Self-Scheduling for Interviews – Here’s why it’s more efficient

When you manage the company’s HR and recruitment function, have you ever wanted to make the process more streamlined and efficient? Of course, you have. No one wants to go through the process of filtering resumés and then having to play the interview scheduling dance with perhaps more than a dozen candidates. You already know there are programmes for helping to filter resumés, but what about the rest of it? Self-scheduling for interviews and group sessions has shown massive potential for making interviewing more efficient.

The Recruitment Market has Changed

You might have noticed that the recruitment market has changed significantly over the past few years. More companies have embraced remote interviewing, and, since the “great resignation” began, the ball is more consistently in the court of the potential employee. Authoritarian approaches to hiring are tolerated less. Moreover, giving candidates some control and flexibility in their interview process is a green flag of a respectful employer.

Using self-scheduling for interviews and group assessments allows candidates to arrange their time and respect existing commitments. Something that potential employers and hiring teams have long ignored is that people have lives and obligations. Completely ignoring that shirking existing responsibilities to come to an interview means they will repeat it when they leave you.

Respect is demanded as part of the recruitment process. And in return, employers will also receive consideration.

It’s a winning strategy for both employers and candidates.

Inviting Candidates to Self-Schedule Their Interview

No, you aren’t going to completely rearrange everyone’s schedule to provide interview time whenever anyone wants them. That really isn’t efficient. However, allocating blocks of time for interviews at different times of day, over a few days, allows interviewers to reflect on the people they have seen and give candidates options that fit their schedules.

Letting candidates choose their interview day and time will make them feel more confident and well prepared. It’s all about mutual benefits. As it says in all the interview guidance these days, an interview is a two-way street. It’s not just about finding the right candidate, but whether the role is right for the person.

You don’t have to be rude about asking your candidate to book their own interview time. There are many ways to phrase your invitation politely.

The best part about inviting candidates to schedule their own interview times is that you don’t have to. There’s no dealing with emails and phone calls requesting a different time. Not even dealing with rescheduling because you can let them do it for themselves – within reason.

Panel Interviews

Sometimes when people come for an interview, it’s with one person. However, more frequently, there are multiple people, not least of which is the HR rep, who makes sure the other interviewer(s) stay “legal” in their lines of questioning.

Already, you have two people’s calendars that have to align for a candidate to make an appointment. When you have more people involved, such as when C-suite managers all need a say in a new hire, it’s even more challenging to manage interview times manually.

In these cases, having a system with which you can automatically arrange interview times by interviewer availability is crucial and far more efficient.

So why is Self-scheduling for Interviews More Efficient?

You save so much time when you have a system that allows your candidates to schedule their own appointment. Let’s break it down into a list of tasks no longer required.

• You don’t have to manage assigning interview times for every candidate.
• Nor do you need to manage rescheduling.
• You prearrange available times for interviews.
• The system automatically checks multiple calendars for attendee/interviewer availability.
• Candidates cannot book times when the right people aren’t available.
• You show respect and appreciation for candidates.
• You don’t have to sit around waiting for no-shows
  • They can cancel or reschedule without prejudice.
  • You can send automated reminders.
  • They can add the interview appointment to their calendars

Think about how much time you could save and spend doing more important tasks. It’s a lot.

Self-scheduling for Interviews with SimplyMeet.me

Among many other valuable properties, SimplyMeet.me is ideal for use as an interview self-scheduling tool for busy HR and recruitment agents. You can keep the meetings secret so no one other than invited candidates can make an interview appointment – you simply send them the booking link.

Even if you are hiring for multiple roles, you can name each one specifically, so you know who needs to be in the interview and assign their work calendars for availability checks. You may want longer times for more involved positions and interviews, while you may only need shorter ones for entry-level roles.

In addition, SimplyMeet.me can streamline even more HR tasks, such as annual reviews, disciplinary meetings, and intraoffice meetings with hiring staff.

Each individual account can check up to 8 different calendars for availability and ensure everyone and everything is there for an interview – including the meeting room that you need. However, In a large organisation with busy departments and HR teams, you can create an organisation for inter-team cooperation.