> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.skillsdb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Assessment Population

> Choose who receives an assessment and understand the eligible-recipient count, organizational filters, and career exclusions.

<Info>
  Administrators can target an assessment to everyone eligible or to selected organizational groups. The Population step shows the eligible-recipient count and exclusions together.
</Info>

## Choosing your audience

The Population step controls who receives an assessment. You can select **All People** to include everyone eligible in your organization, or **Select Groups** to narrow the audience using your company's organizational structure.

The fields are grouped under **Organization**, **Location**, **Work Schedule**, and **People**. Only configured dimensions appear. Each field supports multiple selections and shows the selected names. The number of groups picked appears beneath the fields. This counts selections, not people: two selected departments can contain many recipients.

The recipient count below the filters reflects assessment eligibility. People need an assigned career skill under a career that enables both proficiency and assessments. Someone can match your organizational filters and still be excluded because they have no assessable skills. The same callout explains how many people have no assigned skills and how many are excluded by career settings.

Membership stays dynamic while an assessment is live. People who newly match the audience and eligibility requirements are added automatically. Changing the Population step while creating or editing an assessment uses the same organizational fields; existing selections appear when you edit.

With **Select Groups** active and nothing selected, the count previews everyone eligible. Select at least one group before continuing in this mode.

Switching to **All People** hides the group fields without erasing your draft selections. Switch back to **Select Groups** to continue refining those selections.

## Before you begin

* You need permission to create or edit company assessments.
* People and organizational groups must be configured in SkillsDB.
* Career settings must enable proficiency and assessments for the skills you want assessed.

## Set the population

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the Population step">
    Navigate to **Company > Assessments** and start a new assessment. Complete **Selection** and **Basic Info**, then select **Continue** to reach **Population**. When editing an assessment, open its Population step to review the saved audience.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose everyone or selected groups">
    Select **All People** for everyone eligible. For a targeted audience, select **Select Groups**, open a field, and check the groups to include. Available dimensions include Business Unit, Division, Department, Team, Country, Region, City, Site / Office, Shift, and People Type. Only your company's configured options appear.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review the count and exclusions">
    Review the eligible-recipient count immediately below the group fields. Wait for **Calculating recipients…** to finish after changing filters. If the count is unavailable, select **Retry count**; your selections remain. If no eligible recipients match, review the filters and career exclusions before proceeding.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Continue building">
    Once the audience is correct, select **Save & Continue**. Continue configuring the assessment in the Builder. Saving the population does not replace the remaining assessment configuration steps.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Common questions

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why are some people in my selected groups excluded?">
    The groups-picked number counts your selections. The recipient count counts eligible people. Review the exclusion explanation for people without assigned skills or with proficiency or assessments disabled in their career settings.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does a loading or failed count mean there are no recipients?">
    No. A pending count is still being calculated. A failed count is unavailable. Only a completed count can report that no eligible recipients match. Select **Retry count** if the request fails.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why do different audience pickers have different fields?">
    Each feature supports its own targeting dimensions. Assessments support People Type. Surveys and saved-page audiences do not offer People Type targeting. The available organizational options also depend on your company's configuration.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related articles

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Careers" icon="link" href="/core-concepts/careers">Understand the careers and skills used to determine assessment eligibility.</Card>
  <Card title="Manager Assessments" icon="link" href="/manager-guide/manager-assessments">Grade and review assessments for your team.</Card>
</CardGroup>

## Need help?

Contact your organization's SkillsDB administrator or [SkillsDB Support](https://www.skillsdb.com/support).