Knockout questions

A knockout is attached to an answer within a screening question. You can mark one or more selectable answers as knockouts.

When a candidate submits their application:

1. ImpactHire receives the application and creates a record.
2. ImpactHire checks the screening answers for knockouts.
3. If the candidate selected an answer marked as a knockout, ImpactHire rejects the application immediately.
4. The rejection email is held for the delay set by the account.

The candidate does not see which answers are configured as knockouts when completing the application.

Only questions with selectable answers can use knockouts. One answer and several answers questions can contain knockout answers. Open and recorded answers cannot, because free-form responses are not used as grounds for an automatic rejection.

A knockout is not a score. There are no points or thresholds involved: the candidate either selected an answer your company marked as disqualifying or they did not.

AI-suggested knockouts

When ImpactHire suggests a screen, it can also propose which answers should be treated as knockouts. The suggestion does not take effect by itself.

A knockout becomes active only when a person saves the proposed screen. The person who saves it owns the rules in that screening template.

A knockout takes effect when the application arrives, but the rejection email is not sent immediately.

The account controls the delay, starting at 24 hours. The delay affects when the candidate receives the rejection email; it does not delay or change the rejection itself.

The rejection email names the role and company. It does not tell the candidate which screening answer caused the knockout.

Use a knockout only when a requirement is genuinely binary and a candidate who does not meet it cannot do the job.

For example, a requirement such as holding the required right to work or a required security clearance can be expressed as a hard requirement.

Do not use a knockout for something that needs judgement or can vary by degree. Qualities such as depth of leadership, relevance of experience, or clarity of writing belong in the job's scoring rubric, where evidence can be measured against defined criteria and levels.

This distinction matters because a knockout acts automatically. ImpactHire does not place knocked-out applications into a review queue or ask a person to confirm the rejection before it takes effect.

If you add a new knockout after candidates have already applied, it applies only to future applications. It does not go back and reject candidates who applied under the previous screening rules.

Still stuck? Contact support.