With knockout questions, you can automatically eliminate candidates who don't fit your job's requirements — disqualifying them from the process and letting them know, without any manual work.
Set up disqualify reasons
Each disqualifying answer on a knockout question needs a disqualify reason attached to it, so it's worth setting these up thoughtfully first. For example, if your knockout question asks about eligibility to work in your company's region, you might create a disqualify reason like "Not eligible to work in this region."
Disqualify reasons also give you insight into your candidate database, helping you track why candidates are disqualified over time.
Note: Learn more in Create and use disqualify reasons article.
Set up automated, scheduled emails for disqualify reasons
Attaching an automated email to a disqualify reason means rejected candidates get notified automatically — no manual follow-up needed. Scheduling that email with a short delay, rather than sending it immediately, helps keep the candidate experience positive.
1. When setting up a disqualification reason, click the Automated actions icon (lightning bolt ⚡).
2. Click Create a custom automation
3. Select Send an email.
4. Set up the email you'd like to send to disqualified candidates.
5. Click the arrow next to Send immediately and choose how many days to delay the email.
6. Click Save automation.
Important: Don't select User disqualifying the candidate as the sender. Since candidates are disqualified automatically by the system
Tip: If you select Recruiter or Hiring Manager as the sender and that role isn't assigned on the job, Recruitee automatically falls back to sending from the job's inbox address — so the email will still go out.
Set up knockout questions
You can set up knockout questions in a job's application form, or in Settings > Templates > Screening questions.
1. Select a question type with predefined answer choices (Yes/No, Single choice, or Multiple choice) to edit.
2. Toggle the switch to turn a screening question into a knockout question.
3. Pick a disqualifying answer — candidates who respond with this answer are automatically disqualified.
4. Pick the disqualify reason for that disqualifying answer.
Note: Make sure the disqualify reason you pick already has a scheduled, automated email set up, so disqualified candidates are notified without any manual follow-up. You can preview a disqualify reason's automated action by clicking the lightning bolt icon in the dropdown.
Related articles |