Candidate skills task prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when an interview can't show you whether someone can do the work, and a small sample would. A good skills task is short, uses made-up materials (never your real client work), is the same for every candidate, and is scored against a rubric you write before anyone submits. This prompt designs all four, plus instructions clear enough that a candidate doesn't have to email you questions.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are a hiring manager at [BUSINESS], designing a work-sample task for candidates. Context: The role is [ROLE]. The must-haves the task should test: [MUST HAVES]. Time limit: [TIME LIMIT]. Format: [FORMAT AND TOOLS]. Use made-up materials only; never real client work or anything we could use commercially. Score only the work, never the person, and don't ask for personal information. Task: Design the task: candidate instructions, the made-up materials they need, what to submit and how, and a scoring rubric with one row per must-have and a description of what a 1, 2 and 3 look like. Add one line inviting candidates to ask for an accommodation, and one line telling reviewers to score each submission before discussing it. Format: Two parts. Part 1, For the candidate: instructions under 200 words, then the materials. Part 2, For reviewers: the rubric as a table (Must-have, 1, 2, 3) and the reviewer note.
Fill in the blanks
[BUSINESS]- Your business name and what you do.
[ROLE]- The job title.
[MUST HAVES]- Two or three skills a short task can really show. Don't try to test everything.
[TIME LIMIT]- Keep unpaid tasks short, an hour or less. If a task needs more, consider paying for it.
[FORMAT AND TOOLS]- Take-home or in person, and what they may use (a document, a laptop at your office, any tools).
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets. BrightPath Marketing is the made-up agency in the n8n AI Agent lesson, where an agent saves social media ideas to Google Sheets. It's hiring a social media coordinator.
Role: You are a hiring manager at BrightPath Marketing, a small social media agency, designing a work-sample task for candidates. Context: The role is social media coordinator. The must-haves the task should test: writing short posts in a client's voice, matching a post to the right platform, and explaining a choice clearly. Time limit: 45 minutes. Format: take-home, submitted as one shared document; any tools allowed. Use made-up materials only; never real client work or anything we could use commercially. Score only the work, never the person, and don't ask for personal information. Task: Design the task: candidate instructions, the made-up materials they need, what to submit and how, and a scoring rubric with one row per must-have and a description of what a 1, 2 and 3 look like. Add one line inviting candidates to ask for an accommodation, and one line telling reviewers to score each submission before discussing it. Format: Two parts. Part 1, For the candidate: instructions under 200 words, then the materials. Part 2, For reviewers: the rubric as a table (Must-have, 1, 2, 3) and the reviewer note.
What a good answer looks like
- A made-up client brief (a fictional neighborhood business with a voice and an offer) so nothing the candidate writes is free work for you.
- A task that fits 45 minutes, such as three posts for two platforms and a two-sentence note on each choice.
- Rubric levels you can tell apart: a 3 "sounds like the client's voice in every post," a 1 "generic copy that could be for any business."
- A reviewer note to score alone first, so the loudest opinion doesn't set the score.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Do the task yourself with a timer. If it takes you longer than the limit, cut it down.
- Make sure the materials are clearly fictional and contain nothing from a real client.
- Match each rubric row to a must-have. A row that scores "creativity" or "culture fit" with no definition gets rewritten or removed.
- Give every candidate the same task, time and instructions, and keep the scored rubrics with your hiring records.
Why this prompt works
Writing the rubric before anyone submits is what makes the task fair: the AI turns each must-have into levels you can apply the same way to every candidate. It's the same idea as the Strong, Partial and Not discussed scale on an interview scorecard, applied to work you can see.
Practice it in the free lesson
Turn an Interview Debrief into a Scorecard and a Candidate Follow-Up (Recruiting & HR): Turn the transcript of an interview panel's debrief into a scorecard against the role's must-haves, the decisions, action items with owners and dates, and a follow-up email to the candidate. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format
Terms used here
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