Learn more about problem-solving skills and how they work.
What Are Problem-Solving Skills?
Problem-solving skills help you solve issues quickly and effectively. It’s one of the key skills that employers seek in job applicants, as employees with these skills tend to be self-reliant. Problem-solving skills require quickly identifying the underlying issue and implementing a solution. Problem-solving is considered a soft skill (a personal strength) rather than a hard skill that’s learned through education or training. You can improve your problem-solving skills by familiarizing yourself with common issues in your industry and learning from more experienced employees.
How Problem-Solving Skills Work
Problem-solving starts with identifying the issue. For example, a teacher might need to figure out how to improve student performance on a writing proficiency test. To do that, the teacher will review the writing tests looking for areas of improvement. They might see that students can construct simple sentences, but they’re struggling with writing paragraphs and organizing those paragraphs into an essay. To solve the problem, the teacher would work with students on how and when to write compound sentences, how to write paragraphs, and ways to organize an essay. There are five steps typically used in problem-solving.
1. Analyze Contributing Factors
To solve a problem, you must find out what caused it. This requires you to gather and evaluate data, isolate possible contributing circumstances, and pinpoint what needs to be addressed for a resolution. To do this, you’ll use skills like:
Data gatheringData analysisFact-findingHistorical analysis
2. Generate Interventions
Once you’ve determined the cause, brainstorm possible solutions. Sometimes this involves teamwork since two (or more) minds are often better than one. A single strategy is rarely the obvious route to solving a complex problem; devising a set of alternatives helps you cover your bases and reduces your risk of exposure should the first strategy you implement fail. This involves skills like:
BrainstormingCreative thinkingPredictionForecastingProject designProject planning
3. Evaluate Solutions
Depending on the nature of the problem and your chain of command, evaluating best solutions may be performed by assigned teams, team leads, or forwarded to corporate decision-makers. Whoever makes the decision must evaluate potential costs, required resources, and possible barriers to successful solution implementation. This requires several skills, including:
AnalysisDiscussionCorroborationTeamworkTest developmentMediationPrioritizing
4. Implement a Plan
Once a course of action has been decided, it must be implemented along with benchmarks that can quickly and accurately determine whether it’s working. Plan implementation also involves letting personnel know about changes in standard operating procedures. This requires skills like:
Project management Project implementation Collaboration Time management Benchmark development
5. Assess the Solution’s Effectiveness
Once a solution is implemented, the best problem-solvers have systems in place to evaluate if and how quickly it’s working. This way, they know as soon as possible whether the issue has been resolved or whether they’ll have to change their response to the problem mid-stream. This requires:
CommunicationData analysisSurveysCustomer feedbackFollow-throughTroubleshooting
Here’s an example of showing your problem-solving skills in a cover letter. Here’s another example of how to show your problem-solving skills in a cover letter:
Highlighting Problem-Solving Skills
Since this is a skill that’s important to most employers, put them front and center on your resume, cover letter, and in interviews. If you’re not sure what to include, look to previous roles—whether in academic, work, or volunteer settings—for examples of challenges you met and problems you solved. Highlight relevant examples in your cover letter and use bullet points in your resume to show how you solved a problem. During interviews, be ready to describe situations you’ve encountered in previous roles, the processes you followed to address problems, the skills you applied, and the results of your actions. Potential employers are eager to hear a coherent narrative of the ways you’ve used problem-solving skills. Interviewers may pose hypothetical problems for you to solve. Base your answers on the five steps and refer to similar problems you’ve resolved, if possible. Here are tips for answering problem-solving interview questions, with examples of the best answers.
