Assessment Troubleshooting

Assessment Troubleshooting

Resolve issues with AI candidate assessments and get your evaluations back on track.

Assessment Status Guide

Normal Processing Timeline

Expected duration: 2-3 minutes total

Stages:

1. Queued: 0-30 seconds
2. Extracting: 15-45 seconds
3. Analyzing: 60-120 seconds
4. Completing: 10-30 seconds
5. Complete: Ready to view

If any stage exceeds these times, see troubleshooting below.

Common Assessment Errors

"Resume Required"

Error message: "Cannot assess: no resume provided"

Cause: Candidate profile has no resume file or text.

Solution:

1. Open candidate profile
2. Click "Edit"
3. Either:
   • Upload resume file (PDF, DOC, DOCX)
   • Paste resume text into "Resume" field
   • Enter key experience details manually
4. Save changes
5. Request assessment again

Minimum required: Name, email, and either resume file or text description of experience.

"Resume Extraction Failed"

Error message: "Could not extract text from resume"

Cause: Resume file is corrupted, password-protected, or scanned image without OCR.

Solution:

1. Try different format:
   • If PDF → Try DOC or DOCX
   • If image-based PDF → Convert to text PDF
   • If scanned → Run through OCR first
2. Check file manually: Open file on your computer to verify it works
3. Use paste method: Copy text from resume, paste into candidate profile
4. Re-scan document: If scanned resume, try higher quality scan with OCR

Prevention: Use text-based PDFs or Word docs, not scanned images.

"Insufficient Information"

Error message: "Not enough candidate information to assess"

Cause: Resume is too short or lacks substantive content.

Solution:

1. Review resume quality:
   • At least 100 words of experience description needed
   • Should include job titles, companies, and responsibilities
   • Skills section helps but isn't sufficient alone
2. Add supplemental info:
   • Use "Additional Information" field
   • Fill in "Skills" tags
   • Add "Experience Summary"
3. Use LinkedIn data: If available, paste LinkedIn profile content

Minimum: 2+ years experience described with job titles and responsibilities.

"Campaign Requirements Missing"

Error message: "Campaign has no job requirements defined"

Cause: Campaign was created without setting job requirements.

Solution:

1. Go to Campaign Settings
2. Navigate to "Requirements" tab
3. Fill in:
   • Job description (minimum 50 words)
   • Required skills (at least 3)
   • Experience level
   • Key responsibilities
4. Save campaign settings
5. Request assessment again

All assessments in that campaign will now use these requirements.

"System Error - Retry"

Error message: "Temporary system error, please retry"

Cause: Transient backend issue or network problem.

Solution:

1. Wait 2 minutes then retry
2. Check status page: status.candidateaudit.com
3. Try different candidate: See if issue is specific to this candidate
4. Contact support: If persists after 3 retries

Usually resolves: Within 5-10 minutes automatically.

Stuck Assessment States

Stuck in "Queued"

Symptom: Assessment shows "Queued" for over 5 minutes

Likely causes:

1. High system load: Many assessments running
2. Browser disconnected: Lost connection to server
3. Queue processing paused: System maintenance

What to do:

1. Refresh browser: Often just display issue
2. Check queue status: Campaign → Processing Queue → View queue position
3. Wait 15 minutes: System will process queue
4. Cancel and retry: If over 15 minutes:
   • Open candidate
   • Click "Cancel Assessment"
   • Wait 1 minute
   • Request new assessment

Stuck in "Extracting"

Symptom: "Extracting..." for over 3 minutes

Likely causes:

1. Large resume file: Over 5MB
2. Complex PDF: Many images or formatting
3. Network issue: Upload interrupted

What to do:

1. Cancel assessment
2. Optimize resume:
   • Compress PDF if large
   • Remove unnecessary images
   • Simplify formatting
3. Try paste method: Copy/paste resume text instead
4. Request new assessment

Stuck in "Analyzing"

Symptom: "Analyzing..." for over 5 minutes

Likely causes:

1. Very long resume: 10+ pages takes longer
2. API timeout: Backend processing issue
3. Concurrent assessment limit: Too many at once

What to do:

1. Wait 10 minutes: Long resumes can take time
2. Check other assessments: Are they completing normally?
3. Cancel and retry: If still stuck after 10 minutes
4. Reduce batch size: If assessing many at once, try smaller groups

Quality Issues

All Scores Are Very Low

Symptom: Candidate scores 20-40 across all agents

Possible causes:

1. Poor resume match: Candidate truly not suited for role
2. Wrong campaign: Assessed against wrong job requirements
3. Resume parsing issues: Information not extracted properly

Check:

1. Read agent reports: Do they make sense given the resume?
2. Review requirements: Are campaign requirements overly strict?
3. Verify resume content: Was all experience captured?
4. Compare to known good candidates: How do they score?

If legitimate mismatch: Scores are accurate, candidate isn't good fit.

If parsing issue: Re-upload resume in different format and reassess.

All Scores Are Very High

Symptom: Candidate scores 95-100 across all agents (rare)

Possible causes:

1. Exceptional candidate: Truly outstanding match
2. Too broad requirements: Campaign requirements not specific enough
3. Resume over-stating: Candidate claims expertise in everything

Check:

1. Read agent reports: Look for specific evidence cited
2. Investigator score: If this is also 100, might be suspicious
3. Review requirements: Are they specific and challenging?
4. Cross-check claims: Verify resume claims are realistic

If legitimate: Excellent candidate, move quickly.

If suspicious: Have Investigator flagged any concerns?

Wildly Inconsistent Scores

Symptom: Agent scores range from 20 to 95 for same candidate

This is often normal: Indicates complex candidate with uneven strengths.

Example:

• Pragmatist: 30 (little hands-on experience)
• Visionary: 90 (exceptional strategic thinking)
• Culture Vulture: 70 (decent fit)

Not a bug when: Agents are evaluating different dimensions and candidate genuinely has uneven profile.

Possible bug if: Scores seem random and agent reports contradict scores.

What to do:

1. Read all agent reports to understand reasoning
2. Check if resume had parsing issues
3. If reports don't justify scores, re-request assessment
4. Report to support if consistent across multiple candidates

Agent Reports Are Generic

Symptom: Agent reports don't reference specific candidate details

Cause: Assessment completed but didn't extract resume details properly.

Solution:

1. Check resume in profile: Is text visible and correct?
2. Re-upload resume: Use different format
3. Add manual details: Fill in experience, skills manually
4. Request new assessment: After improving profile data

Reports should cite: Specific job titles, companies, skills, achievements from resume.

Bulk Assessment Issues

Some Candidates Assessed, Others Failed

Symptom: Bulk assessment shows mixed results

This is normal: Different candidates may have different issues.

What to do:

1. Filter to "Failed": See only failed assessments
2. Click each failed candidate: Read specific error
3. Fix issues individually: Each may need different fix
4. Re-request for fixed candidates: Select failed ones, bulk assess again

Common pattern: Some resumes are fine, others have format issues.

Bulk Assessment Stopped Halfway

Symptom: 50 candidates requested, only 25 completed

Likely causes:

1. System load balancing: Queuing remaining assessments
2. Concurrent limit: Max 50 simultaneous assessments
3. Credit limit reached: Ran out of assessment credits

What to do:

1. Check processing queue: See if others are queued
2. Wait 10 minutes: May still be processing
3. Check credits: Organization Settings → Billing → Credits remaining
4. Retry remaining: Select unassessed candidates, request again

Prevention Best Practices

Before requesting assessment:

1. ✅ Resume is uploaded and displays correctly
2. ✅ Candidate name and email filled in
3. ✅ Campaign requirements are defined
4. ✅ Resume is text-based PDF or Word doc
5. ✅ File size under 10MB
6. ✅ Internet connection stable

For bulk assessments:

1. ✅ Test with 1-2 candidates first
2. ✅ Verify resume format consistency
3. ✅ Don't exceed 100 candidates per batch
4. ✅ Monitor first few completions before walking away

Regular maintenance:

1. ✅ Keep campaign requirements updated
2. ✅ Review failed assessments weekly
3. ✅ Clean up incomplete candidate profiles
4. ✅ Archive completed campaigns

Getting Help

When to Contact Support

Contact support if:

• ❌ Assessment fails consistently (3+ times) for same candidate
• ❌ All assessments failing across multiple candidates
• ❌ Stuck in processing for over 30 minutes
• ❌ Scores contradict clear resume evidence
• ❌ Error messages that don't match these guides

What to Include

When reporting assessment issues:

1. Candidate ID or name
2. Campaign name
3. Error message (screenshot helpful)
4. Resume format (PDF, DOC, etc.)
5. When it occurred (time and timezone)
6. Steps you've already tried

Helpful but optional:

• Resume file (attach if comfortable)
• Screenshots of error
• Browser and OS version

Next Steps

• Upload error guide for file issues
• Common issues for general problems
• Getting support for contacting help

Quick Reference

Assessment not starting? → Check resume uploaded, campaign has requirements

Stuck over 5 minutes? → Refresh, cancel and retry

Failed extraction? → Try different file format or paste text

Scores seem wrong? → Read agent reports, verify resume parsed correctly

Still stuck? → Contact support with details above