How do you actually spot judgement in a graduate who's never had the job before?

Entry-level roles in the most AI-exposed occupations are now 7× more likely to require skills traditionally associated with senior roles - such as judgement, leadership and creativity. (Source: PwC's 2026 Global AI Jobs Barometer.)

The hardest skill to assess in a graduate is the one becoming most valuable: judgement.

Here's what to look for instead:

𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦.
Internships, open-source work, side projects, volunteering. Why it matters: judgement develops through real constraints and real feedback. A graded exercise has one correct answer; a real user or real deadline doesn't.

𝘛𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴.
Ask them to explain why a solution works, when it wouldn't, and how they'd improve it - including work where they used tools to accelerate their output. Why it matters: producing an answer is now cheap. Understanding one, and being able to defend it under challenge, is the actual skill gap employers are hiring for.

𝘈𝘴𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨.
Ask about a specific time a decision was challenged or rejected, and what they did next. Why it matters: judgement is built through correction, not avoided by it. Someone who can reflect on mistakes and adapt is more likely to develop judgement on the job.

𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘱𝘵.
Don't take "fast learner" on faith. Introduce something unfamiliar mid-interview, or ask for a concrete before/after example of a skill picked up recently. Why it matters: the speed of adjustment tells you more than the answer itself.

Tool fluency on a CV is not a proxy for judgement - it's often the easiest thing to fake convincingly. Look beyond what they know today. Hire for how they'll approach the problems they haven't seen yet.