How to test for critical thinking skills

By brain teaser do you mean a riddle? I always enjoy a good riddle to get me thinking in different ways.

Check out Google's commonly-asked interview questions; i.e., how many golf balls could fit into a yellow school bus.

If you need to do anything, do a case study but I personally am opposed to that sort of stuff. If I heard a riddle or something in an interview, I'd be kinda flabbergasted. Hell, i use excel all day every day and I don't think I could pass an excel test because I have all that stuff internalized

Don't do a riddle, but a brain game like question from google would work. Make sure they explain their logic.

I actually got asked one in an interview 2 months ago. And I got to within 5% of the actual answer. I was super impressed with myself over that.

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Better than the "if you were an animal what would you be question" I have been asked in multiple interviews

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seriously?

I have never been asked what is your greatest weakness question.

I've had to do Excel in an interview previously. The thing that really threw me off is they used Lenovo laptops and I had an HP in my role. The shortcuts and key placement was different and it made all my key strokes off. Excel is so much about muscle memory.

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How to test for critical thinking skills
We're hiring for an entry level support position at the software company i work at.

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I work for a software company and we struggle with this as well for our support reps. Very hard to find people in general that can think.

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Will brain teasers help you fall in love with a candidate?

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Its more about how they work the problem. Not even really about getting it right necessarily althpugh the best ones tend to knock them out of the park.

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If i interviewed with you,then found this post and heckled you for soliciting advice from a website called Tigerdroppings, would you appreciate that? 

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I wouldnt really care. I dont think anything ive done is completely invalid and there's always room to improve.

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If you loved someone for entry level, they'll probably leave you in 12 months for a better opportunity anyway. So maybe choose someone you like not love for a long term play.. that could be your brain teaser 

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Turnover hasn't been a problem yet. Finding someone who isn't going to be a drag on the team is difficult.

I ask questions about jobs a little bit outside of their scope - maybe a different discipline (process engineer vs production for example).... what do you think their deliverables are on a project? What challenges do you think they face on a day to day basis? What do they need from you to do their job?

A lot of times they start answering... "i don't know much about that discipline, so it is hard to say". I coach them through it a little bit, tell them there isn't really a right answer, but still press them to answer.

if they can't think about the roles of other folks that they have to interact with, then it is red flag for me.

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"What do you do with the 3 hours of the day where you are bored off your arse in a cubicle?"

"Do you ask for more work? Do you say you're finishing work too quickly and not sure if you can assume more duties if needed? Or do you check your phone and stare at the wall and try to pass time till u gtfo of the office?"

"I want to hire guys who will run the company one day, is that you?"

"What would you do to prove you can be me one day?"

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These dont actually tell you anything though. I dont see value in hearing answers im looking for. Someone could get all these right snd still be shite at the job.