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Smart organizations are discerning the growing need for interview scheduling software. Intelligent online scheduling systems are a way of simplifying interaction between candidates and enterprises.
If you don't know what I’m talking about, read below the article where I break down everything about interview scheduling software for you. If you are already familiar with the idea, you can skip to the parts which are more relevant to you.
- Introduction to interview scheduling software and its importance
- Pros and Cons of using interview scheduling software
- How it helps your enterprise
- A comparison of manual scheduling and automated interview scheduling
- How to select the right interview scheduling software for your enterprise
- Scheduling software providers in the market currently
- Future of recruitment automation
- Conclusion
In my previous article, I stated 6 effective steps to schedule interviews to ensure maximum candidate turnover. Become a pro at scheduling interviews and say goodbye to candidate no-show by implementing these 6 steps in your scheduling process.
In that article, I mentioned how interview scheduling is like playing a game of badminton. Except it’s not fun for anyone. You fix a meeting when you’re free, they come to you with another day they’re free and this goes on before you come to a mutual agreement after spending days on rescheduling.
That’s manual interview scheduling for you. The reason why interview scheduling software has come into existence now is precisely this - going back and forth and spending hours to merely meet a candidate who might or might not even qualify for the next round is redundant and a headache for recruiters.
The see-saw between employer and employee slows down the recruiters’ everyday tasks and is confusing due to the time it takes to screen and select the best resumes, contact the candidate, arrange an interview time that suits both parties, and organize for someone to conduct the interview.
Organizations use scheduling software to automate scheduling tasks that are mostly lengthy and inefficient.
Some features often include email and calendar integration, auto-fill email templates, and rescheduling options, along with the interviewer and candidate interview reminders sent via email or text. Interview scheduling software usually integrates with applicant tracking systems (ATS).
Now that you are aware of what interview scheduling is and why it is imperative for organizations today to invest in an interview scheduling software, let’s get to the pros and cons of using interview scheduling software.
If you’re still unsure of the benefits of automating your scheduling process, these pros and cons might help make up your mind.
Pros:
- The primary advantage of using scheduling software is the accuracy and convenience for its users. It allows the users to schedule interviews in real-time with just a click.
- It creates a powerful experience for both consumers and brands. If your process is automated and swift, it will automatically enhance the brand image and in turn, lead to customer retention.
- It allows candidates and recruiters to schedule and update interviews via web-based/mobile-based systems in real-time and can integrate with various tools. It can also offer the ability to schedule interviews when both parties are available and send automated notification (SMS and email reminders).
- Interview scheduling software also helps enterprises with the problem of candidate no-show.
- It helps speed up your recruitment process by allowing candidates and hiring managers to schedule interviews when it's best for them. Scheduling software makes it easier for people to schedule time with each other by eliminating unnecessary back-and-forth emails.
- The software automates the scheduling process which helps your HR team to concentrate on generating more revenue by finishing other daily tasks at hand. They won’t be stuck with making calls and writing emails just to finalize on a date, hence clearing their calendar for more productive work.
- Most importantly, online scheduling tools accommodate phone-shy millennials, who take up the majority of the working class today.
Cons:
There aren’t many cons to having an interview scheduling software. Though, some may still face issues regarding:
- High cost - Buying, integrating and teaching how to use software to recruiters comes with a price - literally! Some organizations might not be willing to spend money on something that can be done manually, even though it reduces their workload.
Hence, they might not want to spend money and invest in scheduling software. (But in reality, investing in interview scheduling software is quite economical!) - Buggy software - If the software is cheap, buggy, or one that is not compatible with your enterprise, it can increase your workload and lead to frustration.
- Burdensome - Some enterprises are still not ready to adopt technology and automate daily tasks. When faced with complicated software, employees might get intimidated and/or overwhelmed. It might also trigger rebellion from employees who are not ready to make such a drastic shift.
To make it simple for you, manual or traditional way of scheduling demands additional operational costs that often go unnoticed. Scheduling interviews in the traditional manner requires manpower, whether it’s the receptionist answering the phone, an administrator managing a paper interview schedule, or a support staffer making reminder phone calls.
Apart from that, coordinating and calling all parties to be on the same page, calling or emailing for reminders, rescheduling in case of emergencies, etc. take up operational time of employees, leaving less and less time for other tasks.
On top of that, it can’t be stressed enough how it affects the brand image of the enterprise in front of the candidate as scheduling of interview is the initial contact of a brand to a candidate and is highly inconvenient in this internet-friendly age.
Record-keeping and reporting capabilities are also important to many organizations, who use the information in reports and analysis. An online scheduling software eliminates the need to manage this information in separate files, folders, spreadsheets, and other documents, as it’s securely and safely stored and maintained right in the system.
Hence, when looking for an interview scheduling software for your enterprise, a few must-have features would be-
- Artificial Intelligence
- Seamless Integration
- Personalization and Customization
- Easy to Use
Now that you know the difference between scheduling manually and scheduling with the help of software, following are a few considerations to make when buying an interview scheduling software:
- Get to know each option with a free trial.
- Consider your industry or targeted businesses before making a decision.
- Consider the number of employees who will be using it. Some platforms set a fixed price up to a certain number of employees, while others charge per user.
- Job interviews are not like regular meetings and scheduling needs to be able to accommodate multiple interview formats, including one-on-ones, group interviews, and back-to-back interviews setting up hiring teams based on who's available.
- Confirm the capability to easily reschedule. More than 50 percent of scheduled interviews are rescheduled, hence, the tool must be good at picking alternative interviewers on short notice.
- Provide communication between HR team or recruiter and candidate during the interview scheduling process.
- Offer web-accessible calendars for candidates to book interviews, customizable templates of interview invitation emails.
- Track candidate interviewing progress and/or provide integrations to ATS
How do Interview Scheduling Tools function?
When it comes to features, you should keep in mind:
- Automatic reminders - Reminders are automatically sent to all parties before an interview. You can personalize them with regards to the frequency, day, and time of the week, and attach employer or candidate information to it. You can include a checklist, links, directions to the interview location, an assessment, candidate profile, etc depending on the software.
- Availability preferences - Organizers and interviewers can set available and unavailable times. Certain mechanisms could be put in place, such as interview blocks on the hiring manager's calendar, which could only be lifted by calling up the recruiter. A two-step action to cancel something makes you much more accountable.
- Device syncing - Any new interview, update, or change is automatically synced across all devices.
- Support - Live support and resources readily available for users.
What are the Benefits of Interview Scheduling Tools?
Current competitors in the market providing interview scheduling software:
Talview
Known to reduce your time to hire through its Instahiring platform, Talview also provides assistance before these interviews actually take place! It accommodates interview scheduling capabilities for enterprises by checking the availability of both parties, provides synchronized landing pages for each scheduled meeting, and goes one step further to provide video interviewing features for the said interview.
Multiple panel members can join the interview from remote locations and can re-watch interview videos to assess candidates. Apart from that, Talview also supports live recording, chatbot assistance, technical assessments, and more when it comes to providing a seamless experience to hire candidates.
Calendly
It is a simple, automated scheduling tool. Calendly works with Google, Office 365, and Outlook calendars, and apps like Zapier.
Calendly is majorly built for sales teams, so other teams might face a challenge using it. It doesn’t support multiple meeting types or video interviewing, and, thus, has to be integrated with other third-party vendors for that, which adds more cost to the company.
Yello
Useful for high-volume hiring events. It integrates directly with events management for real-time hiring needs. It works best only for bulk-hiring and lacks real-time conversations, therefore, limiting its usage. Yello requires great amount of training before you can operate it properly.
Goodtime
Goodtime only supports simple calendar invites; which is good for smaller interviews but not for bulk. It doesn’t support auto-scheduling or video conference, hence requires additional logistical support like a physical conference room for an interview.
Sparkhire
Sparkhire provides separate landing pages for the proper segregation of different interviews. Although it lacks some of the latest features like chat assistant, interview summarization, auto-scheduling, reports at the end of interviews, and process updates of each interview.
When it comes to thinking about the future of the recruitment industry and automation, it definitely feels like the time for scheduling automation. With so many enterprises of varied sizes turning to automated interview scheduling with video interviewing software, hiring practices are changing.
More often today than ever, candidates expect potential employers to provide this convenience. When they don’t, they risk creating a poor impression, impacting recruiter efficiency. With automated scheduling, recruiters are much better positioned to make faster job offers and secure the most talented candidates for their organizations as and when they require.
In conclusion:
Technological advancements have caught up with most industries and the smaller tasks they conduct. The scheduling and management of interviews is no exception. Proven online scheduling software is now readily available to all-sized organizations and for all scheduling needs, regardless of the scope of the job, the number of staff members, and their budgets. This technology can transform the daunting process of scheduling and enable them to run more efficiently and profitably.
Looking for an all-in-one recruiting solution? Talview improves your candidate sourcing, screening, interviewing, and applicant tracking for a streamlined hiring process. Sign up for our demo today.
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