Skip to main content
Use email invitations when you already have candidates’ email IDs and want to control exactly who attempts. Use a shared public link when you are posting the assessment somewhere open, like a job description, and do not know the email IDs in advance.
After you create an assessment or AI interview, Equip gives you two ways to put it in front of candidates:
  1. Email invitations: You add candidates’ email IDs on Equip, and Equip emails them on your behalf. Each candidate receives a unique link that works only once.
  2. Shared public link: A common URL that looks like equip.co/assessments/abcdefg. You can paste it anywhere: a job description, a sourcing site, WhatsApp, or your careers page.
The difference only affects how candidates arrive and when credits are deducted. Once a candidate authenticates and the assessment begins, both modes behave identically.
A shared link is open by design. Every candidate uses the same URL, and anyone who has it can attempt the assessment.
1

Candidate opens the link

The candidate clicks the shared URL from wherever you posted it.
2

Candidate enters their email ID

Equip asks for an email ID and sends a one-time verification code to that address.
3

Candidate verifies and starts

After entering the code, the candidate is authenticated and the assessment begins.
With a shared link, credits are deducted only when a candidate starts the first test, not when you share the URL. Sharing the link itself costs nothing.
You cannot restrict who attempts through a shared link, and you cannot cap how many people attempt. If you need control over the candidate list, use email invitations instead.
Each candidate is identified by their email ID, so the same person cannot attempt the assessment twice through the shared link. See Candidate Re-Attempts if you need to allow a retake. With email invitations, you provide the email IDs and Equip sends each candidate an invitation containing a unique, single-use link.
1

Invite candidates

Open the assessment on your dashboard and click Invite. Type or paste email addresses, or upload a CSV, then send. You can invite up to 100 recipients per send.
2

Candidate clicks their unique link

Equip sends a one-time verification code to the invited email ID. The code always goes to the address you invited, so a forwarded link is useless to anyone else.
3

Candidate verifies and starts

After entering the code, the candidate is authenticated and the assessment begins.
Because each link is tied to an email ID, you get invitation tracking: the Track Invitations tab shows whether each email was Sent, Delivered, Opened, Clicked, or Bounced. See Email Status for what each status means.
Email invitations deduct 1 credit per candidate, charged at the moment you send the invitation. If a candidate never starts, you can reclaim that credit after 24 hours. See Reclaim Credits.
You can also set a Link Expiry (days) value between 1 and 365 when sending. By default, invitation links never expire.

​
Which Should You Use

You can use both modes for the same assessment. For example, post the shared link in your job description for inbound applicants, and send email invitations to shortlisted candidates you sourced directly.