Finding the right candidates for your organization is really important right now. It’s all about how job seekers feel during the hiring process. If they feel listened to, respected, and like a priority, they’re more likely to stick around.
When more than 40% of applicants say no to job offers because they had a bad interview experience, it’s serious. First impressions really count in hiring, and setting up interview schedules is one of those tricky areas where it’s easy to mess up.
In this article, we will share the best ways to set up candidate interviews that will walk you through everything, helping you handle all the different parts of setting up interviews smoothly. It’ll make sure you can impress candidates without any problems.
What are the primary steps in the interview procedure?
Losing potential interviewees often occurs because of mix-ups in scheduling or not communicating well. The more interview rounds you have, the higher the risk of losing a candidate, so it’s important to organize each interview step properly to avoid this and save on hiring expenses.
Breaking down interview scheduling into three main parts: before the interview, during the interview, and after the interview.
Pre-interview planning
Taking proactive steps sets the stage for successful interview coordination. The pre-interview preparation phase is when you can make things smoother in the hiring process and start picking candidates.
1. Establish an interview process framework
Planning your interview process is a smart move to ensure you’re fully prepared.
Before diving into interviews, take a look at the job description, decide how you’ll conduct the interviews, prepare your questions, establish evaluation criteria, and sort out the logistics. This is also the stage where you gather candidate information and identify key performance indicators to assess your hiring process later.
Since hiring can take quite a while, up to 44 days or more, investing time upfront to plan and document your recruitment process from start to finish is crucial. It helps avoid unnecessary steps and brings you closer to finding the right candidate for the job. Plus, having all the details ready improves communication, reduces no-shows, and ensures everyone’s expectations are clear.
2. Communicate with interviewers
Now that you know what needs to be done, it’s time to take action.
After you’ve figured out who will be conducting the interviews internally, check with them about their availability. If someone is going on vacation, is there someone else who can take over for them? If not, finding out who will be away and when can help you plan around their schedule before involving candidates.
Before the interviews start, ensure that all members of the hiring team are informed about the process, including the questions, criteria they’re looking for, and who they’ll be talking to. Standardizing the interview process isn’t just helpful for the candidates . It also makes evaluation easier for the interviewers, giving them what they need to make informed decisions more effectively.
3. Conduct group interviews or opt for asynchronous methods
Scheduling one-on-one interviews manually is simple; you just need to check the interviewer’s calendar and pick a time when they’re free. But when you have multiple interviewers, it’s better to pick specific days when everyone is available for upcoming interviews. This way, you can schedule time slots for candidates without worrying about whether interviewers are free.
If you’re conducting in-person interviews, group interviews are great because you can assess people’s skills and interview multiple candidates together. On the other hand, if you’re doing virtual interviews, you might prefer video interviews, where candidates record their answers to questions in videos and send them to the recruiting team to review later.
Offering a remarkable candidate interaction
As we’ve mentioned before: when candidates have good experiences, it boosts your reputation as an employer, keeps your employees engaged, and attracts the top talent to join your team.
1. Engage with candidates
During the interview phase, both candidates and the organization learn about each other, so how you talk is key to making a good first impression. Giving quick, clear, and detailed answers to candidate questions shows them that you’re the right fit for them. Using an interview schedule template helps you manage your time slots and calendar, while an email template ensures you share all the necessary details.
Nobody likes to be left waiting, even if it’s just for an acknowledgment of their application or a rejection email. Always close the loop with a quick thank-you to applicants for applying. Being prompt and responsive in keeping candidates updated can make a big difference in creating a positive candidate experience, which can change the minds of almost 9 out of 10 candidates who may have had doubts about your organization before.
2. Value candidates’ time
Last-minute changes can be frustrating, but they’re sometimes unavoidable. If you think you’ll need to reschedule often, give candidates a heads-up in advance so they’re ready for it. Being aware of the time they spent applying for the job is the best way to show top candidates you value them.
Prioritizing honesty, clear communication, and flexibility in your interactions and setting expectations will make it easier for candidates to understand when unexpected changes happen. The key is to make candidates feel like you’re thinking about them, listening to them, and treating them well throughout the hiring process.
Commentaries and perpetual progress
The most effective approach to finding a suitable interview scheduling strategy is to start by putting it into action, then assess and refine it as needed.
1. Seek input from candidates and interviewers
Throughout the interview process, maintain open channels of communication with both candidates and the hiring team. It’s important to be aware of any issues that arise, and they may have valuable insights into what could be improved.
Once an interview is finished, gather feedback from candidates to see if they had a good experience and if they have any suggestions for improvement. Similarly, touch base with interviewers to see if they had sufficient time to assess candidates, if the interview process ran smoothly, and if the questions and format were effective.
2. Plan with key performance indicators (KPIs) and measurements
Another method to evaluate the effectiveness of your interview scheduling process is by utilizing analytics. While not all metrics directly pertain to interview scheduling, many of these data points are connected to your company’s candidate engagement, candidate experience, and employer reputation.
Here are some essential metrics to begin with:
- Time taken to fill a position
- Expenses per new hire
- Assessment of new hire quality
- Duration to convert applicants into hires
- Ratio of active to passive candidates
- Duration to fill a vacancy
- Rate of applicants converting to hires
- Response rate from candidates
- Primary channels for hiring
- Common reasons for rejecting job offers
- Volume of applications received per role
- Number of candidates redirected to other positions
- Candidates redirected successfully through the interview process
- Feedback and survey responses from candidates
- Engagement metrics on online platforms such as likes, comments, shares, and mentions
- Interaction metrics like click-through rates and email open rates
When should interviews be scheduled?
If you schedule interviews too early, candidates might feel rushed to prepare, while if you schedule them too late, candidates might think you’re not very interested in hiring them.
The ideal timing is approximately a week in advance. This gives everyone enough time to get ready for the next stage, and it also provides flexibility in case unexpected events occur. Having this buffer between interview rounds allows you to make alternate plans if the originally scheduled time doesn’t work out.
Which tools are most effective for scheduling interviews?
Using tools like Google Calendar or self-service scheduling apps makes it easy for candidates to pick the best time for interviews. These tools also handle time zone differences, which is great if you’re hiring worldwide.
And then there’s the applicant tracking system (ATS). It helps you organize all your candidates in one place. Plus, it can automate tasks like sending emails and moving candidates forward in the hiring process based on their actions. So, it’s like having a helpful assistant managing all the recruitment stuff for you.
How to effortlessly arrange interviews using Jouku?
Jouku is an end-to-end hiring software designed to make finding, engaging and hiring the right people simpler.
Schedule a demo today and talk to our business experts to learn more.
Also read: What Is a Self Schedule Interview?
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