# Add a competency assessment to the questionnaire

:::info
**Note:** Competency models are an optional feature that has to be enabled. Please contact your account manager to activate the module for your organization.

:::

## What is a competency assessment?

The competency assessment is a special question type in the questionnaire editor of a review (feedback). It enables structured competency ratings based on a competency model you've set up beforehand. Participants rate the reviewed person's competencies using the scale configured in the relevant revision.

**Prerequisites:**

* The competency model module must be enabled for your organization
* At least one competency model with a revision must be set up (→ [Create and configure a competency model](/en/c/competency-models/create-and-configure-competency-model))
* The reviewed people must be assigned to a job profile (→ [Job profiles & assignments](/en/c/competency-models/job-profiles-and-assignments))

## Add the question to the questionnaire

To add a competency assessment question to a questionnaire:

1. Open the feedback process and go to the **Questionnaire** editor.
2. At the end of a page, click the **+ Element** button.
3. In the dropdown menu, select the **Competency assessment** question type.

 ![Questionnaire editor with the element dropdown open, showing the "Competency assessment" question type](/attachments/kompetenz/kompetenzbeurteilung-im-fragebogen-einrichten/element-dropdown-kompetenz-bewertung.png)

The configuration form for the competency assessment question opens.

## Configure the question

The configuration form gives you the following settings:

 ![Configuration form of the competency assessment question with all settings](/attachments/kompetenz/kompetenzbeurteilung-im-fragebogen-einrichten/konfigurationsformular.png)

### Required question

Enable the **Required question** checkbox to mark the question as mandatory. Optionally, you can enter a custom hint text that appears when the question isn't answered in full.

### Select a competency model

In the **Competency model** dropdown, select the model the rating should be based on. All competency models in the system are listed.

### Displayed categories

After you select a competency model, the **Displayed categories** option appears. Here you set which of the model's categories are rated in this question. If you don't select any category, all categories are shown.

:::info
**Tip:** The categories you select here are filtered further by the reviewed person's job profile. For a category to appear during participation, it must be both enabled here and assigned in the reviewed person's job profile.

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### Title per category

In the **Title per category** field, you can set a template for the title shown above each category. Use dynamic placeholders for context-dependent text:

| Placeholder | Description |
|----|----|
| `{KATEGORIE}` | Name of the current category |
| `{KOMPETENZ}` | Name of the current competency |
| `{SKALA_MIN}` | Minimum scale value |
| `{SKALA_MAX}` | Maximum scale value |

### Hint per category

In the **Hint per category** field, you can set a template for a hint text shown below each category's title. The same placeholders as for the title are available.

### Notes per category

Enable the **Notes per category** checkbox to show a text field for qualitative notes per category. You can:

* Enter a custom title for the notes field
* Enable the **Required field** checkbox to make filling in the notes mandatory

### Display mode

In the **Display mode** dropdown, choose how the competencies are shown during participation:

* **Matrix (compact):** all competencies of a category are shown as a table, with competencies as rows and scale values as columns. This mode suits many competencies per category and enables fast input.
* **Single view (expanded):** each competency is shown individually with its full description and job-profile-specific information. This mode suits few competencies with long descriptions, since participants get more context for their rating.

### Free-text competencies

When free-text categories are enabled in the competency model (→ [Create and configure a competency model](/en/c/competency-models/create-and-configure-competency-model)), you can set how many of their own competencies participants may add per category:

* **Min. free-text competencies:** minimum number of own competencies that must be added (default: 0)
* **Max. free-text competencies:** maximum number of own competencies that may be added (default: 0)

:::info
**Note:** The free-text function is only active for categories where the "Free-text competencies" option is enabled in the revision configuration.

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## Link the revision to the edition

For the competency assessment question to appear during participation, a competency model revision must be linked to the edition.

1. Go to the **Settings** of the feedback process.
2. In the **Editions** area, find the **Competency model link** section.
3. A dropdown is shown here for each competency assessment question in the questionnaire.
4. Select the **revision** you want from the dropdown.

 ![Edition settings with the "Competency model link" section and the revision dropdown](/attachments/kompetenz/kompetenzbeurteilung-im-fragebogen-einrichten/edition-kompetenzmodell-verknuepfung.png)

:::warning
**Important:** Without this link, the competency assessment question can't be shown. Participants see a note instead that no revision has been linked.

:::

Because the link is set at the edition level, you can use different revisions in different editions — for example, when the rating scale changes from one edition to the next.

## Preview in the questionnaire editor

The competency assessment question can't be fully previewed in the questionnaire editor. Since the competencies shown depend on the reviewed person's job profile and the linked revision, the editor shows a note instead. You see the full display only in the questionnaire preview or during actual participation.

## Related articles

* [Create and configure a competency model](/en/c/competency-models/create-and-configure-competency-model) — define competencies, categories and free-text options
* [Manage revisions](/en/c/competency-models/manage-revisions) — set scales and category configurations
* Take part in a competency assessment — how participants experience the question
* [View individual results](/en/c/competency-models/view-individual-results) — results after the review