Screening questions and knockouts

Screening questions ask candidates the things a CV never answers, such as notice period or the right to work, right on the apply form. Any answer can be marked as a knockout, so applications that miss a hard requirement are set aside for a quick decision instead of a full screening.

Add a question

Open the job and choose Questions, or add them in step 2 of the job wizard.

1. 1

   Step 1: Press Add question

   A new question opens in place.

2. 2

   Step 2: Pick a type

   Yes / No, Single choice, Multiple choice or Free text.

3. 3

   Step 3: Write the question

   For example, Do you have the right to work in Singapore? Turn on Required if every applicant must answer it.

4. 4

   Step 4: Add the answer options

   Choice questions need at least two options. Tick Knockout next to any option that misses a hard requirement.

5. 5

   Step 5: Press Add question

   The question appears on the apply form straight away.

A job can have up to twenty questions, and a choice question up to twelve options. Use the arrows to change the order, the pencil to edit and the bin to delete.

Knockout answers

An applicant who picks a knockout option sees a notice straight away, before they submit. They can still submit if they want to make their case.

If they submit anyway:

• The application goes to the Review queue, flagged by the knockout question. Nobody is rejected yet.
• AI screening waits, so the application is not scored until a person decides.
• No email is sent, and the candidate's status page shows their application as in review, like any other.

In the Review queue and on the candidate's page, a line says which answer flagged it, for example Answered “No” to “Do you have the right to work in Singapore?” (a knockout question), and the answer carries a Knockout badge. In the job's candidate list the application shows a Knockout tag instead of a score.

A person on your team then makes one of two choices:

• Reject records the rejection like any other: the candidate moves to the Rejected stage and gets the rejection email. Rejecting needs permission to make hiring decisions. In the Review queue you can select several applications and reject them together.
• Score anyway clears the flag and sends the application through AI screening, which takes a minute or two. From there it is handled like any other application. Scoring anyway needs permission to review applications.

Keep knockouts for hard, verifiable requirements, such as the right to work or a required licence. A knockout applies the same rule to everyone, so it should never stand in for judgement, and it never rejects anyone on its own.

Applications rejected by a knockout before November 2026

Until November 2026 a knockout answer rejected the application automatically. Those applications stay rejected, with a red banner naming the answer and a Restore button. Restore puts the application back in the inbox as a new application without scoring it. Its scoreboard then offers Score anyway. Restoring needs permission to review applications.

Answers are frozen when submitted

Each answer is stored together with the question exactly as it was worded at the moment the candidate submitted. If you reword a question, change its options or delete it later, past applications still show what was asked and what was said.

If you change the questions while someone has the apply form open, they are asked to reload the page before submitting, so nobody answers a question that no longer exists.

Where answers show up

Answers appear on the candidate's page under About the candidate, in the Application group, with a count such as 3 screening answers, 1 knockout. The AI also reads them when it scores the application, as the candidate's own statements. They inform the assessment but are not checked like quotes from the CV. See How AI screening works.

Who can edit questions

Owners, Admins and Recruiters can add, edit, reorder and delete questions. See Roles and permissions.