Add and Manage Screening Questions in Job Postings

Screening questions help you efficiently filter candidates based on your preferred qualifications during the application process.

Note: For Handshake Plus customers, screening questions are only available for jobs that have been upgraded from Handshake Basic to Handshake Plus.

This feature is currently only available to Plus employers and Premium partners. For more information, please check out this resource!

Topics:

• Add screening questions
  • Create custom questions
• Edit screening questions
• Student application process
• View and filter by screening question responses
• Download applicant responses

Add screening questions 

1. In the Screening questions section of the job form, select up to 3 questions. 

• The maximum number of screening questions is three.
• You can use any combination of preselected and custom questions.
• If you select 3 questions from the preselected list, you won't be able to add a custom question

2. Check the box to the left of each question you want to include (for example, the Degree question shown below).

3. Fill in any placeholder text that appears in brackets—for example, replace [major(s)] with the specific majors you’re targeting.

Create custom questions

1. Check the box next to Custom to enable the field.

• Make sure your question is clear and job-relevant.

2. Select your preferred response (Yes or No) to help you quickly filter applicants later.

3. After selecting your screening questions, click the black button Continue to move forward with posting the job. 

Edit screening questions 

1. Click the Job details tab of the job posting

2. Navigate to the Screening questions section, then click the pencil icon. 

3. After selecting your screening questions, click the blue button Save. 

Note: If the job posting has already received applicants, the following error message displays "Screening questions cannot be edited. You cannot edit the screening questions because this job has already received applicants.”

Student application process

All students must answer screening questions when applying for a job.

• For internal applications, questions appear just before the student submits their application.
• For external applications, questions appear before students are redirected to your external site.
  • Screening-based automations are not yet supported for external apply jobs.

Note: Students can still complete their application even if they don’t meet your criteria. Their responses are mandatory, but they’re not used to auto-reject applicants.

View and filter by screening question responses

1. Click the Applicants tab of the job posting, then click the Filters button above the candidate table.

2. In the Filters sidesheet, go to the Screening questions section and select the question(s) you want to use to filter applicants based on their responses.

Download applicant responses 

1. Check the box to the left of the name of each applicant whose responses you want to download, or check the box in the upper-left corner of the table to select all candidates. 

2. Click the More button, then select Download applicant (CSV) from the More dropdown. 

Note: The download will include key information, such as their graduation date and major.

Have questions about screening questions? Start here.