Setting Word and Character Limits in Testlify Questions

When creating assessments in Testlify, flexibility in question design is key to ensuring accurate and meaningful responses. One of the powerful features available is the ability to set word or character limits on text-based questions. This helps recruiters and hiring managers maintain answer quality, ensure consistency across candidates, and streamline evaluation.

Types of Text Answer Questions

In Testlify, you can design text-based questions in two main formats:

• Short Answer – Ideal for concise responses (e.g., definitions, direct answers, or quick thoughts).
• Long Answer – Designed for detailed responses, commonly used for behavioral or situational questions such as “Describe a time when you resolved a conflict at work."

These options give you the flexibility to decide how much depth you want from candidates.

Applying Word or Character Limits

When setting up a text-answer question, you can define limits to control response length. Testlify provides three modes under Limit type:

• No Limit – Candidates can freely type as much or as little as they want.
• Character Limit – Restrict answers to a set number of characters, useful for very short, focused responses.
• Word Limit – Control the number of words allowed, ideal for structured long answers.

For example, you may allow candidates only 50 words for a short essay-type question. This ensures clarity and prevents overly long or irrelevant responses.

Candidate Experience with Limits

From the candidate’s perspective, limits are displayed clearly during the assessment:

• A word or character counter is visible in real time.

• If they exceed the limit (e.g., writing 52 words for a 50-word cap), the counter highlights the excess and prevents submission until corrected.

• This encourages concise, well-structured answers while avoiding confusion.

This experience ensures fairness, as all candidates must adhere to the same boundaries.

Benefits of Using Limits

1. Consistency – All candidates provide responses of similar length, making evaluation easier.
2. Quality Control – Encourages focused answers instead of lengthy, unfocused narratives.
3. Time Management – Both candidates and recruiters save time, since responses are structured.
4. Scalability – Particularly useful when screening large applicant pools.

Conclusion

Setting word or character limits in Testlify assessments helps standardize responses, improves readability, and streamlines the evaluation process. By thoughtfully applying these limits, recruiters can ensure candidates stay concise, focused, and within scope—while still capturing valuable insights into their skills and mindset.