Creating Rejection Screening Questions

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to configure knockout rejection questions and the rejection process.

Knock-out Rejection Questions

Knock-out questions automatically disqualify candidates who provide an undesirable answer. For example, if a candidate answers no to the question "Do you want to work in an office location?", he can be automatically removed from the application process.

You can configure any question that is already added to a Screening Question set to be a knock-out question. Any yes/no or dropdown screening question, except diversity questions, can be configured as knock-out questions. SmartRecruiters will automatically reject candidates who choose answers marked as knock-out when completing their applications.

The configuration applies on a set-by-set basis, rather than the question itself so that each question can be:

a knock-out question with a specific configuration in one set
a knock-out question with another configuration in another set
a normal question in another set

You can also configure which users can see the question, allowing you to restrict access to sensitive information.

Hint

It is considered best practice to carefully consider legal/compliance/candidate experience implications when configuring knock-out questions.

Note

Remember that another option is for the recruiter to filter by screening question answers and bulk process rejection.

Create a Knock-out Rejection Question

To configure a knock-out question:

Navigate to Settings.
Select Screening Questions in the Configuration section.
On the Question sets tab, select theEdit icon to edit an existing set.
On the Create or Edit set page, select the Settings icon for the question you would like to configure. (Add a new question if necessary.)
In the Actions tab, select each answer you want to trigger a knock-out and choose Knock-out candidate. At least one answer must remain unchecked.
Select Done to finish.

Rejections for Knock-out Questions

When using knock-out questions, it's essential to consider a rejection process to inform the candidate that their application will not be proceeding, as well as logging a rejection reason for reporting purposes. This involves selecting a rejection reason and optionally sending a rejection email to the candidate.

Hint

It is best practice to configure a rejection email so that candidates are kept fully informed. Include a valid reason that they are not being considered.

For each screening question set with at least one knock-out question, you will have the opportunity to configure:

A rejection reason that SmartRecruiters should assign to a candidate's application when they answer a screening question incorrectly.
A rejection email that SmartRecruiters should automatically send to the candidate after rejecting them for answering incorrectly.

The Reason for rejection is required. SmartRecruiters will default to the Did not meet screening requirements reason, but you can choose a different one from your list of standard reasons (as well as custom reasons, if any are configured).

The rejection email is optional. Should you choose to send one, you can use any Rejection email template (or write a new one) and set up a Delayed Rejection.

Rejection email delay options are:

1 hour after the candidate submits application (default)
2 days after
5 days after

Rejections set up for specific candidates, when you configure a Delayed Rejection for a knock-out question, SmartRecruiters will mark the candidate as rejected immediately but will delay updates to the Applicant Tracking Portal and will delay sending the rejection email to the candidate until the delay period elapses. This ensures the candidate experience is consistent.

Watch the video below for more details on rejections for knock-out questions.

This video is for demonstration purposes. Any references made in this video to previous or later videos in this course (including titles, numbers, links, or sequence) may differ from the current course structure. Additionally, some functionalities shown may have evolved over time due to ongoing enhancements or business decisions.

Summary

Define knock-out questions and how they automatically disqualify candidates based on undesirable answers.
Configure questions within a Screening Question set to act as knock-out questions, excluding diversity questions.
Apply knock-out configurations on a set-by-set basis, allowing flexibility in how questions function across different sets.
Set up a rejection process for knock-out questions, including selecting a mandatory rejection reason and an optional rejection email with delay options.

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