Remember These Elements When You're Scheduling Job Interviews!

Many recruiters spend a lot of time just scheduling interviews. If recruiters have too many interviews every day, this job will undoubtedly consume a lot of their time and energy.

Therefore, it is vital to find the best way to optimise the interview scheduling process to improve recruiters’ productivity. Let’s delve in to learn the best tips to schedule interviews more efficiently.

 

Challenges for Recruiters when Scheduling Job Interviews

1. Back-and-forth emails and calls

You need constant communication to ensure both interviewers and interviewees are available. For instance, you will have to ask when the interviewers are available, then you need to email or call the candidates which of those time slots is acceptable for them.

This process seems to be easy but can be quite a time consuming and prone to errors. Besides, it can be more complicated if a hiring team member or candidate wants to change or cancel their schedule; the scheduling process will need to re-start from the beginning.

 

2. Logistics planning for interviews

To prepare for a face-to-face interview, recruiters have to be careful when choosing the suitable interviewing space with the right number of chairs and equipment, as well as clear instructions on travelling to the interview site.

The recent pandemic has changed the landscape. Now, video interviews have become a staple. If recruiters choose video interviews instead, they need to make sure every technical equipment works as intended such as a stable internet connection, a professional interview background, working microphone, and working speaker.

 

3. Send reminders and confirmations before the interview

Sending reminders or confirmations for both parties about the interview is a crucial step to improve candidate experience and guarantee the interview takes place as planned.

Yet, according to IBM research, 20% of all job applicants are fuzzy about the recruiting process. Therefore, recruiters should find ways to communicate with candidates effectively by using technology.

Most people underestimate the scheduling part of the interview process.

Five Ways to Optimise Your Interview Scheduling Process

1. Contact your hiring team and ask when they're available

The best way to make sure every interview under control is to contact your hiring teams early on and ask them for their available time slots. 

 

2. Let the candidates schedule their interview based on available time slots

It is a common practice that recruiters will schedule the time and location for candidates to come. But, what if we let the candidates choose the proper time for their interviews based on the available time slots of the interviewers?

It is a great way to show respect towards interviewees and improve the candidate experience.

 

3. Allocate enough time for every Interview

Depending on the different kinds of interview formats and steps in the recruitment process, you should indicate a specific length for every interview to control time efficiently.

• A phone interview is the first round in the recruiting process to screen candidates’ resumes and their backgrounds, so the best length for each phone interview should be around 15-30 minutes.

• The in-person interview is a traditional interview format for businesses. It usually takes 3-5 minutes for each question for this type of interview. As a result, a face-to-face interview at the big companies such as Google and Facebook often lasts from 30-60 minutes with the average questions from 6 to 10.

• Group interviews could be seen as one of the most effective ways for employers to see how their potential candidates communicate with each other. Based on the number of candidates for each group, this type of interview normally lasts from 45 to more than 60 minutes. Leaving some free time between the interviews is required to keep the interview team’s spirit up. Recruiters should spend at least 10 to 15-minute breaks.

Scheduling interviews is harder than it seems.

Build a Structured Set of Interview Questions

A set of relevant and robust interview questions is crucial for your organisation to identify the candidates’ potential. These questions can be specific questions about candidates or general situational questions to learn more about their personalities and skills. Based on the job requirements, you should customise the questions and make a list to ask the candidates carefully.

Here are some recommendations besides basic interview questions:

 

1. Attention to details

• What tools do you use to keep track of your schedules, workflows, and tasks?

• If your employer gives you a very close deadline for a task, would you formulate a plan or carry it out immediately?

 

2. Behavioural questions

• What does success mean to you? What is your plan to achieve it?

• What roles do you usually take in a group meeting? What are the advantages and disadvantages of it?

 

3. Critical thinking

• Let's say you discovered a solution that saves the company a lot of time and money,  and you presented it to your boss, but he does not understand it. What will you do?

• Have you ever made any tough decisions in a short amount of time? What did you do and how did it turn out?

 

4. Integrity

• Have you made any errors in your previous job? What happened, and what did you learn from it?

• In your previous job, if you didn’t think you could finish the assignment your boss gave, what did you do?

 

Scheduling a job interview can be complex, but it is also crucial to show your company’s professional business culture towards your candidates. We hope this guide to schedule a job interview gives you the essential tips and ideas to achieve more reliable results with your interview scheduling tasks.

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Source: Rakuna

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