GarriManasaryan / candidate_testing_bot

A candidate assessment bot (entry-level interview tasks)

Candidate Assessment Bot

Following bot evaluates candidates hard skills by sending custom assessment files using Telegram API and Google Services (Drive, Sheets, Gmail).

preview.mp4

Overview

Test assessment is divided into two parts:

• Task preparation → managers fill a google doc with custom tasks (in a shared drive);
• Assessment → bot sends prepared docs and saves answered-files in a separate google folder per candidate with all corresponding data (answers, time spent etc);

One of the challenges was to limit candidates freedom in the bot, so candidates shouldn't be able to:

• re-enter and start the test again (if time runs out, for instance);
• reload answers after finishing the test;
• get access to other questions and so on.

Which raised another issue: how to design the process of task choosing? In the original approach bot had a menu-like architecture, where candidate could choose a section, then fall down deeper (inner modules) and finally get to assigned tasks. Given a department of multiple teams and managers with their custom tasks, menu-like model was promising.

But in this case candidates could (accidentally or purposefully) click (and access) wrong tasks. To address mentioned above frivolities, the "password" approach was chosen: managers prepare the tasks and assign to candidates specific tests (so there is no possibility of misclicks and wrong access from users). After task preparation, a temporary token is generated, giving the candidate a one-time access to take the test, which automatically limits re-entries and any other forms of cheating :)

Long story short general workflow looks like this:

1. Manager fills a new row for candidate in a google sheet: name, email, testing modes (extra excel tasks) and adds link to the main google doc with tasks.

2. Generates access-token.

3. HR sends token and @<bot_tag> to candidate.

4. Candidate can call to bot only with the token. After verification, instructions with a "start" button are sent.

5. Clicking "start", candidate receives the files, where answers should be provided.

6. When ready, candidate sends answered files back.

7. Bot:

   • registers spent time;
   • creates a separate google folder for the candidate;
   • sends email notifications to manager;
   • expires token.