In the past I have written about cover letters, and described how they can be a great help for some of you, who realize you are not an exact match to the position which you are applying for. I will always stand by that thought, but if you remember I also wrote in that same article that the cover letter may not ever get read. Often times, when there are knockout questions, and the applicant has only a few of the “must haves” or “nice to haves,” the recruiter won’t even look at the resume or cover letter. It’s not because he or she doesn’t want to review it, but it is simply a matter of time.
If a recruiter has 100 applicants that have applied for a role, and he/she creates 5 knockout questions in the application, will they even see your resume? Well, it depends! If 20 people get all 5 of the desired items and 80 people only get a combination of them, then the recruiter is probably going to focus on the top 20 applicants. That being said, if he/she only gets 2 or 3 that answered all 5 questions ideally, then the recruiter will probably be more open to people on the cusp. As a recruiter, we want to be sure we are hiring the best person, so to be the best person, make sure you get the recruiter to review your resume.
You have read it many times by now. The resume gets you the interview, and the interview gets you the job. If that’s all true, what gets your resume reviewed? That’s right; the application.
Most companies, when they are trying to fill a requisition, will place questions in the application that are designed to quickly determine if an applicant is qualified and a strong fit, or just an applicant who is interested in the role. These questions are commonly referred to as, “knockout questions.”
Often there are clues in a posting that will give the applicant a strong indication as to what is the right and wrong answer to these questions. If you are not able to answer 4 out of 5 questions with the desired response, you NEED to have a cover letter written to bridge the gap from what the company is looking for in terms of skills and experience to what you have for those requirements. (See cover letter article for tips on cover letters.)
When trying to figure out how to answer the knockout questions, first review and print out the application. If you don’t have it printed, at least have it available to pull up.
For example, the company might use SAP as its system of choice and the knockout question may be written as, “How much SAP experience do you have?”
Answers:
- No Experience
- <1 Year
- 1-2 years
- 3-5 years
- >5 Years
I can almost promise you that 95 out of 100 times the job description will tell you what the company wants for the “right” answer. I am sure the job description says, must have “x” years of experience in SAP.
When the recruiter reviews these questions, often each question is rated on a point basis so it’s either right or wrong. Whether you have 4.9 year and select 3-5 years, or have <1 year of experience. The system, often will give the applicant 0 points, because it was looking for 5+ years as the correct answer. Every system can be modified to give partial points, but in my experience this is pretty rare. Usually it’s either right or wrong.
I am a big believer being honest during your job seeking process, but you need to be sure you get the recruiter to call you. So if you have 4.9 years, I personally would put >5 years as my answer and address the question in my cover letter. This way the application grading system gives you full marks, and you can explain that in 35 more days you would have over 5 years of experience, and the recruiter won’t feel that you mislead him/her.
Knockout questions are part of the recruiting process, and it is important to have fully read a job description prior to submitting your interest, application and resume. This is the only way you can be sure to answer as many of the concerns the recruiter might have prior to them asking the questions. This is important, because many times the recruiter won’t ask the question to you, they will just assume you are not what they are looking for. At the end of the day, this is must be an intentional process, be deliberate during the application process and you will have a higher success rate of being considered for the positon to which you are interested.
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