Assess Applicant Qualifications with Screening Questions on Indeed

Decide what screening questions to include

Indeed provides a number of pre-made screening questions to choose from based on your job title, to get the information you need from applicants upfront. Examples of screening questions include:

• How many years of experience do you have in XYZ?
• Do you have a secondary school certificate?
• Please list two to three dates and time ranges that you could do an interview.
• Do you have a valid [licence type]?
• What percentage of the time are you willing to travel for work?
• Why do you want to work at Company ABC?

You can select as many relevant questions as you want. You can also create your own questions and include as many as you need on the application. You can ask any question that helps you figure out who is a great potential hire, or even to figure out interview availability. Screening questions help you set the minimum requirements that someone would need to be successful if hired.

As you decide which questions to include, you might think about:

• What’s truly required on day one, such as licences, certifications or specific technical skills.
• What can be learned on the job, and therefore may sit in the ‘nice-to-have’ category.
• What practical details matter for the role, like shift patterns, travel, language skills or right to work.

You may also like to include one or two short-answer questions that allow candidates to tell you more about their experience or motivation. For example, asking why they’re interested in this particular role or to share a brief example of relevant work can give you extra context to use when deciding who to contact.

Each question you ask can also be set as a ‘deal breaker’. This lets you ask questions about a candidate’s must-have qualifications (like spoken languages or willingness to relocate) as well as any applicable nice-to-have qualifications (like personality traits). We’ll also make sure you only pay for qualified applicants that meet your ‘deal breaker’ requirements, and you can give Indeed permission to file applicants under Rejected in your Employer Dashboard.

It can help to be quite deliberate about which questions you mark as deal breakers. You might reserve this setting for legal, safety or operational requirements that you can’t compromise on, while leaving other preferences for manual review. This approach can keep your candidate pool from becoming too narrow while still helping you focus on the people who are more likely to meet your needs.

When you sponsor your job on Indeed, you’ll also get access to Matched Candidates, which uses your job description to find candidates whose resumes on Indeed match your job criteria and who you can invite to apply. Adding screening questions and marking any must-haves as deal-breakers can help us surface better matches for your jobs.

How to add screening questions on Indeed

Step 1: As you go through the job posting process, you’ll see a page titled Applicant Qualifications.

This is where you can review suggested questions, add your own and decide which ones should be marked as deal breakers. Spending a few extra minutes here can save a lot of time later when applications start to come in.

Step 2: Select from the pre-made list of questions or make your own. You can use a variety of question formats like:

• Yes or no
• Short answer
• Multiple choice 
• Date or number
• Request for file upload

You can remove suggested questions by clicking on the ‘X’ icon.

Different formats may suit different types of information. For example, yes/no questions can work well for clear requirements, such as holding a particular licence, while multiple choice questions can help candidates quickly select their availability or preferred work pattern. Short answer questions can give extra space for context when you need a little more detail.

Step 3: Once you’ve added the questions you’d like applicants to answer, you can mark must-haves as ‘deal breakers’. It’s worth defining which qualifications are a must and which are ‘nice-to-haves’.

You might like to discuss this with your hiring team or line manager so you’re aligned on what’s essential. This can make it easier to adjust your criteria later if you’re not seeing the volume or quality of applications you expected, without needing to rewrite your whole job post.

Step 4: When the job applications start rolling in, you can sort applicants based on the answers to these questions from your Employer Dashboard on the Candidates Tab.

From here, you can use screening answers alongside other information, like resumes and cover letters, to decide who to contact first, who to keep in mind for future roles and who may not be the right match at this time.

Filter applications by their answers

Once your job is posted and you’re in your Employer Dashboard, you can use candidates’ responses to filter your applicants. This can help you quickly identify your top candidates and reach out ASAP to set up an interview.

You can experiment with different filter combinations to see what works best for your role. For example, you may start with a tighter set of filters that focus only on deal-breaker criteria, then widen your view to include candidates who meet most, but not all, of your preferred requirements if you’d like a larger pool to consider.

If you mark any questions as ‘deal breakers’, applicants who answered in a way that did not meet your requirements are automatically deprioritised and placed in the Rejected Tab. You can review these applicants at any time and move them to Reviewed instead.

Try exploring different filter options to determine the best way to view applicants for your position.

Over time, you may find certain questions and filters consistently help you identify stronger candidates more quickly. You can use these insights to refine your future job posts and screening approach so each new hire benefits from what you’ve learned before.

Screening question FAQs

Can I skip phone screens if I add screening questions?

While screening questions are a powerful way to quickly see whether applicants meet your must-have requirements, a conversation often reveals more about their experience, communication style and overall fit.

Consider combining screening questions with brief phone or virtual interviews for your top candidates so you can clarify their responses, explore their motivations and make more confident hiring decisions.

You might use their answers as a starting point, asking follow-up questions about particular examples, responsibilities or achievements that are relevant to your role.

Are there any screening questions I’m not allowed to ask candidates?

Do not ask questions that are discriminatory or illegal, personally invasive or otherwise violate the Indeed Site Rules.

It’s generally a good idea to focus on job-related skills, requirements and availability, and to check any local guidance that may apply. If you’re unsure about a specific question, you may want to seek advice from your legal or HR team before including it in your application process.

Log in now to add Applicant Qualifications to your job posting.

Back to Hiring with Indeed