Knockout Questions & Auto-Grading

When it comes to hiring, ClearCompany has two important tools to help you manage your candidates: knockout questions and auto-grading. Knockout questions and auto-grading both help in evaluating candidates, but each serves a different purpose. This article will highlight the main differences between knockout questions and auto-grading, making it easier for you to determine what best suits your organization’s needs.

In this article:
What are Knockout Questions?
What is Auto-Grading?
Knockout Questions vs Auto-Grading
Knockout Questions: Use Cases, Examples, and Best Practices
Auto-Grading: Use Cases, Examples, and Best Practices
Next Steps
Resources

What are Knockout Questions?

Knockout Questions are utilized in the pre-screen stage to identify and eliminate unqualified applicants.

What is Auto-Grading? 

Auto-grading is used to automatically categorize candidates and highlight A-Players in the initial stage based on a single question or a section of questions. They can also be set up to update a candidate’s workflow stage based on the assigned grade. 

Knockout Questions vs Auto-Grading

Knockout questions are used to eliminate and remove candidates that are not good fits for a role while auto-grading is used to score and categorize candidates to help identify potential best fits.

Knockout Questions: Use Cases, Examples, and Best Practices

Use Cases

Knock-out questions are designed to quickly eliminate candidates who don't meet specific criteria, making the application process smoother by identifying and removing unsuitable candidates in the pre-screening stage. Some specific use cases may be:

• Minimum Qualifications (experience, education, certifications, etc)
• Legal Requirements
• Skill Proficiencies
• Location/Travel

Examples

Pre-Screen Knockout Questions	Rules
Are you authorized to work in the U.S. without a sponsor visa?	Knockout if answer is NO
Do you have 3+ years of experience in agile product management?	Knockout if answer is NO
Have you earned a Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited U.S. law school?	Knockout if answer is NO
This is a hybrid position. Are you able to come into the office Mondays and Wednesdays?	Knockout if answer is NO

Best Practices

Relevance to Job Requirements	Ensure that knockout questions directly relate to the essential qualifications and requirements of the job. Focus on criteria that are non-negotiable for successful performance in the role.
Legal Compliance	Ensure that knockout questions comply with relevant employment and privacy laws. Avoid questions that may be considered discriminatory or infringe on privacy rights.
Avoid Ambiguity	Eliminate any ambiguity in the phrasing of knockout questions. Ambiguous questions may lead to inconsistent interpretations and responses
Regular Review and Update	Periodically review and update knockout questions to ensure they remain aligned with the evolving needs of the organization and the specific job requirements

Note: If you are using Easy Apply, we strongly recommend utilizing auto-grading instead. If a candidate does not answer a designated knockout question, the system will automatically knock them out and we will not have access to their information.

Auto-Grading: Use Cases, Examples, and Best Practices

Use Cases

Grading is a quick, easy way to tell who your A players are vs. less well-fitting candidates. While this grading can be done on an candidate by candidate basis, we also offer the tools to auto-grade candidates. Auto-grading can break candidates down into categories: A, B, C, X. 

• A: This candidate has a 90% chance of success in achieving the outcomes for the role. Their skills and exhibited behaviors align extremely well to the competencies and behaviors necessary for success in the role.
• B: This candidate has a 50-89% chance of success in achieving the outcomes for the role. Their skills and exhibited behaviors align somewhat well for the competencies defined for the role.
• C: This candidate has less than a 50% chance of success in achieving the outcomes for the role. They may or may not have skills and competencies that can contribute to success in the role.
• X: This candidate is not under consideration for this position.

Not only can you grade a singular question, but you can auto-grade based on an entire section. This allows you to measure how likely a candidate is to succeed in a role based on a specific set of questions: similar to an assessment.

Individual Question Examples

Initial Auto-Grading Question	Rules
Do you have 3+ years of experience in curriculum development? Yes No	Yes - Grade of A
Is your license in Good Standing?  Yes No	No - Grade of X
How proficient are you with Microsoft Products?  Beginner (Less than 2 years) Intermediate (2-5 years) Advanced (More than 5 years)	Advanced-Grade of A Intermediate - Grade of B
How many years of experience do you have in Project Management? 5+ 3-4 1-2 None	5+ - Grade of A 3-4 - Grade of B 1-2 - Grade of C None - Grade of X

Section Example

Auto-graded Section Questions	Rules
Do you have a background in learning/education? Yes - 10 points No - 0 points Do you have experience using Adobe tools (Photoshop, Premiere, After Effects, etc)?  Yes - 10 points No - 0 points Do you have experience presenting learning content via virtual meeting tools?  Yes - 10 points No - 0 points	30 total points - Grade of A  20 total points - Grade of B  10 total points - Grade of C  0 total points - Grade of X

Note: Sections can be developed with varying levels of complexity depending on the needs of your organization and/or specific requisitions. Reach out to your ClearCompany Representative to get started! 

Best Practices

Simplify Input	Utilize question types like radio buttons or dropdowns and refrain from relying on text-based answers to mitigate potential errors.
Prioritize Questions	Identify the most important components for a requisition and focus on those for any auto-grading. If you have multiple questions, consider auto-grading a full section. If you use auto-grading multiple times in a single application, the last grade earned will be the final grade.
Make Relevant Question(s) Required	If a question is going to be used to auto-grade a candidate (as an individual question or in a graded section), make sure the candidate is required to answer the question(s) to ensure the auto-grading functions as intended.
Add Relevant Question(s) to Candidate Tearsheet	We recommend including auto-grading questions in the candidate's tearsheet to give the hiring team immediate insights into a candidate’s assigned grade.

Next Steps

Now that you have a better idea of how knockout questions and auto-grading can be used, you may have some ideas of how you want to implement them into your recruiting process. Check out the articles below to learn more or reach out to your ClearCompany Representative to get started!

Additional Resources

Applications: PreScreen Questions
Applications: Autograding Questions