Question Rules

Question Rules let you adapt an interview to each candidate. Instead of asking every question to everyone, the AI agent can skip questions that do not apply and ask follow-up questions only when an earlier answer calls for them. This keeps interviews shorter for qualified candidates and makes sure you get the details you need from everyone else.

Question Rules are set up per question in the Interview Guide Builder, and there are two types:

• Question logic: Ask this question only if the answer to an earlier question matches a condition. For example, ask about visa sponsorship only if the candidate answered No to a work authorization question.
• Follow-up rule: A written instruction that tells the agent how to follow up on this question's answer, without adding a separate question. For example, ask for a concrete example if the answer does not include one.

In This Article

• Adding Question Logic
• Writing Your Own Condition
• Adding a Follow-Up Rule
• How Rules Appear in the Guide and the Report
• Rules and Limitations
• Best Practices
• Examples
• Question Logic vs. Follow-Up Rules

Adding Question Logic

Add question logic to the question you want to show or skip, not to the earlier question that triggers it.

1. Go to Interview Guides and click New Interview Guide, or open an existing guide.
2. On the Guide Setup step, enter an Interview Guide Name, select a Template and, optionally, add a job description to help Crosschq suggest questions. Click Next.
3. On the Interview Questions step, click the settings icon (sliders icon) next to the question you want to make conditional. The Question Configuration panel opens.
   
4. Under Question Rules, find Ask this question based on an answer to a previous question and click + Add.
   
5. Under Ask this question if the answer to…, click Choose a question… and select the earlier question that triggers this one.
6. Under …is:, click Choose an answer… and select the condition:
   1. Yes or No, for questions the candidate answers with a clear yes or no.
   2. Other condition…, to describe the answer in your own words. For more information, see Writing Your Own Condition below.
   
   
   
   
7. Click Save changes.

The agent now asks this question only when the candidate's answer matches the condition. Otherwise, the question is skipped automatically.

Writing Your Own Condition

Use Other condition… when the earlier question is open-ended, or when a plain Yes or No is not enough. For example, ask about CRM tools only if the candidate's description of their sales process mentions Salesforce or HubSpot.

1. Select Other condition… as the condition.
   
2. Under Describe the condition, write what the candidate's answer must include. For example: They mention handling customer escalations.

1. Click Check condition. Crosschq reviews the condition for clarity and returns one of these results:
   • Ready: The condition is clear and can be saved.
   • Needs changes: Crosschq shows a Suggested version and explains Why. Click Use suggestion to replace your text, or Keep mine to keep your version. You can save with either option.

The check also rewrites or flags conditions that should not be used to route candidates, for example:

• Pass or fail wording, such as Fail the candidate if…, is rewritten in neutral terms.
• Personal characteristics, such as age, are removed.
• Conditions that are not related to the earlier question are flagged.
• Conditions written in another language are translated to English.

Adding a Follow-Up Rule

A follow-up rule tells the agent how to follow up on a candidate's answer to this same question. The agent writes the follow-up question itself, based on your instruction. You can also use a follow-up rule to tell the agent not to follow up on this question at all.

1. On the Interview Questions step, click the settings icon (sliders icon) next to the question. The Question Configuration panel opens.
2. Under Question Rules, find Guide how the agent responds, using a written instruction and click + Add.
   
3. Under Instruction, describe when the answer is not complete yet. Start with a condition, for example Incomplete unless the answer names…. To stop the agent from following up on this question, write Do not follow up.
   
   
4. Click Check rule. If the result is Needs changes, Crosschq shows a Suggested instruction and explains Why. Click Use suggestion to replace your text, or Keep mine to keep your version. You can save with either option.
   
5. Click Save changes.

To remove the follow-up rule, click the X on the rule.

The clearest instructions say exactly what a complete answer must include and what the agent should do if something is missing. For example, for Walk me through a complex problem you solved recently:

Incomplete unless the answer names a specific situation, what they personally did, and what happened as a result. If any of those three is missing, follow up once for the missing one, then continue.

How Rules Appear in the Guide and the Report

• In the guide: Questions with question logic are marked in the question list, for example Shown only if Question 3 = Yes or Shown only if Question 5 matches "mentions onboarding customers".

• In the Interview Report: A question that was skipped because its condition was not met is shown as Not asked, with the condition that was not met. Skipped questions are not graded and do not affect the candidate's score.

Rules and Limitations

• Earlier questions only: A question can depend only on a question that comes before it in the guide.
• One condition per question: Each question can have one question logic rule, based on one earlier question.
• No chained conditions: A question that is already conditional cannot trigger another question. It is not listed under Ask this question if the answer to….
• Several questions can depend on the same question: For example, one question can trigger a follow-up on Yes and a different one on No. If an answer matches more than one condition, the agent asks all the matching questions.
• 500 characters: Written conditions and follow-up instructions can have up to 500 characters.
• AI interviews only: Question Rules are not supported for interviews conducted by people using the meeting Interview Assistant.

Best Practices

Writing Conditions

• Describe what the candidate says, not your judgment of it. Write mentions handling customer escalations instead of has strong customer service skills. The agent decides based on the answer, so the condition should be something it can hear.
• Keep one idea per condition. If you need to check two things, create two conditional questions, each with its own condition.
• Negative conditions work too. For example, does not mention any CRM tool can trigger a question that asks about tools the candidate has used.
• Keep the condition related to the earlier question. A condition about something the candidate was not asked is unlikely to be met.
• Use neutral wording. Conditions decide which question comes next. They do not pass or fail the candidate. Avoid words like fail, reject or disqualify.
• Do not use personal characteristics. Never route candidates based on age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability or other protected characteristics.
• Write conditions in English. The interview can be in any supported language, but conditions are stored in English.

Structuring the Guide

• Use Yes or No when the question has a clear yes or no answer, such as work authorization, location or schedule. Use Other condition… for open-ended questions.
• Ask one thing per triggering question. A question like Are you authorized to work in the U.S. and able to start in two weeks? makes a clear Yes or No harder to get. Split it into two questions.
• Place conditional questions right after the question that triggers them, so the conversation flows naturally for the candidate.
• Keep the logic one level deep. Conditions cannot be chained, so plan your branches around a few key questions.
• Use a follow-up rule instead of a new question when you only need more detail on the same topic.
• Make sure every conditional question makes sense on its own. Read the guide as a candidate who gets each branch, since some candidates will not hear every question that comes before a conditional question.

Examples

Question Logic vs. Follow-Up Rules

You can use both on the same question. For example, a relocation question can be shown only to candidates who answered No to the location question, with a follow-up rule that asks once for a timeline if the candidate says they would relocate.

Feel free to reach out to our Support team if you have any further questions.