How to use Custom Questions and Qualifying Questions?

Want to get a deeper insight into the candidates applying? The Custom and Qualifying Questions are your tools for that!

Whenever you are hiring for any specific job role, in addition to the technical and non-technical skills, it's important to have a better understanding of candidates applying for the role. Testlify, as a hiring platform, makes this process easy through the Custom Questions & Qualifying Questions feature.

All the tests you find on Testlify can help you assess the candidates based on their current skills. However, to better understand candidates related to specific criteria, such as their readiness for the role, knowledge about your company, etc., after creating the assessment, you can set a few custom & qualifying questions of your choice and receive answers for them.

These questions are a part of the assessment-making process, and only the Owners, Admins, or Recruiters are allowed to add these. There are various types of custom questions you can select and receive the answers according to your chosen method.

Here's what coming next in the article for you -

Types of Custom Questions
How to add different Custom Questions?
Qualifying Questions: How to add them?
Reviewing your candidates’ answers
Commonly Asked Questions

Types of Custom Questions

We have four different types of Custom Questions:

Open Ended
Record Video (video question)
Single Select
Multiple Select

Open Ended Questions

You can consider these open-ended questions as essay-like questions that the candidates can answer within the stipulated time and word limit. So what can you add to these open-ended questions? You can ask the candidates about their previous work experience, their objective for applying for the job role, their knowledge or skill level of a specific topic, and much more! In simple terms, open-ended questions are those that the candidates can answer through written(typed) text.

Testlify allows you to add various modifications to your question where you can add images, text, tables, make your text bold, italic, etc. The minimum time limit you can add is 2 minutes, and the maximum is 30 minutes to answer a question.

Record Question (video question)

In the current scenario, many employers rely on video inputs to learn more about candidates, their communication skills, confidence, how they articulate their ideas, basic body language, etc. In fact, a video recording is a great way to form a 'first impression' of a candidate. In this medium, the candidates have to answer a question by simply recording a video. You can add other modifications like images, links, bold letters, and more. The minimum time limit you can add is 2 minutes, and the maximum is 30 minutes to answer a question.

Single Select Question

These are single multiple-choice questions that you can add to your assessment. In this type, you can add four to six answer options to any question. So what kind of questions can you add? These questions are not limited to any single topic. You can add subjective questions, skill-related questions, personality-related questions, and much more. The only difference between single-select multiple-choice questions and others is that the candidates can select only one correct answer out of all the answer options available. The minimum time limit you can add is 2 minutes, and the maximum is 30 minutes to answer a question.

Multiple Select Questions

Multiple-select multiple-choice questions are similar to single-select questions where you can add four to six answer options to any question. When it comes to multiple select questions, here, too, you can add subjective questions, personality-related questions, skill-related questions, and much more. What differentiates multiple select questions from single select questions is that the candidates can select more than one option as the correct answer. The minimum time limit you can add is 2 minutes, and the maximum is 30 minutes to answer a question.

How to add different Custom Questions

You can add different types of custom questions as per your choice once you have created an assessment. Once you go to the assessment creation page, the fourth option, 'Add Questions' will let you add different types of custom questions to your assessment.

Once you click on the Add Questions option, you will find different options to add such Open Ended, Record Video, Single Select, and Multiple Select questions in the list. Once you click on any option, you will be directed to another page where you can add your preferred question. On that page, you will be able to edit the question, add options and answers, modify them, and add images, links, etc. Once you have done that, click on Add Question, and you will be set to go! To add multiple questions under the same question option (ex: Open Ended option), click on that option again and add the question.

Qualifying Questions: How to add them?

Before talking about how to add qualifying questions, let us talk about what these qualifying questions are. Qualifying questions help you screen and filter out candidates that don't meet the set criteria.

Typically qualifying questions are those which are essential for the current job role. These can be as simple as identification details such as a passport or driving license, total years of work experience, skill level or expertise in a specific job area, etc. The response options to these questions are usually in the format of 'Yes' or 'No'. For quick understanding, a few question topics are suggested; you can click on those or add your own questions.

So how can you add these qualifying questions? Once you have created an assessment, the first option that you find 'Add qualifying questions' will let you add a qualifying question. A qualifying question will be a single select multiple-choice question where a candidate has to choose only one answer. Once you have added a question, click on the Add Question button to set things up!

Reviewing Your Candidates’ Answers

You can review all the answers in the Candidates section. But let us talk specifically about the Custom questions and Qualifying questions. Once you are on the answers page of a candidate, you can find the answers to the custom and qualifying questions just below the snapshot of the candidate's details and test scores.

If a candidate has answered the questions, you will find a green tick mark beside it. To view the answer, click on the small arrow, and you will be able to view the complete answer. You can decide the outcome later!

Commonly Asked Questions

1. Can you change the custom questions and qualifying questions later?

Yes, you can change the custom and qualifying questions even after you have designed and finalized an assessment. Remember that you can edit these questions only if you have not invited the candidates to appear for the test. If you have invited the candidates, you will not be able to edit them anymore. This is done to ensure fairness.

2. How can you edit the custom and qualifying questions?

Once you have designed an assessment, you can easily edit the questions by going to the Assessment page, choosing the assessment you want to edit, and clicking the arrow button at the extreme right side (just beside the three dots). This will take you to the assessment page, and you can make the required changes.

Hey! You have just unlocked the secret to creating great Custom and Qualifying questions on Testlify!