So you have run your recruitment advertising campaign and have had some success. And, now you’ve shortlisted your top candidates that you wish to interview. So, how do you now approach arranging all your candidates to come in and meet your hiring managers by the deadline set by your boss?
This is where the interview scheduler comes in.
Recruitment software is used by many HR professionals and In-House Recruiters to aid them with managing their organisation’s applicant management process. And, for those that have it included, the interview scheduler tool within their recruitment software platform is a welcome addition all round.
Interview Scheduler functionality – what is it?
Interview schedulers allow you to sort, select and invite candidates to attend an interview. You can also allow multiple people within your team to get involved and easily book in potential applicants using the flexible slot management tool. In its most basic form, this can help you to speed up your time to hire by reducing admin-heavy tasks.
In the second of Webrecruit’s Recruitment Software Surgery Series we look at the capabilities of the interview scheduler tool and share our insider’s knowledge of the benefits it can offer HR departments and hiring managers.
Interview scheduling in 3 easy steps
Accessible across the company
With multi-user access, you and your HR team can take charge of the first stage of the interviewing process and get the groundwork set up. Using the requirements provided by the hiring manager for the role, you can whittle down the applicants to a shortlist, which, once compiled, can be shared (via an automatic email within the software) with the hiring manager for that role.
The role’s hiring manager can then log-in and take ownership, selecting the candidates they want to see.
Additionally, hiring panels can be set up; allowing multiple people within the business to be invited to select the candidates for interview.
Keep it easy with time slots
Within many interview schedulers you can build out a diary of time slots for interviewing your candidates. It should allow you to choose the amount of slots you require, and determine how long you wish to set aside for each interview.
Once this time slot diary is built out, you can then include access to this when you email your candidates inviting them to attend an interview.
Applicant tracking systems, such as Fusion from Webrecruit, have built-in functionality that allows you to create an interview scheduler per job. Here, you would simply select the candidates you wish to shortlist to invite update their status to ‘invite to interview’. Then, when you access your interview scheduler tool, this list of selected candidates will pull through; allowing you to begin the process of arranging your interviews.
Your candidate will then receive this email informing them they have been invited to meet with your hiring manager for the role and can login and choose a slot convenient for them (or if you have chosen to manually assign a specific slot per candidate they can chose to accept or decline).
Confirm it automatically all round
Confirmation of the interviews can be added to additional calendars. Fusion, for example, can integrate with interviewer calendars, such as Outlook, and automatically populate them. Interview details can also be recorded in a user’s calendar, enabling the hiring manager to connect it with their calendars allowing them to manage their time efficiently.
Confirmation is also automatically provided to the candidate once they have chosen their time slot.
Additionally, the scheduler information can also be exported to Excel and emailed to reception, security or any other required contact to inform them of the day’s attendees.
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The automatic functionality and triggered status updates provided by an interview scheduler tool, will speed up and simplify an otherwise potentially admin-heavy and time-consuming task.
