Must-knows are the facts you need before anything else: a required license or certification, eligibility to work where the role is, a location you can place. They are asked first, together with the PlacementFlow basics, in the web chat the candidate opens from their private link.
- On a desk. In the desk's Candidate Screening section, choose Generate with AI to build a questionnaire, or Edit questions to change the one you have. Both open the question builder.
- In a sourcing campaign. The wizard's Qualifier step lists the basics and Your extra must-knows. Type one into Add a must-know… to add it.
- Open the question builder on your desk
- Find the question you want asked first
- Click Ask before review. The question now shows ★ Must-know.
- For a yes/no question, pick the answer you are hoping for: hoping: Yes or No. Without it, the question can never raise a flag, and the builder tells you so.
- Save
Must-knows move to the front of the chat on their own. You do not need to reorder anything.
- Asked first. Must-knows come with the basics, before any screening question.
- Checked, not judged. Each answer is compared with the answer you hoped for. The comparison is a plain rule, not an AI opinion.
- Flagged, never acted on. An answer that does not match, or a must-know left blank, is flagged on the candidate's screening, with the question that raised it. Nobody is declined because of a flag, and the candidate is never told.
- A flag pauses the chat. When a must-know is flagged, the screening questions are not offered. The candidate gets a neutral close and waits for you on Today, under Qualified. When nothing is flagged, they carry on to the screening questions in the same visit.
- Asked once. A must-know the candidate answered is never asked again later.
PlacementFlow adds its basics to every questionnaire: where the candidate is based, right to work, notice period, working setup, openness to other cities, salary expectations and their ideal next role. In a campaign you can switch individual basics off. Right to work is flagged for you when the answer is not what the basic expects.
Every questionnaire also asks for the candidate's best contact email, plus an optional phone number, so the people you approve are always reachable.
A must-know with no hoped-for answer is still asked first, but it cannot raise a flag. When you review, it shows as Worth checking, so you read the answer yourself.
The best must-knows are facts with a clear expected answer, given in one line:
- Right to work: "Are you legally authorized to work in [country]?"
- Location: "Which city and country are you currently based in?"
- Mandatory license or certification: "Do you hold a current [license or certification]?"
Keep the list short, around three. Every extra question up front costs completion, and people who replied to a cold email drop off fastest.
- Subjective qualities ("strong communicator", "team player"). Ask these as regular screening questions, where the candidate can give a real answer.
- Preferences ("Are you open to contract roles?", "Would you relocate?"). A preference is not a fact to check. Ask it as a regular question.
- Years of experience as a hard cutoff. Ask it as a regular question. Hard experience gates push away strong, flexible candidates.
- Security clearance. Ask it as a regular question, not a must-know.
- Anything about where someone is from: nationality, citizenship or origin. You may ask whether a candidate lives in or is authorized to work in a place. You may never screen on where they are from. Ask every candidate the same question, framed around what the role needs.
Saving an edit makes a new version for candidates from then on. Anyone already part-way through keeps the questions they were sent.
- Asks your must-knows first, exactly as written, one at a time
- Checks each answer against the answer you hoped for and flags the ones that do not match
- When it drafts questions, marks only genuine facts as must-knows, and drops the check from any must-know that has no answer to check against, so nothing claims a check it cannot run
- Never declines anyone. A flag is information for your decision, and approving or declining is always your call.