Knockout Questions
A knockout question is a hard requirement — something a candidate either meets or does not.
Good examples: being able to lift a certain weight, holding a particular licence, being able to work nights, having the right to work somewhere.
It flags people. It does not reject them.
Worth saying first, because the name sounds harsher than it is.
When somebody fails a knockout question, HRMLESS puts them in Needs Review with a yellow marker and waits for you.
It does this on purpose. Somebody might be a month away from meeting a requirement, be willing to get a licence, or have a reason the question could not capture. A person should read that, not a score.
How to set one up
Knockout questions are set on the position, alongside your normal questions.
- Open the position and go to Interview Questions.
- Write the question as you would ask it out loud — "The candidate should be able to lift 50 lbs".
- Tick Knockout Question? underneath it.
- Fill in Expected Answer to Pass Knockout Question — what a passing answer sounds like, e.g. "Yes I can lift 50 pounds or more".
- Choose Create Position, or save if you are editing an existing one.
Write the expected answer the way a candidate would actually say it, not as a rule. It is compared against what they said in conversation, so "Yes I can lift 50 pounds or more" works better than "must lift 50lb".
Questions without the knockout box ticked are scored normally, so you can mix both in one interview — which is the usual arrangement.
What you see afterwards
Anyone who fails lands in Needs Review. Open them and read what they actually said.
From there you either reject them, or carry on with them anyway. Both are normal.
Use them sparingly
One or two per role. Only for things that are genuinely non-negotiable.
A knockout on something you would actually flex on turns into a pile of flagged candidates nobody has time to read — which defeats the point of having the queue.
Common questions
What is the difference between a knockout question and a low score? A knockout is pass or fail on one specific requirement. A score is a judgement across the whole conversation. Both end up in front of you; they just tell you different things.
Can I add a knockout question to a position people have already interviewed for? Yes, but it only applies to people invited after you save it. Anyone already interviewed was not asked.
Does the candidate know they failed one? No. Nothing is said to them, and no decision has been made.