Developing effective assessments is key to accurately evaluating candidates. This article walks through how question types and scoring work in the Canditech platform, so you can design assessments that truly reflect a candidate’s skills and abilities.
In this article, we’ll cover the three scoring methods available in Canditech: manual scoring, automatic scoring, and AI auto-scoring. We’ll also review the different question types supported on the platform. Whether you are assessing open-text responses, video submissions, knowledge-based questions, or technical skills like coding and SQL, Canditech gives you the flexibility to build assessments that fit your hiring needs.
Scoring Methods in Canditech
Canditech supports multiple scoring approaches depending on the question type and your plan.
Manual Scoring - Manually scored questions are not graded automatically when a candidate submits their assessment. These questions are reviewed by the test reviewer and scored using star ratings. You may choose to assign a score or leave the score at 0. Manual scoring is used for question types where answers are subjective or open-ended, including open-text questions and video response questions.
For more information on reviewing a candidate's assessment, click here.
Automatic Scoring - Automatically scored questions have a predefined correct answer that is checked by the system upon submission. When creating these questions, you are required to define the correct answer in advance, and the platform handles the scoring automatically. Automatically scored question types include multiple-choice questions, Excel questions, Google Sheet questions, coding questions, and SQL questions.
AI Auto-Scoring - AI auto-scoring is designed for open-ended questions such as open-text and video responses. Instead of relying solely on manual review, AI auto-scoring evaluates candidate responses based on criteria you define, such as key concepts, structure, clarity, or length. AI auto-scoring helps reduce manual review time while maintaining consistency across candidate evaluations. Hiring teams can still review, adjust, or override AI-generated scores at any time.
For more information on the AI auto-scoring options available in Canditech, click here.
For more information on creating and configuring custom AI scoring agents, click here.
For more information on reviewing AI-generated scores in a candidate’s assessment, click here.
Note: AI Auto-Scoring is available on Enterprise plans. If you're interested in enabling it for your account, please contact our team.
Let’s walk through each Question type and how they should be built:
Canditech supports a variety of question types in order to comprehensively evaluate candidates’ skills through different types of exercises.
Every question type includes the same Question Editor, which allows you to format your question text, add links, and upload images, videos, or files.
Note: The Question Editor also includes an AI Assistant to help you generate or refine question content. Click here to learn more about using the AI Assistant in the Question Editor.
Multiple Choice Questions
Multiple Choice Questions allow candidates to select an answer from a list of choices. Questions must have a minimum of 2 answers.
Create a Multiple Choice Question:
Write the question in the Question Editor and input the Question score.
Click on the purple plus button to add more possible answers.
Select the applicable correct answer by clicking the circle on the left of the answer choice.
Advanced Settings:
Multiple Select - more than one correct answer.
Shuffle Answers - the possible answers of a Multiple Choice Question are shuffled, meaning every candidate will receive them in a different order. If you would like to disable this option, toggle the Shuffle Answers switch.
Multiple choice Questions are automatically scored. The correct answer(s) should be selected for scoring.
This is how the finalized question will appear on the Assessment:
Open Text Questions
Open Text Questions allow candidates to respond in an open-text format.
Create an Open Test Question:
Write the question in the Question Editor and input the Question score.
Advanced Settings:
Character limit - set a limit to the amount of characters a candidate’s response can contain.
Open text questions can be scored manually by reviewers using star ratings. To score these questions during review, set the question score to a value greater than 0. If no manual scoring is required, the score can be left at the default value of 0.
Open text questions can also be evaluated using AI auto-scoring, which is available on Enterprise plans. AI auto-scoring allows you to automatically assess open-text responses based on predefined or custom criteria, while still allowing full reviewer oversight.
To learn more about the AI auto-scoring options, click here.
This is how the finalized question will appear on the Assessment:
Video Questions
Video Questions allow candidates to give a recorded response to the camera.
Create a Video Question:
Write the question in the Question Editor and input the Question score.
Advanced Settings:
Time limit - set a time limit to the length of the candidate’s video response.
Video questions can be scored manually by reviewers using star ratings. To score these questions during review, set the question score to a value greater than 0. If no manual scoring is required, the score can be left at the default value of 0.
Video questions can also be evaluated using AI auto-scoring, available on Enterprise plans. AI auto-scoring enables automated evaluation of video responses based on defined criteria, while still allowing reviewers to review, adjust, or override scores.
To learn more about the AI auto-scoring options, click here.
This is how the finalized question will appear on the Assessment:
Excel Questions
Excel Questions allow you to upload an Excel file for candidates to download during the test. The candidates will be able to work on the file on their local machine, and then upload their final version.
Create an Excel Question:
Write the question in the Question Editor and input the Question score.
Upload an Excel file to the question, by clicking the green Upload Excel File button.
This is the Excel file that candidates will download and work on during the Assessment.
Input answers by specifying the cell (row and column) and its expected value (numbers only).
Note: only cells in the first sheet of an Excel file (the leftmost in ltr or the rightmost in rtl) can be automatically checked.
Pro-tips:
It is recommended to assign a unique Case name to each graded cell. This way, when candidates complete the Assessment, you will be able to view the individual Case names associated with their cells and download the candidate's original Excel file.
When creating Excel Questions, it is important to provide candidates with a clear and obvious location to record their answers within the spreadsheet. We suggest creating an “answers” area in the leftmost sheet of the Excel file.
Excel Questions are automatically scored. The correct answer(s) should be inputted for scoring.
This is how the finalized question will appear on the Assessment:
Google Sheet Questions
Google Sheet Questions allow you to create an embedded Sheet for candidates to view and make edits to. The candidates will be able to work on the file directly from the Assessment, and their edits will be automatically saved.
Create a Google Sheet Question:
Write the question in the Question Editor and input the Question score.
Create an embedded Google Sheet, by clicking the green Create Candidate Sheet button.
Input answers by specifying the cell (row and column) and its expected value (numbers only). Note: only cells in the first sheet of a Google Sheet (the leftmost) can be automatically checked.
Pro-tips:
It is recommended to assign a unique Case name to each graded cell. This way, when candidates complete the Assessment, you will be able to view the individual Case names associated with their cells and view the candidate’s original Google Sheet.
When creating Google Sheet Questions, it is important to provide candidates with a clear and obvious location to record their answers within the spreadsheet. We suggest creating an “answers” area in the leftmost sheet of the Google Sheet.
Google Sheet Questions are automatically scored. The correct answer(s) should be inputted for scoring.
This is how the finalized question will appear on the Assessment:
Value Questions
Value Questions allow the candidate to record a specific value response for a question.
Create a Value Question:
Write the question in the Question Editor and input the Question score.
Select the value type (number, text, or percentage).
Input the expected value.
Value Questions are automatically scored. The correct answer should be input for scoring.
This is how the finalized question will appear on the Assessment:
File Upload Questions
File Upload Questions allow candidates to upload a file (image, code, etc.) containing their work. For example, the candidate can upload an image of a graph they created, or a coding project they completed locally on their machine.
Create a File Upload Question:
Write the question in the Question Editor and input the Question score.
Advanced Settings:
Select the type of file the candidate should upload from the dropdown. If selecting Image or Code, you will be able to review the uploaded file content on the platform directly. If another file type is selected, you will be required to download the file and review on your computer.
If you want the candidate to upload multiple files, choose "other" as the file type. Then, instruct the candidates to compress their files into a "zip" format before uploading them.
File Upload Questions are manually scored. The scoring can be left at 0, or you can choose to assign a specific score to the Question that will be manually applied while grading a specific candidates’ assessment.
This is how the finalized question will appear on the Assessment:
Code Questions
Coding questions allow candidates to implement a function based on provided requirements and run their code in various programming languages. Coding questions tests candidate’s relevant coding skills and levels.
Input the question description and instructions:
Provide the candidate with a detailed description of the coding question and problem they will be solving.
Once you are finished writing the question description, click Next.
Choose Code Language:
Choose at least one of the coding languages that the candidates can choose to solve the coding question.
Once selected, click Next.
Input Function Signature:
Function name: the name of the function as will appear in the code (the name of the function and the names of the input parameters are provided to the candidate at the top of the code area).
Return type: the type of the return value of the function.
Parameters: you can add as many parameters as desired. For each parameter, specify its name and type.
Click on Next.
Input Test Cases:
Example Test Cases - will be available for the candidates during the Assessment.
Scored Test Cases - will be available for the hiring team after the Assessment submission, and will be used to calculate the score of the question.
Pro-Tip: it’s recommended to input between 2 to 4 Example Test Cases for the candidate and 4-8 test cases for the Scored Test Cases.
Validation:
Write your own solution for the problem to validate all the parameters and test cases.
Once you are ready, click Create
This is how the finalized question will appear on the Assessment:
SQL Questions
SQL Questions allow candidates to write a query that returns an output based on the tables and question provided.
When creating the first SQL question, you will be required to upload the database tables for the section.
Add Section Tables. The tables added will serve as the database for your SQL questions
Click Add Table
Input the Table Name and upload the file based on the requirements listed.
Note the date/datetime format).
Click Next
Confirm the Columns Settings, and click Add.
Upload as many tables as you require (we recommend no more than 3). Once finished uploading Tables, click Done.
Input your SQL question text. Click Next.
Provide the Expected Output by inserting and running a correct query.
Click Next.
Confirm Additional Settings:
You can choose to round the numeric values of candidate's output to the specific decimal places.
You can choose whether or not you'd like to consider row order in scoring
Once ready, click Save.
This is how the finalized question will appear on the Assessment:
