Interviews take a lot of time and resources if done the traditional way. Getting the recruitment plan approved, selecting candidates, and securing a location for the interview are just a few of the preparatory steps. The current talent gap has made the traditional interview process often too costly to be effective — but there are ways to make scheduling interviews more efficient! Here are 4 ways to optimize your interview scheduling process.
Coordinate Early And Continually
Whether you’re a hiring manager or a member of a recruitment team, communication is key to scheduling interviews efficiently. Make sure to meet with all of the people involved in the interview process collectively at least once early on. This will help everyone to gain a collective understanding of what is expected of them and will gauge the availability of each individual. The initial meeting will allow the team to compile a template of how scheduling interviews will go after candidates have been assessed.
From that point on it’s important to meet regularly to update the plan as necessary, as well as to make sure nobody’s availability has shifted since the initial meeting.
Train Interviewers In Advance
Having a group of trained interviewers prepared in advance can make things much smoother for both the HR team and the candidates themselves. Taking the time to train a few team members, provide interview kits, and run through questions and skill assessments to employ during the process. This will ensure that candidates are interviewed in a similar fashion, and the best fit can be picked out more easily.
With a number of interviewers, candidates will have plenty of options to choose from when scheduling interviews. This will help prevent rescheduling, which is a waste of time and resources and will maintain candidate satisfaction throughout the hiring process.
Focus On Passive Candidates
Oftentimes the most qualified candidates are the ones that are already employed or aren’t actively searching for a job at the moment. Passive candidates scouting takes more effort and time than simply posting a job on some job aggregates, but a single positive response from a passive candidate can be worth tens to hundreds of job board applications.
When scouting passive candidates it’s important to keep them engaged through genuine human conversation, showing interest in their replies, and keeping things informal. A more corporate tone might make them feel like they’re not valued or on an equal playing field.
Use Interview Scheduling Tools
There are a number of tools that can make scheduling interviews a more efficient process. Using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) allows hiring managers to keep track of potential employees during every step of the hiring process. Another feature of many ATS’s is that they allow recruiters to test candidates, asking pertinent questions that make the difference between a rejection and moving to the next stage. Many large organizations use ATS’s to schedule interviews en masse due to the speed of the system. However, by itself, an ATS’s more rigid programming can miss opportunities to connect with experienced professionals. If an ATS has trouble reading a resume or misreads a file, it will often delete the file offhand — losing a promising candidate to a simple mistake.
More flexible programs, like AI recruitment software, can be a useful partner for ATS software. AI software adapts based on continual input — so programs like resume screening software can fly through tough-to-read applications while sticking to your listed preferences. A good recruitment software toolbox can make scheduling interviews feel like a breeze, cutting out menial tasks and maintaining reliability.
