structured interview scores (applied judgment)
- 20% - Cultural fit and other factors
The result? You'll make better hiring decisions faster, with less bias and more confidence. Our clients typically see a 35% reduction in time-to-hire and a 40% improvement in quality of hire when implementing this approach.
READY TO GET STARTED?
Why Test Partnership for assessing decision-making skills
We're not just another assessment provider. We're business psychologists who understand that hiring is about predicting real-world performance, not just ticking boxes.
What sets us apart:
✓ Scientifically validated assessments that actually predict job performance
✓ 15-minute assessments: that candidates actually complete
✓ Clear, actionable reports that don't require a psychology degree to understand
✓ Expert support from business psychologists, not salespeople
✓ Simple, transparent pricing with no hidden fees or minimum orders
Our critical thinking assessment specifically measures the cognitive abilities that underpin good decision-making: evaluation of arguments, recognition of assumptions, deductive reasoning, making inferences, and interpretation of information.
Combined with our personality assessments that measure judgment-related traits like conscientiousness, openness to experience, and emotional stability, you get a complete picture of decision-making potential.
See it in action
Book a 15-minute demo and we'll show you exactly how our assessments can transform your ability to identify strong decision-makers. No sales pressure, just practical insights from our team of business psychologists.
The bottom line
Every hire is a bet on someone's judgment. Why gamble when you can get data?
Stop relying on gut feel and rehearsed interview answers. Start measuring decision-making skills objectively, at scale, before you invest hours in interviews.
Your future self (and your organisation's performance) will thank you.
