Custom conversations allow you to build a conversation from scratch that best reflects your unique use case. These conversations allow you to create robust and conditional conversations that scale and that serve as “set and forget” configurations that can be used by millions of applicants. 

Create a custom conversation

1. Click the All Apps button in the top left corner of the header.
2. Click the Settings icon.
3. Click Conversation Builder in the Automation section of the Settings page.
4. Click + Add Conversation.
5. Select Add Custom Conversation.
6. On the new page that opens, name the conversation.
7. Click outside of the Conversation Name field.
8. Several selectors will then be added to the conversation header. These will display depending on how your account is configured. Update these selectors, which may include:
   • Conversation Language – If the Multilingual feature is enabled for your account, then you will have the option to select the languages available for this conversation. It is recommended to select your languages last. When you make your selections, your entire conversation will be translated for you automatically. Once selected, a tab for each language will display above the conversation.
   • WhatsApp Supported – This selector allows you to enable WhatsApp for the conversation, which allows candidates to select it as a Communication Preference. This field will only display if WhatsApp is enabled for your account.
   • Conversation Targeting – This selector allows you to determine the audience that will use this conversation. Options include:
     • General – This will be geared towards a general candidate audience.
     • Journey Targeting – This will make the conversation selectable in Journey Targeting and requires a Candidate Journey to be selected.
     • Talent Communities – This allows the conversation to be selected on the backend for your talent communities.
     • Job Attribute Search – This allows Job Filter questions to be added along with job parameters and conditions in order to better match candidates to jobs and decrease unqualified candidates/dispositions.
   • Candidate Journey – This selector will only display when Journey Targeting is selected in the Conversation Targeting selector. This dropdown requires you to associate this conversation to a Candidate Journey so that it may be selected within Journey Targeting.
9. Default opening message(s) will display for the conversation. Review and rephrase messages, as needed.
10. Name the first question.

11. Update the question, if needed.
12. Add additional questions by clicking the + icon below the first question and then select Next Question.
13. Name your question.
14. Select your question type or the statement option. Question type and the statement option are outlined below.
    • Note: Adding an action will result in the conversation.
15. Depending on the question type selected, default text may display. Update this wording, if preferred.
16. Repeat steps #12-15 for all preferred questions and statements. You will also have the following options available:
    • Add Condition – This allows you to create unlimited paths that the conversation can progress, depending on the customizable criteria that you set. Click here to learn more about conditions. 
    • Move To: Question – This allows you to select the question that the the candidate should move to in the conversation.
    • Move To: Conversation – This allows you to select a different conversation that this candidate should be moved to as well as the question where the conversation should start from.
17. Select the preferred action to take place at the end of your conversation. This will close the conversation. Actions are outlined here.
18. When the conversation is configured the way you want, then click the Draft status and then Publish from its drop-down menu.
    
    

Question Types

Inquiry Detection is the ability for your AI Assistant to understand when a candidate is asking a question instead of providing a proper response to the screening question being asked. When your AI Assistant detects that the candidate is asking a question, a Q&A response will be provided in addition to a re-prompt message for the candidate to provide the proper response to your assistant's previous question. 

Address

This question type validates whether the candidate has responded with a valid address. 

When you select and apply this question type, an Address Question Parameters modal will display, allowing you to select the address parameters required for validation. In addition to this, you can toggle off the address reprompt message, if preferred.

Clicking Apply will update the question field with a message that includes the selected parameters.

Area of Interest

This question type forces you to select groups that will be presented to the candidate to chose from in the conversation. Once the candidate makes a selection, they will be assigned to that group. The candidate will need to send a response that matches a value in the list in order to move to the next question. This question type will always be sent as a list select. 

Document Upload

This question type will prompt the candidate to upload a document. When this question type is selected, there will be no default message added to the question field.

The Document Upload modal will have the following settings:

• Is this document required? – Toggle this on to require the candidate to upload a document. If the document upload is not required, then the candidate will be able to skip the question. The candidate will also have the Upload Later option, which allows them to continue the conversation and receive reminders to upload their resume.
• Is this document a resume? – This will be toggled off by default. Toggle this on so that your AI Assistant asks the candidate to upload their resume. If this toggle remains off, then the Enable Resume Parsing toggle will not display and a text field will take its place, allowing you to name the document that you want candidates to upload. Adding a document name will then add a new #document-name token to the conversation, in which your AI Assistant will ask for this specific document, and the document name will be included in the conversation milestone. Either document (resume or other) will be listed in the Hire Details section of the Candidate Profile.
  
  
   
• Enable Resume Parsing – This will only display if the Is this document a resume? toggle is enabled and will allow the resume to be parsed to the Candidate Profile. 

Equal Employment Opportunity

This question type is always required by the candidate if it is configured for the conversation. By clicking on the question’s action menu, you can select or deselect particular EEO categories that will be presented to the candidate. When selecting this question type, the default message added to the question field will display and can be edited.

Email

This question type validates whether the candidate has responded with a valid email address or not. When selecting this question type, the default message added to the question field will display and can be edited.

Full Name

This question type validates whether the candidate has responded with a valid full name. When selecting this question type, the default message added to the question field will display and can be edited.

List Select

This question type allows you to input list select values that will be presented to candidates in a list. When configuring a list select question, you’ll see the option to allow multiple values to be selected, make the question required to be answered, and synchronize list items from an external ATS. Please note that if you mark the question as required, then the candidate will need to send a response that matches a value in the list in order to move to the next question. 

When this question type is selected, there will be no default message added to the question field.

• Notes:
  • Characters. List select options are limited to 100 characters and will display in their entirety when the question is displayed.
  • Candidate Selection. List select questions will include a link to a web page that displays a selector. Candidates must select an answer for their response to be valid; they cannot manually enter the option in the conversation.

Location Selection

This question type forces you to choose the locations that will be presented to the candidate in the conversation. The candidate will then have to select a location or respond with a value that matches a location in the list in order to move to the next question. This will assign that location to them. When this question type is selected, there will be no default message added to the question field.

• Important Note: For accounts that have 6 or more locations selected for a Location Selection question, when a candidate enters an invalid response, the candidate’s default re-prompt message will be: I’m sorry, I didn’t understand. Which city would you like to work in? This is due to the fact that the system relies on a valid response to the location follow-up question before the custom reprompt messages are utilized.

Numeric

This question type validates whether the candidate has responded with a valid numeric value. When this question type is selected, there will be no default message added to the question field.

Open Ended

This is our default question type. Every time a new question is added, the Open-Ended question type will be selected by default. When this question type is selected, there will be no default message added to the question field.

Phone Number

This question type validates whether the candidate has responded with a valid phone number. When selecting this question type, the default message added to the question field will display and can be edited.

Video Response

This question type will prompt the candidate to upload a video response. Once you select this question type, you can configure the following:

• Is this video response required? – You can enable this toggle to prevent candidates from skipping the video response.
• Video Time – You can select the maximum duration of the video response from the following video times:
  • 15 seconds
  • 30 seconds
  • 45 seconds
  • 60 seconds
  • 2 minutes
  • 3 minutes
  • 4 minutes
  • 5 minutes

This video will then be visible to users while viewing the candidate’s conversation. When this question type is selected, there will be no default message added to the question field. 

Yes/No

This question type validates whether the candidate has responded with either a Yes or No. We are also able to interpret words that are similar to these responses, such as Yea. When this question type is selected, there will be no default message added to the question field. 

Job Search Question Types

Job Search question types give you the flexibility to build out a custom Job Search conversation for your candidates. These question types include the following:

• Job Search – This question type functions like Job Search. Your AI Assistant will conduct a job search experience with the candidate.
• Job Specific Screening – This question type will dynamically populate the screening questions configured within the candidate’s selected job.
• Job Specific Shift Preference – This question type will dynamically populate the available shifts for the candidate’s selected job.  

A Job Specific Outcomes action is also available to apply the appropriate outcome to the candidate based on their selected job. This action can be added to the end the conversation.

Statement Message

A statement message is not a question type nor an action type. The statement message is simply a message that your AI Assistant will send to the candidate within the conversation. When your AI Assistant sends a statement message, they are not looking for a response from the candidate. Immediately after sending the statement message, your AI Assistant will send the next message configured in the conversation.

There is not a limit on the total number of statement messages that can be sent to a candidate within a conversation. Statement messages can also include media content.

• Note:  Media content size limits for custom conversations are 100Mb for video and 5Mb for images. We accept .mp4 and .mov file types. 

Action Type

Once you've built out your questions and conditional paths, you can go back and select actions to include at the end of your conversation.

• Job Specific Outcomes – This action will automatically apply the appropriate outcome to the candidate based on their selected job. This option is only available when utilizing Paradox Jobs.
• End Conversation – This will end the conversation. An End of conversation. Do you want to set a status? toggle will display that, when enabled, will allow you to select the preferred status for a candidate. By default, Capture Complete will display.
  • Note: If WhatsApp is enabled for this conversation, then an additional Send a follow-up message to the preferred communication toggle will display.
• Invite to Event –  This will allow you to select the event that you want you want to invite the candidate to and auto-populate the text box with the default message, which can be edited.
  • Note: You can click the box's action menu, or three dot icon, and select View Event Builder to view the event's details.
• Olivia Recorded Interview – This will allow you to select the recorded interview that will send to the candidate.
• Schedule Interview – This will auto-populate the text box with a default message, which can be edited. Clicking + Add Interview Details will open a slide-out drawer where you will be able to set the interview details. You can then select the Configure button to open the Configure Auto Scheduling slide-out drawer, where you will be able to set the interview details. Once you save all of your interview details, you can see all of the selected interview details in the Scheduling Summary panel. You can select Edit Scheduling to edit the details. 

• Send Survey – This will allow you to select the survey you want to send to the candidate and auto-populate the text box with a default message, which can be edited. An End of conversation. Do you want to set a status? toggle will display that, when enabled, will allow you to select the preferred status for a candidate when a survey is sent. By default, Send Survey will display.

Conditional pathways

Adding conditions allow you to create unlimited paths that the conversation can progress, depending on the customizable criteria that you set. With conditions, candidate answers are processed in real-time to determine the outcome/next questions based on their previous answers. You’ll be able to define the conditions in between questions throughout the conversation on any number of previously collected data.

When conditions are applied in the conversation, paths will be created based on the number of paths created in the conditions drawer. Candidates will be placed in the appropriate path based on the answers they give throughout the conversation. Paths will split apart in the conversation in a structured manner, with the default path always being on the left and all other paths being added to the right based on their position in the conditions drawer. 

Question action menu options

Skip question

Enable the Skip Question logic for questions that you may want candidates to potentially skip in a conversation. Once a question includes the skip functionality, the answers to a previous question will then cause the candidate to either get asked the conditional question or skip it entirely.

To set up the skip logic,

1. Create a question or navigate to an existing question that will be asked based on the candidate’s answer to the previous question.
2. On that question, click its action menu, or three dot icon.
3. Click Skip Question.
   
   
    
4. A slide-out drawer will then open where you can select the Starting Value. Options include:
   • Assigned Location
   • Questions
     • Note: The Statement Message question type will be hidden from this field since no response is necessary for a Statement Message.
   • Candidate Attributes
   • Job Attributes
     
     
      
5. Choose the preferred operator for the Screen For selector.
6. In the Text Input field, type the response that, if the candidate enters, will cause this question to be skipped.
   • Note: The Then section below the If condition setting will always say Skip Question and will auto-populate the title of the question that the condition is built on.
7. If needed, you can add an additional condition by using the AND and/or OR operators. A new If statement will then appear where you can set the additional condition.
   
   
    
8. Repeat steps #4-7, as needed.
9. Once all conditions are added, then click Apply in the bottom right corner of the drawer.

A banner will then be listed above the question to indicate that the Skip Question logic was applied and can be edited there.

Edit reprompt message

The reprompt message is used to prompt candidates for a valid response. You will see the Edit Reprompt Message for the following question types who use validation:

• Full Name
• List Select
• Location Selection
  • Important Note: For accounts that have 6 or more locations selected for this question and when a candidate enters an invalid response, the candidate’s default reprompt message will be: I’m sorry, I didn’t understand. Which city would you like to work in? This is due to the fact that the system relies on a valid response to the location follow-up question before the custom re-prompt messages are utilized.
• Phone Number
• Email
• Document Upload
• Video Response
• EEO

Upload media

You can easily add media to any question within a Custom Conversation. To do this,

1. Click the question’s action menu, or three dot icon.
2. Select Upload Media.
   • Note: This is available for all question types except the Equal Opportunity Employment question.
3. You can then either:
   1. Select the preferred media from the Media Library and then click Add.
   2. Add new media by following the process below.
      1. Click + Add New.
      2. Select the preferred media type.
      3. Name the media.
      4. Complete the additional fields.
      5. Upload a file or add a link.
         • Note: If you’ve selected a file from your computer, then you will be prompted to crop the thumbnail for the media that you upload.
      6. Click Create.

Remove media

You can remove the media added previously by:

• Clicking the trash icon next to the upload.
• Selecting Remove Media from the question’s action menu.

Require video viewing

When a video is added to the conversation, you’ll notice the Required to view full video checkbox. When this is checked, candidates will not be able to move to the next question unless the video is viewed in full. The candidate will not be able to fast forward the video or close the media player until the video has been completely viewed from start to finish. This use case will be more popular when there are compliance requirements involved.

You can update the media reprompt messaging for candidates who have not viewed a required video. To do so,

1. Click the question’s action menu, or three dot icon.
2. Select Edit Reprompt Message from its drop-down menu.
3. A slide-out drawer will open. Update the messaging for one or both available sections:
   • Message Prompt – This section is the messaging that will be sent to candidates when they have not provided a valid response to the question.
   • Media Prompt – This section is the messaging that will be sent to candidates when they have not viewed the required video.
4. Click Save.

Candidate experience

Required video

When the media added to the question is required to view, then you will notice that the candidate does not have the ability to Skip past the video. When the video is clicked, the Done button will be disabled until the video has been watched in full. The candidate will also not be able to fast forward through the video or move to the next question until the video is viewed in full.

Optional video

When the media added to the question is optional to view, then the candidate does has the ability to Skip the video.

• Skipping the video. By clicking Skip, we will auto-send Skip as a response to your AI Assistant and move the candidate on to the next question in the conversation.
• Watching the video. If the candidate watches the video, then they can click the Done button, which will send Done as a response to your AI Assistant and move the candidate to the next question in the conversation. The candidate can return to the video and click play as many times as they’d like.
  • Note: Clicking Done a second time will not send another Done response.

Additional actions

• ATS Mapping – On every question type, you’ll have the ability to map the candidate's response to a field or many fields within an external ATS. This action is used by our Integrations Team.
• System Attribute – On every question type, you’ll have the ability to map the candidate's response to a Candidate Attribute. This feature is mostly used to properly map response values to Candidate Attributes stored on a candidate’s profile and used to build conditions.
• Edit Tracking Pixel – This option is specifically used for SAP SuccessFactors integrations.
• Disable Question – This option is available for all question types. When selected, the question will not be presented to the candidate in the conversation. You can undo this by selecting the action menu and then Enable Question.
• Delete Question – This option is available for all question types and when selected, the question will be deleted from the conversation.
  • Note: This option will not be available for the first question in the conversation. 

Conversation builder actions and view controls

At any point in the Conversation Builder, you can use the editing and view controls. 

These options are always accessible in the bottom right of the screen:

• Undo – Click this icon to reverse your last action. For keyboard shortcuts, macOS uses Cmd + Z or ⌘ + Z and Window uses Ctrl + Z. When you undone an action, a small banner displays in the lower-left corner stating what has been undone. This button will be grayed out until you have made a change.
• Redo – Click this icon to reapply an action you just undid. For keyboard shortcuts, macOS uses Shift + Cmd + Z or Shift + ⌘ + Z and Window uses Ctrl + Y. When you redo an action, a small banner displays in the lower-left corner stating what has been redone. This button will be grayed out until you have undone an action. 
• Zoom Out – Click the – icon.
• Zoom In – Click the + icon.
• Fit question to screen & fit conversation to screen – Click the four arrow icon to zoom out to the highest level or down to an individual question depending on the zoom level of the page.
• Navigation list of all questions – Click the list icon to open a searchable list of all questions in the conversation. Click on a question name to navigate to that question in the Conversation builder.