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The interview phase of recruitment is often the most frustrating. And no, it’s not conducting the interview that is the problem. It’s scheduling an interview.
The primary problem is availability. Recruiters often struggle to find a time that works both for them and the candidate. Everyone has their own schedule, and busy candidates may find it hard to make an interview in the typical 9 AM to 5 PM window.
Now, compound this problem with further complications such as last-minute changes and unresponsive candidates. Not only are recruiters and candidates struggling to find times to meet, but they’re also struggling with the unpredictability of daily life. Last-minute changes force rescheduling, which is additional time spent scheduling a single interview. Unresponsive candidates are perhaps even worse. When a candidate drops out of the interview process without notice, recruiters waste time on both scheduling and a now empty time slot.
So, it’s no wonder, according to Yello, the average recruiter spends between 30 minutes and 2 hours to schedule a single interview. And that’s not time recruiters have. Many teams, especially those tackling high-volume hiring, are faced with hundreds of candidates. That means recruiters are easily spending hundreds of hours on scheduling alone.
As such, overcoming the challenges of scheduling an interview has become a top priority for teams looking to improve their recruitment metrics. Thankfully, it’s only a matter of leveraging the right technology: virtual phone interviews.
With on-demand interviews, recruiters are able to circumvent scheduling screening interviews entirely. Rather than scheduling with individual candidates, teams are now able to interview 24/7 with a few clicks of a button. This both solves the challenge of scheduling as well as makes the interview process accessible to any candidate’s schedule.
As we’ve well established, scheduling interviews is a time-consuming process. It would be outright untenable if a recruiter were to schedule every interview with a live meeting. That’s why scheduling interview emails is the standard approach. And that is only natural, email is an easy and asynchronous way to coordinate.
However, these emails need to clearly communicate with the candidate without overwhelming them with information that may put them off. Striking that balance is essential. The interview message to the candidate requires careful design. And to illustrate the complexity, let’s take a look at what typically goes into scheduling interviews via email.
First, the recruiter needs to craft a car and a concise subject line. Candidates have likely applied to several other positions before and after applying with you. So, the email needs to be clear about why you’re emailing and what for while grabbing the candidate’s attention. Otherwise, they’ll likely ghost you.
Then there’s a matter of the opener. You need to make the candidate feel they were considered individually whether they were or not. The modern job market is remarkably candidate-centric.
A personalized greeting that addresses the candidate by their name is ideal.
From there, the exact format deviates greatly but includes interview details, confirmation requests, additional contact information, and what have you. All-in-all, it’s quite a task.
Again, automated phone interviews simplify this process. There’s no need for an email back and forth or the endless drafting of emails. Tools like Qualifi’s on-demand interview software let recruiters skip the emails altogether. Rather, they can focus on doing what they do best, reviewing applications and screening your most promising candidates. What’s more, the virtual interview saves so much time from scheduling, recruiting teams substantially speed up their time-to-hire.
Interview scheduling is a hard and arduous process. Even more so when recruitment teams handle each candidate individually. Thankfully, this problem has a very modern solution. Interview scheduling software helps recruiters stay up-to-date with the constantly changing technology and recruitment demands of the modern job market.
Unfortunately, choosing the right interview scheduling software can be a challenge. Like any other software, there are numerous options for scheduling software. There is no size-fit-all option. As such, recruiters must take particular consideration of their organizations' exact needs, and how the software they choose can help meet these needs.
Every company is different and inherently has different recruitment processes. Nonetheless, finding the right interview scheduling software is essential to streamlining the hiring process and creating an effective interview process – one that skips the scheduling and gets straight to the good part.
Without this software, recruiters are trapped in an endless loop of scheduling and rescheduling while they should be screening.
Leveraging software allows recruiters to automate the scheduling and seamlessly manage candidate availability without cumbersome spreadsheets or calendars. Rather, interview scheduling software facilitates real-time scheduling. What’s more, they often offer important features such as calendar integrations, automated reminders, and customization options to cater to the unique needs of a recruiter’s organization.
What’s more, scheduling software enhances team collaboration. Tools like Qualifi allow multiple stakeholders across the organization and the recruitment team itself to collaborate on recruitment. This reduces miscommunication and conflicts for a better, more streamlined hiring experience. Additionally, by eliminating scheduling with Qualifi, recruiters are able to improve recruitment ROI and decrease the number of no-shows by 43% while also offering a better candidate experience.
To stay competitive in the recruiting industry, you have to keep up with the times. Automated interview scheduling has completely changed the game. It eliminates some of the most grueling work in the hiring process that strains candidates and recruiters alike. Rather, automating your interview scheduling creates a scheduling system that establishes clear expectations for both parties on their own time.
What’s more, this software replaces the complexity of interview scheduling and replaces it with simple systems that benefit everyone involved. Rather than carving time out of your day, recruiters can simply schedule interviews with a few clicks of a button. This saves countless hours of recruiter time and allows them to focus on screening candidates.
This all ultimately means that the days of manually scheduling and constantly going back and forth with candidates are gone. You no longer need to find a suitable interview time. With on-demand interviews, you let candidates choose any time that’s suitable for them. It is just a few clicks. That saves valuable time and speeds up the essential task of screening candidates.
And this is more than a solution for recruiters. Automated interview scheduling benefits candidates as well. Because let’s be honest, candidates can’t stand the endless back and forth any more than recruiters. This solution provides candidates with a user-friendly approach to interviewing – a serious demand in the modern labor market. The convenience and flexibility improve the overall efficiency of the process and, more importantly, the candidate experience.
That’s not even to mention what it does for your employer brand. It shows candidates that your team and your organization are dedicated to candidate experience and committed to embracing modern technology to get the job done.
Better yet, most automated interview scheduling software can integrate with application tracking systems to make the process even easier. In the process, you’re able to streamline the entire hiring process with a smooth flow of information throughout every phase of recruitment.
