Advanced assessment options – English

Manage access to an assessment, add qualifying questions or a welcome video, turn off snapshots, grant extra time, turn off accommodation requests, or set an assessment deadline

In Step 4: Review & configure, we provide further options to customize your assessment to meet your needs. This article goes into detail of each setting. This article is for TestGorilla users with the Owner, Admin, and Recruiter roles — available settings will depend on your plan.

Approx. reading time 7 minutes

Manage access

This is available to Owners, Admins, and Recruiters on the Starter or Pro plans

Managing access to assessments allows you to restrict which users have access to which assessments. This comes in handy if you are hiring on behalf of multiple departments — or clients, if you are a recruiting agency.

Restricting access means the restricted users will be unable to see the assessment and its content. They can’t see information related to the invited candidates either. From the perspective of the restricted user: the assessment and candidates associated with it do not exist.

How to set advanced user rights

To manage access to your assessment, from Step 4: Review & configure of the assessment creation process:

	Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate Advanced Options.
	Click on the arrow next to Manage access to expand the option.
	Check the box next to the name of each user you'd like to assign access to — by default, assessments created after December 14, 2021, will be visible to the account Owner, Admins, and the Assessment Creator regardless of the creator's user role. It will not be available to other users unless you choose to provide access.
	When you're done editing your assessment, head to the top of the page and click Finish to save your changes.

Tip: Manage access is one of the few settings that can be edited after candidates have been invited to take an assessment. Please see our full Advanced user rights guide for more information on this.

Qualifying questions

This is available to Owner and Admin users on the Starter or Pro plans

Some candidates may do well on your tests without satisfying your other job requirements. For example, your job may need an industry-standard certification, or full-time availability. Qualifying questions can check if your candidates meet these requirements before they take the assessment. You can add up to five per assessment.

Setting up qualifying questions

To add qualifying questions to your assessment, from Step 4: Review & configure of the assessment creation process:

	Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate Advanced Options.
	Click on the arrow next to Qualifying questions to expand the option.
	Add your questions by adding a New question or Copy questions from another assessment.
	When you're done editing your assessment, head to the top of the page and click Finish to save your changes.

For an in-depth look at the benefits of and how to use qualifying questions, check out our full Qualifying questions article.

Welcome video

This is available to Owner and Admin users on the Starter or Pro plans

Video can be a powerful way to connect with your candidates. A video message can help you share information about the role or company, as well as help humanize the assessment, making your candidates more comfortable.

You can place a video at either the beginning or end of your assessment. To do this:

	Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate Advanced Options.
	Click on the arrow next to Welcome video to expand the option.
	Click + Upload new video . A popup will appear for you to upload your video.
	Drag & drop your file, or click the choose file here button. The maximum accepted file size is 25 MB.
	By default, the video will display at the beginning of the assessment. Check the box next to Show video at the end of the assessment if you'd like to change the location of the video.

After selecting your video, a black window will appear in the Welcome video section. It will state that the video is being transcoded. The transcoding process can take a few minutes depending on the size of the file.

Anti-cheating settings

We like to believe that all candidates will follow the guidelines. Yet, there is always the potential for some to try and bend the rules. We include anti-cheating settings on all plans to prevent this.

One of the monitors we provide is candidate snapshots during the assessment. While we follow GDPR regarding the storage of candidate snapshots, we understand that some companies may not want to use them, so we allow this feature to be disabled.

You can read the reasons why we take snapshots, as well as learn about the other monitors we include in our Anti-cheating measures article.

How to enable/disable snapshots

To turn snapshots on or off, from Step 4: Review & configure of the assessment creation process:

	Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate Advanced Options.
	Click on the arrow next to Anti-cheating settings to expand the option.
	Check or uncheck the box as necessary to activate or deactivate the setting.
	When you're done editing your assessment, head to the top of the page and click Finish to save your changes.

Extra time for tests

The majority of our tests are 10 minutes long, with the exception of some coding tests, which last for 30 minutes. All multiple-choice tests contain 12, 15, or 20 questions, and are designed in a way to allow for most candidates to finish them within the given time frame, while not giving them too much time to research answers.

However, we understand that you might want to allow your candidates more time to give them the greatest chance of completing the assessment you’ve sent them. If this is the case, you can choose to provide all candidates with more time. But be aware, this means that percentile-ranked scoring will not be available for the assessment. More on that below.

How to change the time limit

To change the time limit that each test receives, from Step 4: Review & configure of the assessment creation process:

	Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate Advanced Options.
	Click on the arrow next to Extra time for tests to expand the option.
	Select the percentage of extra time you'd like to add. You can grant up to 90% extra time.
	When you're done editing your assessment, head to the top of the page and click Finish to save your changes.

Any extra time granted applies to each individual test, but does not apply to your own custom questions or company tests, as you have control over the length of time provided for each of these.

Caution: Be mindful of the total time of the assessment when providing more time.

An assessment with five 30-minute coding tests is already 2 hours and 30 minutes long. Adding 90% extra time means your candidates will be told the assessment will take 4 hours and 45 minutes. This extreme length might discourage your candidates from even starting the assessment. Even worse, it might discourage your best candidates, who are experienced enough to not need so much time to get the right answer.

Percentile ranking restriction

To help you compare candidates, we provide benchmark scoring, so you can see where candidates fall in a percentile ranking against all other candidates who have taken a test.

To draw a fair comparison between candidates, this means each candidate needs to take their tests under the same time constraints. By changing the time allowance of the tests, we can no longer provide accurate or fair comparisons between your candidates and those of other candidates on the platform who have taken the same tests.

For this reason, if you add more time to an assessment, we can only provide you with a percentage of correct answers.

Accommodation for candidates

We understand that everybody has different circumstances. Maybe your candidate has a concentration or memory condition that will affect their ability to complete their assessment. Or perhaps the assessment isn't presented in their native language. In a timed assessment, these things could put them at a disadvantage. Here at TestGorilla, we want to judge candidates on equal footing.

To help with this, we give candidates the ability to apply for accommodations to complete their assessments. We base our decision on the information they provide and make the appropriate concession. You can enable or disable this setting from the Advanced options section.

How to enable or disable accommodations

Here you have the option to enable/disable two types of accommodations, and both are enabled by default:

Accommodation for non-fluent speakers of the language your assessment is in.
Accommodation for candidates with conditions that affect their concentration or memory capacity.

Warning: Disabling accommodation options may put you in violation of fair employment laws and regulations in your area. If you're unsure, we recommend seeking legal advice before disabling these.

To turn accommodations on or off, from Step 4: Review & configure of the assessment creation process:

	Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate Advanced Options.
	Click on the arrow next to Accommodation for candidates to expand the option.
	Check or uncheck the box next to the accommodation you would like to enable or disable. Disabling the accommodation for candidates with concentration conditions will cause a pop-up to appear asking you to confirm your choice. Click Turn it off to turn off the feature.
	When you're done editing your assessment, head to the top of the page and click Finish to save your changes.

Assessment deadlines

This is available on the Starter and Pro plans

Do you need an assessment to remain open to candidates for only a certain amount of time? You can set an assessment deadline starting 24 hours into the future from the initial assessment creation time, which will automatically close upon the elapsed time.

Example: The deadline for an assessment is set for August 1st. A candidate starts taking the assessment on July 31st but doesn’t finish it. The candidate then resumes the assessment on August 2nd but is unable to finish it since the deadline has already elapsed.

If an assessment deadline expires while a candidate is taking the assessment, they will be able to complete it.

Example: An assessment is due by 12 PM on August 1st. A candidate starts taking the assessment on the same day and completes it by 12:30 PM. As long as the candidate does not exit the assessment, they will be able to complete it since they began it before the deadline.

How to enable an assessment deadline

To enable an assessment deadline, from Step 4: Review & configure of the assessment creation process:

	Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate Advanced Options.
	Click on the arrow next to Deadline to expand the option.
	Check Set assessment deadline, and then input the date, time, and timezone of your deadline. You can also select to Send reminders to candidates before expiring deadline.
	When you're done editing your assessment, head to the top of the page and click Finish to save your changes.

Once an assessment deadline has been created, invitation emails sent to candidates taking the assessment will include this information.

Assessments that have deadlines will also have this information reflected in the assessment overview in two places:

	In My assessments, there is a Deadline column that shows the scheduled deadline for each assessment with one.
	Assessments with a scheduled deadline will also have this information visible underneath the assessment name, next to the length and language of the assessment.

Show results to candidates

This is available on Starter and Pay-as-you-go Legacy plans

With the introduction of TestGorilla Profiles, candidates are now able to automatically view their assessment results upon completing an assessment. We're committed to offering candidates an exceptional experience, and the ability to access their assessment results is the most frequently requested feature by candidates. Moreover, companies that share this information are viewed by candidates as more transparent and focused on nurturing talent.

By default, showing results to candidates is enabled on Free, Starter, and Pay-as-you-go plans in English. If you are on a Starter or Pay-as-you-go Legacy plan, you may choose to disable the automatic redirect of candidates to the TestGorilla Profile login page once they've completed their assessment.

Note: Assessments made before the launch of this feature in September 2023 will not automatically redirect candidates to the TestGorilla Profile login page.

To disable the automatic redirect of candidates to their TestGorilla Profile, from Step 4: Review & configure of the assessment creation process:

	Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate Advanced Options.
	Click on the arrow next to Show results to candidates to expand the option.
	Uncheck the box next to Allow candidates to see results after the assessment.
	When you're done editing your assessment, head to the top of the page and click Finish to save your changes.

Note: In compliance with Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), TestGorilla is obligated to provide candidates with their results if the candidates do ask. This requirement is also provided for in our data processing agreement.

For more information about GDPR in general, see the EU's guide to GDPR compliance.

Common questions

Why do I receive a warning when I deactivate candidate accommodations?
Some territories require you to offer accommodations to those who need it. You could face legal action if you do not. We recommend seeking legal advice before deactivating this feature. TestGorilla is not responsible for any legal repercussions.

Why do I receive a message telling me that qualifying questions is a premium feature?
Qualifying questions are only available to customers on the Starter and Pro plans. Welcome videos and advanced user rights are also premium features. If you are not on either of these plans, you cannot invite external candidates to an assessment with these features. You can, however, trial these features with internal users. Please see this guide for details on trialing features not included in your plan.