Improve the Candidate Experience with Better Scheduling

let's talk about interview scheduling

(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by Cronofy, a global innovator in business scheduling software. It provides businesses with the technology they need to offer best-in-class scheduling. Enjoy the read!)

One of the great things about working in an office is being able to walk around the corner and say to a hiring manager, “Hey! I know this is last minute but are you available this afternoon to speak with a candidate?” Or at the end of a meeting, I might ask a couple of managers if they can tell me their availability for a panel interview. We can all look at our laptops/tablets/phones and quickly pick a date and time.

Now that more of us are working remotely, it’s a challenge to schedule interviews. Especially when multiple people are involved. However, hiring teams need a way to replicate that “in the office” experience and eliminate what you might call “phone tennis”.  I know, the term phone tennis might sound funny. The reality is phone tennis is expensive.

Missing connections translates to time being wasted by the recruiter, the hiring manager, and the candidate. According to a survey conducted by Cronofy and JobAdder, 90% of recruiters say that they make two or more attempts (via email and/or phone) to schedule an interview. That time has a cost. And it’s not time that necessarily improves the candidate experience.

Reduce Administration Time with Automated Scheduling

The Cronofy Scheduler allows organizations to reduce their administrative time and focus on delivering a better candidate experience. Some of you might be familiar with Cronofy’s scheduling API (application programming interface). The Cronofy Scheduler is a stand-alone personalized scheduling app. I recently had a chance to test drive the Scheduler and wanted to share three things you might find interesting about the tool.

Privacy and Security. I once worked for a company where everyone could see everyone else’s calendar. During my time there, one of the things I learned was that our calendars are very personal. While none of us had any big secrets on our calendars, the act of granting someone access to your calendar is a very personal thing. With the Scheduler, you have the ability to share your availability for specified periods of time. No one can “see” your entire calendar. They can only see when you’re available.

Personalization. Once someone has access to your availability, it can be very frustrating when other people put appointments on your calendar, but they don’t pay attention to what’s before or after the appointment. This disregard of your time means that you’re usually placed in a position to either leave a meeting early or arrive at another meeting late (in order to attend the meeting that they’ve scheduled for you).

The Scheduler allows you to build in buffers to your meetings. You can use these buffers to take a last look at a candidate’s resume, run for a quick break, or simply just breathe. I’m not suggesting this to be funny. We know it’s true. That dash between meetings, even when you’re working remotely, doesn’t allow us to be our best for the interview. And that impacts the candidate experience.

Flexibility. The points I’ve mentioned so far aren’t exclusive to “big companies” or “small companies”. Privacy and security matter in every size organization. Personalization impacts everyone. The Cronofy Scheduler works with any size organization – from the HR department of one to an enterprise solution. It’s compatible with Microsoft Outlook and Gmail. With a Cronofy subscription, the Scheduler comes with 8×8 video conferencing as standard, but it integrates with all major conferencing services (i.e. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and GoToMeeting).

In addition, candidates don’t have to fill in their personal details when they schedule an interview. The Scheduler automatically does that for them. So, there’s a perfectly seamless integration between the interviewer or hiring panel, the candidate, the Cronofy Scheduler, the calendar invite, and the location for the meeting.

Use Interviewing Resources to Build Relationships

I’ve always said that the goal of an interview was to create a conversation. That doesn’t mean we should stop asking questions, but rather figure out how to ask questions as part of a casual conversation. When organizations can turn interviews into conversations, then candidates feel comfortable sharing stories about their knowledge and skills. Organizations feel comfortable talking about the reasons employees like working there.

That’s what I really liked about the Cronofy Scheduler. It has the ability to create a process that allows us to stop wasting time and start building relationships, which frankly, is what recruiting is all about.

P.S. If you want to learn more about how the Cronofy Scheduler can help your organization reduce administrative time and improve the candidate experience, check out this case study “Introducing Wade & Wendy”. You can also test drive the Scheduler and sign up for a free account. It’s a good way to immediately see how scheduling software would positively impact your candidate experience.

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