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Focus Time

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Focus time is an Interview platform feature that gives candidates 5 minutes of quiet, unobserved time to collect their thoughts, and start working on a solution, before the interview starts. 

Start Focus Time

Both the interviewer and the candidate can start Focus Time. In the pad, click the Focus button in the left tabs menu.

The focus time button is highlighted in the left tab menu.

A pop-up opens explaining the benefits of Focus Time. The interviewer sees this pop up:

start focus time. How can you assess a candidate's coding skillset when they're under artificial stress? Giving a qualified candidate a few minutes to collect their thoughts can drastically improve their ability to pass technical assessments.

The candidate sees this one:

"start focus time. you're stressed, we get it. you're more likely to perform better if you take a few minutes to collect your thoughts. focus time "pauses" your interview for 5 minutes so you can think through the problem on your own, without the interviewer watching. we'll ring a bell when 10 seconds are left, and again when time is up."

To start Focus Time, click Begin Focus Time.

The interviewer’s screen blurs out and they have no audio or video while Focus Time is in progress:

A pad with the "focus time in-progress" window open. The remaining time is shown. The pad itself is blurred in the background.

The candidate has access to the pad and can begin working on a solution:

A pad is shown with the focus time timer shown at the top of the pad.

Both the interviewer and candidate see the Focus Time clock counting down.

The interviewer and candidate are alerted with a pleasant sound when Focus Time reaches 0:00 minutes. At that time, Focus Time ends, the pad unblurs, audio and video return, and the interview begins.

End Focus Time early

❗We highly caution against an interviewer ending Focus Time early, as this leads to a poor candidate experience.

Interviewers can click the End Early button to end Focus Time before the 5 minutes is up.

"focus time in progress. while your candidate is taking 5 minutes to wrap their head around the coding assessment you gave them, you can learn more about why focus time is a good idea, take a break, or (quickly) go get something else done. Turn your sound up to hear a notification sound when focus time is done."

Candidates can end Focus Time early clicking on the timer drop-down and clicking on End Early.

The image shows a section of a coding interview platform where "Focus Time" is active. Here’s a detailed description: - **Focus Time Countdown:** At the top, there is a countdown timer labeled "Focus Time," which currently shows 2 minutes and 37 seconds remaining. This feature provides candidates with 5 minutes of uninterrupted time to think or plan their approach to a coding problem. - **Explanation:** A message explains the purpose of Focus Time, stating that "Focus Time (5 minutes of alone time to think) has been shown to drastically improve a candidates’ ability to pass technical assessments." It reassures the candidate that the interviewer cannot see what they are doing during this time. - **Encouragement:** The message encourages the candidate to use this time to plan, brainstorm, or take a deep breath before diving back into the task. - **Sound:** There’s a mention of a sound, "Intro 01" by rhodesmas / CC-BY, which might be playing in the background during Focus Time. - **End Early Button:** At the bottom of the dialog, there’s a prominent green button labeled "End Early," allowing the candidate to end Focus Time before the 5 minutes are up if they are ready to continue with the interview. This feature is designed to help candidates perform better by giving them a brief period to gather their thoughts without the pressure of being observed.

After the interview

Interviewers can review the candidate’s progress during Focus Time in Playback Mode.

Find out more in our Focus Time article.

Disable/enable Focus Time

To turn Focus Time on or off, simply navigate to the Organization settings page and scroll to the Manage Pad section of the screen. You’ll see this toggle under the Focus Time section, which you can use to enable or disable the setting:

Section header says "focus time". There is a toggle with text next to it that says "enable focus time for your organization". below that is text that says "focus time allows your candidates to perform better during interviews".