Pause lets the candidate stop the assessment and resume exactly where they left off, without losing assessment time. While the assessment is paused, the timer is frozen and monitoring is stopped.
The feature is in Beta and is off by default on every assessment.
How to set it up
Open the assessment in Edit, go to the Settings tab and find the Pause section.
Turn on Allow pausing the assessment?
Number of allowed pauses: how many times the candidate can pause. Accepts 1 to 10; turning the feature on suggests 2.
Total pause time: the time available for pausing, in minutes, hours or days. Turning the feature on suggests 30 minutes.
The total time is a single budget shared across all pauses. With 2 pauses and 30 minutes, the candidate can spend 25 minutes on the first pause and only 5 minutes are left for the second one.
What the candidate sees
With the feature on, a Pause button appears at the top of the assessment screen, showing which pause is about to be used (for example, Pause (1 of 2)). Before confirming, the candidate sees how much pause time is left.
After confirming, they land on the Assessment paused screen, with a countdown of the remaining time and a Resume now button. On resume, they go back to the exact question they were on.
While paused:
The assessment timer is frozen.
Screen recording and the webcam are turned off, and nothing is recorded.
The pause budget burns in real time, even with the tab or the browser closed.
On resume, the assessment deadline, the deadline of the section in progress and the deadline of the open question are all extended by the paused time.
When the pause budget runs out, the assessment resumes automatically and the timer starts again, even if the candidate is not on the screen.
If they try to pause with no pauses or no time left, they get the No pauses available or Pause time is over notice.
Track and act from the dashboard
On the assessment results and participants lists you get:
The Number of pauses column, showing how many pauses each person has used. When the feature is off, it shows Feature disabled.
The Number of pauses filter, to isolate who paused.
When you select people whose assessment is paused, two actions show up in the selection bar at the bottom of the list:
Resume (play icon): resumes the assessment on the candidate’s behalf.
Notify to return (bell icon): sends the reminder email with the remaining pause time. The same reminder is not resent within 1 hour for the same pause.
You can also adjust the limits for one person: select someone whose assessment is in progress, click Edit (pencil icon) and, in the Update invitation window, change Number of allowed pauses and Total pause time. The fields come filled in with the assessment values, and whatever you save there applies to that candidate only.
The email copy lives in the Email tab, under the Pause reminder template.
Frequently asked questions
Does the candidate lose assessment time by pausing?
No. The timer is frozen and given back on resume: the assessment, section and open question deadlines are all extended by the paused period.
What if they close the browser during the pause?
The pause budget keeps running in real time. If it runs out while they are away, the assessment resumes automatically and the timer starts again.
Can I change the limits after publishing the assessment?
Yes. The limits are read at the moment the candidate pauses, so the change applies to the next pauses. Pauses already used still count.
Does pausing interfere with the integrity system?
No. Nothing is recorded during the pause, but every pause is logged on the attempt with its date, duration and whether it was taken by the candidate, by you or automatically.
Who can pause or resume from the dashboard?
Whoever manages the assessments of the workspace, within their own workspace.