I’m free. But, are you free? Is everybody on the interview panel free? Are your shortlisted candidates free?
Getting interviews arranged can be a frustrating and thankless task for recruiters. All the going backward and forwards between panel members and candidates to align availability and get times scheduled in diaries. Only for a curveball to throw the whole thing out of kilter and send you back to ground zero.
It’s no wonder recruitment professionals are turning more and more to self-service – especially with Office365 calendar integration with their Applicant Tracking System. It’s a recruiter’s secret weapon for combatting all this wasted admin time, the time you can’t afford to lose in a challenging market where you’re trying to keep candidates sticky and reduce times to hire.
Why is Self-service Interview Scheduling underpinned by Office365 Calendar Integration such a powerful tool in an Applicant Tracking System?
- Saves Time – Admin is minimised, in fact, it’s practically eradicated in the interview and assessment scheduling arena. First, up is establishing panel availability and agreeing on time slots. Once you’ve sorted yourselves out internally, published slots in your events calendar on your Applicant Tracking System (ATS), all you need to do is leave it to your candidates to pick their time slot. Voila! When a candidate confirms or reschedules, it’s automatically gets synched in everybody’s diaries it needs to be.
- Improves Employer Branding – It’s slick to offer candidates Self-service interview scheduling. No more phoning and emailing to agree on a date and time. No more double bookings to sort out, (or worse if you don’t spot them). No more candidates turning up for interviews unexpectedly due to an admin error. It’s a great big tick in your employer branding box for demonstrating you’re adopting progressive practices. (and if you’re super slick, you could send an SMS an hour before reminding the candidate that their interview is an hour away).
- Issues Automated Reminders – Automated reminders are a great way to keep candidates communicated with and in the loop during the application process. So, you’re less likely to be ghosted at interviews when you’re in contact with your candidates, providing them with reminders and details about their interviews or assessment day. If you’re super slick, you could send an SMS an hour before reminding the candidate that their interview is an hour away and one after to thank them for their interest/time. All branded, of course!
- Offers Flexibility – Self-service scheduling puts paid to panels having to block entire days out of the busy schedules for interviews. Instead, you can create a more flexible selection of interview times slots within a specified time frame, reducing business disruption. And don’t forget that flexibility is just as important to candidates. There’s nothing more uncomfortable than ducking out of work under false pretenses to attend an interview elsewhere. Flexible self-service scheduling helps alleviate this issue.
- Keeps Everything Together in One Place – Office365 can be integrated into a quality Applicant Tracking System like Recruit by HireRoad. So, it becomes more than a standalone self-service scheduling tool, (which is still a vast improvement on manual scheduling!). By aligning your calendar with the rest of your recruitment process you’re pulling everything together in one single place. It helps streamline your entire process when you’re not doing different things in different systems.
At HireRoad, our premium Applicant Tracking System integrates with your Office365 calendars. So, you can spend less time chasing your internal stakeholders, your candidates, and your tails. And more time attracting and appointing the best talent on the market quickly and more effectively.
Ready to take a look at how it can revolutionise your recruitment process? Why not book yourself a demo?
Or why not call us on 01509 236 434 for an initial informal chat with one of our product experts about your current challenges and goals for the future.