At Spark Hire, we understand that the hiring process can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Often, a candidate's resume may seem like a good fit, but their answers to pre-screening questionnaires can reveal a significant mismatch with the position requirements.

With Knockout questions, you can define specific questions that serve as critical filters. If a candidate answers a Knockout question in a manner that indicates they may not be a suitable fit for the role, it results in an automatic rejection from the hiring process, while you get to keep the applications for future use.

Create knockout questions

1. From the left-side menu, select Library > Pre-screening questionnaires.

2. Create a new questionnaire or edit one from your list.

3. Create a question by clicking the plus ➕ icon or select the question you want to edit.

4. Use single-choice and dropdown questions as Knockout questions.

5. For every answer:

   1. Switch No action to Reject to ensure automatic rejection when a candidate selects this option.

   2. Choose whether the question is required by checking the box.

6. Click Save.

   

Configure email notifications

Customize auto-templates to notify candidates and sources when a candidate is rejected by Knockout questions:

1. From the left-side menu, select Library > Auto-templates.

2. Choose the relevant template from the table.

3. Edit your template as necessary. Keep in mind that the rejection email:

   • To candidates: By default, it will be sent from a company address, and the candidate will not be able to respond.

   • To sources: By default, it will be sent on behalf of the position’s Lead recruiter.

4. Determine the behavior of the auto-template. You can choose to:

   1. Send the email automatically by creating a "Send notification" step, or by not sending the email.

   2. Delay sending the email so that the candidate isn’t immediately notified of the rejection.

5. Click Save.

Have more questions? Contact us at recruit.support@sparkhire.com