Before you begin
Open the Tests section of your dashboard and click into the assessment you want to customize. Inside, you'll see the question list with three controls visible on each row.
- A drag handle on the left, used to reorder the question.
- A preview icon (eye), used to see what the candidate will experience.
- An edit icon next to the preview icon, used to open the Edit Question screen.
There's also a three-dot menu on the right that opens the Edit Question screen as well. You can edit assessments anytime, including after you've sent them to candidates.
Reorder questions
To reorder questions in your assessment, click and hold the drag handle on the left of any question row, then drag the question into its new position.
The order you set is the order candidates will encounter the questions during their assessment.
Preview a question
Click the eye icon on any question to preview exactly what the candidate will see when they reach that question.
This is the fastest way to confirm a question reads the way you want it to before sending the assessment out.
Context
A composite wing spar from a regional turboprop has been returned for failure analysis after a hard landing. The aircraft had completed 14,200 flight cycles.
Given data
- Material: CFRP, [0/45/90]ₛ layup
- Service life: 14,200 cycles
- Recovery temp: 22 °C, 45% RH
Constraints
- NDT inspection only , no destructive sampling
What is the most likely root cause of the observed delamination, and how would you confirm it?
Edit an existing question
Click the edit icon (or the three-dot menu) on any question to open the Edit Question screen. Most properties of a question are configurable from here.
You'll see the following fields:
- Question title. The name of the question.
- Question type. Set when the question was created.
- Intro text. An optional intro shown to candidates before the task starts.
- Estimated time. The expected time, in minutes, for a candidate to complete this question.
- Left panel sections. The content panel candidates see on the left side of their assessment screen during the task. Sections are organized as blocks (Context, Given Data, Load Case, Constraints/Assumptions, and others), each holding multiple items in either Written or Numerical formats. Use Add item to add a new entry inside a section, Add section to create a new block, and Remove to delete a section.
- Writing prompts. The question or prompt that candidates respond to, including the question text and an optional answer-box placeholder.
Save your changes with Save question to land back in the assessment view.
A note on editing library questions
When you edit a question that came from Colare's content library, your changes create a company-only copy of that question for the current assessment.
The original library version is unaffected, so other tests in your workspace continue to use the standard version of the question. You'll see a banner inside the Edit Question screen confirming this behavior.
For questions your team has created and saved to your custom library, editing modifies the original directly , so changes will apply across any assessments that use that question.
Add a question from your content library
If you'd like to bring an existing question into your assessment, click Add Question and choose Add from library.
Browse the content library and select the question you'd like to include. The selected question is added to the current assessment.
The content library is currently accessed by adding a question to an assessment.
Create a custom question
If your team has its own questions you'd like to use, you can write them directly inside Colare. Click Add Question and choose Create custom.
You'll be able to choose from the following question types:
Configure the question's content for the type you've selected, then save it. Custom questions are added to the current assessment automatically and saved to your content library for reuse on future assessments.
Voice question configuration
Voice questions have a few specific options worth knowing about.
- Voice interface. Choose between Q&A mode, where Colare's voice agent asks each question in order and moves on, or open-ended mode, where the agent follows the candidate's response with probing follow-ups. Open-ended is well-suited for behavioral and experience-based evaluation.
- Topic. An overview of the topic, or an opening question for the agent to lead with.
- Answer key. An ideal answer that guides the agent's follow-up questions during the candidate's response.
For teams with a set of voice questions ready to go, you can also import them in bulk via CSV using a template that includes columns for the overview question and ideal answer.
What's next
Once your questions are configured, you're ready to move on:
- For more on building assessments from scratch or from a job description, see How to create an assessment.
- For sending an assessment to candidates, see How to send an assessment.
- For reviewing candidate performance after they've completed an assessment, see How to review candidate scores.