How to Schedule An Interview With a Candidate

Esteban Gomez | November 20, 2015

How do you schedule an interview with a candidate? To actually schedule interviews with candidates and agree on a time that works best for both of you is similar to a not-so-fun game of tennis. A lot of times, you send endless back-and-forth emails – “Are you available Wednesday at 9? No? How about Thursday at 2?” You lob a time over to them, they lob a time back over to you and so on until you come to a mutual agreement.

With the current candidate-driven job market, competition for the market’s top talent has increased and the inability to schedule interviews effectively can cause the interviewing process to slow down and even disengage the most qualified candidates. To help you avoid a lagging interviewing process, we sourced the following tips for you to schedule interviews in a manner that ultimately saves you time, productivity and your sanity.

1. Time of Day Matters

As much as candidates are trying to sell themselves to you during an interview, you should be trying to sell the company to candidates, leaving them with a great impression. Schedule interviews during the time of day that you are most on your A-game. If you have an interview lined up before an important meeting or presentation, chances are that your mind will be much more focused on the next meeting than the person in the chair across from you.

Writer Kate Parham found that the best time to give a presentation is Tuesday morning around 10:30 a.m., and considering you are presenting the company and position to the candidate, mid mornings might be your best time to set aside for interviewing.

2. Budget Too Much Time Rather Than Too Little

With a growing list of to-dos, it’s tempting to make a tight interviewing schedule, but you will quickly learn that this is where things go wrong. It’s hard to control the length of an interview, and while the average interview is 40 minutes, you never know what topics may come up during the interview that you would like to discuss further with a candidate. Schedule interviews that allocate ample amount of time to a candidate so that you can fully focus on the interview taking place rather than the clock.

3. Value the Candidate’s Time As Much As Your Own

Failing to promptly email a candidate back regarding scheduling an interview is one of the biggest ways recruiters are sending candidates the signal that they don’t think the candidate’s time is as valuable as their own. Like you, candidates have busy schedules. When a candidate sends you a couple of times to interview, they will likely hold off on filling those times until you respond. When you schedule interviews, it’s important to promptly respond to candidates’ emails not only so that you keep them engaged in the hiring process but also to show them that you value their time.

4. Use An Online Interview Scheduling Tool

To put it simply, scheduling tools are a way for you to refine your scheduling process and take the first step in creating a proactive interviewing process. They take the question of “How to schedule an interview with a candidate?” and give you an automated and streamlined answer. interview scheduler enhances the interaction between candidates and recruiters through fast and easy interview scheduling. Recruiters can either sync interview scheduler with their Outlook, Google Calendar, and iCalendar or manually list their interviewing availability without exposing details of their schedule.

Candidates can then choose a time slot directly from the recruiter’s calendar that works with their schedule too. Recruiters let candidates self schedule interviews, increase communication lines and save the amount of time they would typically spend going back and forth with candidates. The ability to schedule interviews effectively is one of the key factors in a speedy hiring process. It’s an opportunity for you to begin positive lines of communication among candidates and leave candidates enthusiastic about their interview.

About The Author

Esteban Gomez is a marketing consultant with interviewstream. He loves learning and has a passion for traveling, having visited many countries including China, Colombia, Italy, and Peru.

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