What is convergent thinking? How can it help you find a job?

Is convergent thinking part of your problem solving process? Let’s find out what convergent thinking is and how to use it !

Employers today are always looking for candidates who can help them overcome challenges with creative solutions, using strong problem-solving skills. To capture their interest, your resume should highlight your own problem-solving abilities – including skills based on convergent thinking. But what is convergent thinking and how can it help you in your job search?

Things to know about convergent thinking

• What is convergent thinking?
• The difference between convergent thinking and divergent thinking 
• Convergent thinking process
  • 1. Identify the problem
  • 2. Information collection
  • 3. Brainstorm possible solutions
  • 4. Evaluate those possible solutions to find the best option
  • 5. Implement the action plan
• How to incorporate convergent thinking into your resume
  • Add convergent thinking to your resume summary
  • List convergent thinking skills in your skills section
  • Highlight examples of convergent thinking in your work experience section

What is convergent thinking?

Convergent thinking involves a thinking process that focuses on identifying a unique and distinct solution using a logical, step-by-step process. This process requires you to identify and evaluate different potential solutions to eliminate those that are not feasible. This methodical approach to problem solving is extremely useful in any situation where there is only one acceptable answer to a problem.

Convergent thinking offers many benefits to any problem-solving effort. Focusing on finding a single solution can help speed up any decision-making effort by avoiding unnecessary distractions. An emphasis on accuracy can help reduce errors and ensure that the right solution is found. Meanwhile, critical thinking's reliance on logic and facts can help provide an organizational structure to any problem-solving process.

The difference between convergent thinking and divergent thinking

To fully understand convergent thinking, it is helpful to consider the difference between convergent and divergent thinking processes. While convergent thinkers go through a series of steps to identify a single solution to a problem, divergent thinkers take a more creative approach to problem-solving. Instead of trying to identify a single solution, divergent thinkers brainstorm to identify multiple possible solutions to any given challenge. They then focus on identifying the most feasible solution based on those.

Convergent thinking process

Convergent thinking involves a simple thought process that involves a series of steps. Here is a structured approach that convergent thinkers often use in their search for the right answer or solution:

1. Identify the problem

The process of convergent thinking begins with an effort to define the problem to be solved. Whether you are looking for an answer to a question or a solution to a challenge, you first need to define the problem to understand the task at hand.

2. Information collection

Once you have identified the problem, you can begin gathering the facts, evidence, and insights needed to discover possible solutions. You can gather information by collecting data, conducting research, conducting surveys, and talking to experts, witnesses, and other stakeholders.

3. Brainstorm possible solutions

Once you have gathered all the information available, you can begin to brainstorm possible solutions. It is important to consider all potential solutions, even those that may seem less likely. By keeping an open mind, you can reduce the chances of missing the answer you are looking for.

4. Evaluate those possible solutions to find the best option

Once you have created a list of potential solutions, it is time to analyze them for feasibility. You should evaluate the relative benefits and drawbacks of each possible solution, taking into account potential effectiveness, disadvantages, costs, etc. The goal here is to eliminate the least feasible or least effective solutions and identify the best option.

5. Implement the action plan

Once you have identified the best solution, you will need to create an action plan that can be used to implement that solution. This will often require consulting with management, colleagues, and other stakeholders. Your goal here is to help develop a strategy for implementing your solution to address the problem. You may also need to monitor the progress of the solution, evaluate the results, and make any changes necessary to improve the impact of the solution.

How to incorporate convergent thinking into your resume

Convergent thinking can be an important element of any successful job search. The good news is that there are many ways to incorporate convergent thinking skills into different sections of your resume, including your resume summary, skills section, and work experience section.

The following sections will provide some tips to help you add this skill to each relevant section – with the goal of demonstrating your ability to use convergent thinking to identify the best solutions to any problem you encounter.

Add convergent thinking to your resume summary

When an employer is reviewing your resume, your summary statement is one of the first things they’ll see. By including your convergent thinking problem-solving skills in that section, you can ensure that those abilities get the attention they deserve. One of the easiest ways to highlight them is to create a sentence that focuses on how you used your convergent thinking process to solve problems and create real value for the employer. For example:

Convergent thinkers are typically committed to identifying challenges, analyzing data and facts, and creating effective solutions that have a positive impact on the company, team, and customers.

List convergent thinking skills in your skills section

It’s important to demonstrate convergent thinking in your core competencies or skills section. However, don’t just add “convergent thinking” to a bulleted list of skills. Instead, focus on highlighting the different skills you use as part of the convergent thinking process. This will help ensure that the employer has a full understanding of how your thinking process works to solve problems and achieve great results.

For example, you could include skills like:

• Data Analysis
• Critical thinking
• Problem Solving
• Make a decision
• Study

These types of skills are all commonly used by convergent thinkers when they are performing any type of problem-solving process. Luckily, they are also abilities that are highly valued by employers in almost every sector of the economy!

Highlight examples of convergent thinking in your work experience section

You’ll also want to showcase these skills in your work experience section. The best way to do this is to incorporate them into some measurable accomplishments that you include in your company listing. Here are some examples of potential accomplishments that can help you describe how you used these skills to produce positive results for previous employers:

• Incorporating a logic-based convergent thinking channel into a team's problem-solving process reduces errors by 27%
• Led a dynamic technical support team of 7 for five years, using superior data analytics and critical thinking to identify and implement solutions that improved staff efficiency by 33%, boosted sales performance, and increased customer satisfaction by 28%
• As a team leader, consistently maintained a 98% success rate in resolving issues on-site, eliminating 21% of system downtime and non-productivity related costs

If you make a list of your past work accomplishments, you can come up with similar examples from your own work history. Just pick three or four of them and add them to your list of accomplishments, using real numbers to demonstrate their worth.

Employers are always looking for employees with strong problem-solving skills. By highlighting your convergent thinking skills throughout your resume, you can effectively demonstrate your ability to solve any problem the company faces – which may be just what you need to prove you’re the best candidate for the job.