While each step is crucial to the recruitment process, redundant work like manual correspondence or matching interviewer and candidate availability adds burdensome amounts of time to a recruiter’s daily schedule. The hours spent coordinating interviews could be spent engaging candidates and hiring managers, leading to missed opportunities. Tools that simplify the recruitment process, like interview scheduling software, save time and keep recruiters focused on the most important task: connecting candidates to the right positions.
Interview scheduling software solves the frustrating and consuming pain point of coordinating meeting times. Candidates can use interview scheduling software to choose an interview time that fits best into their schedules. And, if a candidate needs to reschedule an appointment, interviewers will receive automated communications that keep them informed whenever an appointment time is changed.
As a recruiter, here’s why automated interview scheduling software makes your life easier:
Interview scheduling software saves time
Let’s say you’re dealing with an urgent position that needed to be filled yesterday. You’ve already engaged with your ATS to find qualified applicants for the role and you’re ready to move to the interviewing stage. What’s next?
If your organization hasn’t adopted interview scheduling software, the next several days will be filled with email chains, calendar invites and phone calls as you try to find the best times to speak with each candidate. Once your team has settled on a few times that work, you reach out to interested candidates to offer them a time to meet, only to find out they’re unavailable on those specific days. (They have lives, after all!) The candidate suggests some alternative times to meet, and the dance begins again as you try to confirm your team is available.
Automated interview scheduling eliminates this bottleneck from your recruitment operations. Drawing from the availability of your team members, interview scheduling software syncs with services like Gmail and Outlook to offer a unified view into open time slots. A clear, visual representation of when your team is available (or not available) can help determine any and all times for your candidate’s interview. These options can then offered directly to the candidate via email, providing a simple way to confirm an interview time that works best. Once confirmed, all parties remain connected as the interview approaches, complete with email reminders and notifications before the event takes place.
For some positions, candidates may need to meet with multiple members of an organization over the course of the day. Interview scheduling software features like interview panels can also coordinate the schedules all participating parties, allowing everyone to RSVP and stay prepared with interview guides and candidate information.
Automated interview scheduling reduces confusion
Consider the case of a highly-specified role that requires interviewing candidates from all across the country. These hard-to-fill positions often require the input of several team members to assess the candidate’s level of skill. With the proliferation of remote teams and work-from-home capabilities, it’s even possible that some of these colleagues also need to be reached outside of the office.
One common oversight when scheduling times to meet with out-of-town candidates or remote team members is the time zone. It’s not uncommon: for a job in Columbus, GA, located in Eastern Time, a great deal of the candidate pool could be pulled from Phenix City, AL, a city in the same metro area but adhering to Central Time. Without automated interview scheduling software, recruiters can set meeting times without considering the time zones of all involved parties, causing headaches, frustration and missed meetings.
Candidate scheduling software takes into account all time zones and makes the process crystal clear. Recruiters, team members and candidates will be able to see where and when an interview takes place — and in what time zone. Whether you’re a candidate flying in or an interviewer dialing in, clarity in exactly when a meeting is taking place can help keep the team on schedule and offer a smooth candidate experience.
Interview scheduling software provides a better candidate experience
Put yourself in the shoes of a candidate ready to come in for an interview. You’re excited to get the chance to meet with a new company, but you’re also juggling the day-to-day responsibilities of your life: a family, special events and occasions or even a job that limits your amount of free time. Even with your best intentions, there just might not be enough time in the day to squeeze in a meeting that works best for your busy life.
Companies that choose not to employ interview self-scheduling software potentially miss out on candidates with tight availability. Exchanging emails and phone calls over days and weeks to find the right meeting time prolongs the process, offering a candidate experience that’s less than ideal. Worse, a slow candidate experience that adds days to the hiring process can also mean losing a candidate to another offer.
Through self-scheduling interview software, candidates will be able to get a look ahead at possible meeting times and set a schedule that works for them. A bird’s eye view of available times can help candidates find times or make alternate arrangements in order to make the interview take place. Self-scheduling allows candidates to take control of this part of the candidate experience, taking comfort in a company that respects a candidate’s free time and prior commitments.
