Recruit - introduction to candidate interview self-scheduling

If activated in your system, self-scheduling lets you invite candidates to pick their own interview time/date slots from slots the recruiter has added in Kallidus Recruit.

The most common configuration option lets you choose on any vacancy if you want to use self-scheduling at (e.g.) first or second interviews, or both. If activated, you'll see this option when adding or editing a vacancy:

If selected, then the 'Invite to interview' process works differently - it will send an email to the candidate inviting them to log in and select an interview slot from the slots available.

If you are using it, be sure to set up slots before inviting candidates. 

Go to the Interviews tab and click 'Add slot' against the relevant series (in this example, first or second interviews).

n.b. you can also add slots for a specific vacancy from the options menu available against any of your vacancies:

Complete the slot details, including one or more vacancies for which the slot should be made available. N.b. the date of the slot should normally be at least 1 day in the future, or the candidate won't be able to select it (this visibility window is configurable - so it may be different on your system. If in doubt, check with support).

Interview slot visibility can only be configured in days and not hours.

Choose the duration of your interview, and the gap between interviews, here we have 45 minute interviews with a 15 minute gap. 

Once set, go to the first time available and change it to your start time, e.g 10am in the example below. Clicking tab will make the potential slots update with the right start times and gaps. Then check the slots you want to make available for candidates to pick. 

Other options should be self-explanatory. You can include multiple interviewers who will all receive calendar invites when the interview is confirmed.

Once the slots are created, you are ready to invite your candidates. 

They will log in, pick from the available slots, then their application will automatically move to scheduled status. Depending on your configuration, confirmation emails will be sent, along with an SMS telling them they've received an important email, and calendar invitations will be sent to the interviewers.

Further information

Please find more detailed information on the functionality below.

Definitions and summary of functionality

Interview series - also known as "Assessment series". This is a grouping of a certain type of interview activity - e.g. first interviews, second interviews, telephone interviews, assessment centre, screening, testing.

• A candidate must be invited to an interview series in order to be able to select or be allocated to a slot.
• A candidate may only go through the process for a specific interview series once.
• This functionality is configured globally and deployed

Interview slot - also known as "Assessment slot". This is a particular period of availability associated with an interview series. There are a number of fields which define a slot or which are visible when adding/editing slots:

• Name/Venue - the name of the slot as it appears in the slot list and as will be displayed to candidates selecting slots.
• Vacancies - the vacancies for which the slot will be available for candidates to select or assigned (applies to all vacancies if none selected)
• Duration - the duration of the slot
• Gap - when adding multiple slots on the same day, this is the default time in between slots (may be amended manually for specific slots)
• Date - the date of the interview/assessment
• Start time - the time the interview/assessment starts
• End time - the time the interview/assessment ends
• Min attendees - the minimum number of candidates required - usually 1 for interviews, but may be higher to help indicate viability of running an assessment centre with enough candidates
• Max attendees - the maximum number of candidates who may be assigned to the same slot before it will no longer be available for other candidates to choose or be assigned to (e.g. 1 person for a telephone interview; or 20 people for an assessment centre)
• Interviewer(s) (or assessors) - optional - the person or people doing the interview or assessment. This causes the candidate to appear in the "My assessments" list for the selected user(s) and allows comms to be sent to these users
• Description - optional (may be displayed to candidates)
• Notes - optional (usually internal-only notes)
• Custom fields - optional - up to 10 custom fields may be configured as required, which may be either for Recruiter use only or visible to candidates as well

Interview slots list page - this is the page in the Backoffice which displays a list of all available slots:

• Selecting this option in the main sub-navigation displays all slots for all interview series.
• Selecting the "Available slots" tile for a particular series displays slots for the selected series only.
• By default, the slots list page is filtered to only show slots which are in the future and still have availability. To view slots which are already filled, select the drop-down filter option for the "Availability" column and remove the filter.

Slot view modes - there are three ways of viewing slots - click the View icon () in the actions menu to change between the viewing modes:

• Simple view - each slot is represented by a tile, showing key information
• Advanced view - displays slots as a datagrid list
• Calendar view - displays slots in a calendar in various ways

N.B. In Simple and Advanced view modes, multiple slots may be selected quickly between two dates/times on one page by selecting one slot, then holding the Shift key down and selecting another slot

Slot bulk actions - the following bulk actions are available in all viewing modes:

• Search/Filter - use the search box to filter the slots as required, e.g. to show only those for a particular vacancy, those assigned to a particular interviewer, etc.
• Copy - create new slots by coping an existing slot, all slots on a particular day, in a particular week or across multiple weeks.
• Move - move an existing slot or all slots in a day/week or more to the same pattern on a different date (and optionally time). Note that great care should be taken when candidates are already allocated to slots, as they will need to be updated with the new date and time of their selected slot; or may need to be contacted to arrange an alternative slot.
• Assign interviewer - assign or update the interviewer for one or more selected slots, e.g. because an interviewer or assessor is ill and it is necessary to assigned their work to someone else.

Calendar view modes - once in calendar mode, there are various options:

• Month - displays an entire month at once
• Week - displays the current week, with navigation to move forwards backwards to other weeks
• Week (list) - displays the current week's slots as a list, with navigation to see other weeks
• Day - displays the slots for a particular day, with navigation to see other days
• Today - displays the slots for the current day

Manage attendees - this tile () opens a list of all candidates who are invited to a particular assessment series. The options available from here are:

• Find slot for a candidate () - displays the slot list page filtered to show available slots for a particular candidate, including slots configured to be available to all vacancies and slots for the specific vacancy the candidate is associated with.
• Remove from slot () - where a candidate is already allocated to a slot, this option removes them from the slot, allowing them to be allocated to an alternative one.
• Active - this is an option in the main sub-navigation and is the default - the list of candidates will be filtered to only display active ones - those which are either awaiting allocation to a slot or have been allocated, but where the slot isn't completed.
• Completed - this is an option in the main sub-navigation which will filter the list of candidates to display only those who have had their slots completed.
• All - this is an option in the main sub-navigation which will remove the "Active" filter, displaying candidates who are both active and who have completed.

Add slot/Create new slot - this option is available from several locations and opens a blank slot entry form, allowing a new slot to be added to the list as required:

• Add new slot tile () - available for each configured series on the main assessment tab homepage.
• Create new slot option in the main sub-navigation - appears only when on the Assessment slots list page for a particular assessment series.
• Create interview slot icon () on the Vacancies page - this option also automatically adds the relevant vacancy to the slot, so the slot will only be available for candidates in that particular vacancy. This is usually a quicker and easier way to add slots to a particular vacancy in the first instance.

My interviews - this option shows a list of candidates awaiting their assessment or interview for slots assigned to the currently logged in user. There are two options:

• My interviews (main sub-navigation) - shows candidates in slots assigned to the currently logged in user across all interview series.

Assign interview icon () - this is an option which appears on the Candidates list page for candidates who are active in an interview series. It's essentially the same as the Find slot for a candidate () function which appears on the Manage attendees list page and opens a list of slots which are available for the selected candidate to be allocated to.

• Assign to slot icon () - click this icon to assign the candidate to the selected slot.
• Remove from slot icon () - where a candidate is already allocated to a slot, the Assign to slot icon above will not appear, so you will need to remove the default filter from the "Available" column. This icon will then be displayed for the slot which the candidate is already allocated to and you may click this to remove them and assign them to a new slot as required.

Slot window - this is a moving period of time which governs which slots are available for candidates to choose when self-scheduling. This window is configurable on a per-series basis. e.g. If your window was set to be from three days in the future up to two weeks in the future, this means that candidates who are logging in to select their slots today would not see slots before two days in the future (even if they were available) and would also not see any slots which were further than two weeks away. The days may also be set to count either working days only or all days. e.g. If the slot window start was set to 1 working day and the current day was Friday, candidates would only see slots starting on Tuesday.

This has advantages in so far as:

• Candidates are encouraged to fill up the immediately up and coming slots, without restricting recruiters from planning out availability well into the future.
• Candidates can't allocate themselves to a slot last thing on a Friday night for an assessment or interview first thing on the following Monday morning, where people may not be prepared for it.

Speak to Kallidus Support to confirm what your window is set to or to request any changes.

Sequential slots only mode - this mode will give the first candidate for a given vacancy visibility of all available slots. Once the first person has picked a slot, subsequent candidates may only see the slot(s) immediately before or after one(s) that have been already selected. This option may be used to ensure that all interviews booked will be all in a row, to prevent interviewers having ad hoc gaps.

Speak to Kallidus Support to confirm what your slot selection mode is set to or to request any changes.

Complete interview slot - this term applies to a process action which is carried out once a candidate has attended an assessment or interview and the outcome has been recorded in the system. This process usually happens automatically as part of running the relevant Proceed/Reject process to progress candidates to the next stage of the recruitment process.

When an interview slot is completed:

• The candidate is no longer visible on the "Active" candidates list on the Manage attendees page () - click "Complete" or "All" from the main sub-navigation to view if required
• The Assign interview icon () will no longer appear for that candidate on the Candidates page
• The candidate may not be invited to the same assessment series again, however they may be invited to a different assessment series as required

Candidate status - the following statuses may apply to candidates who have been invited to an assessment/interview series: 

• Blank - the candidate has not yet selected a slot
• Confirmed - the candidate has been confirmed to the slot
• InterviewCompleted - the slot has been completed

 The process

The process involves the following steps:

1. Add slots
   Add appropriate slots of availability to the relevant interview series. These may be either slots added and available to specific vacancy or vacancies; or slots open to candidates in all vacancies.
2. Invite candidates to series
   Add or invite candidate(s) to the relevant interview series - this may be done automatically by a single or bulk candidate process or manually (Assessment option in the bulk action list).
3. Candidate selects/confirms slot or recruiter assigns/confirms slot
   If self-scheduling, an "Invite" email is sent to candidate advising them to login to the Candidate portal and select a slot.
   
   The candidate receives the invite email, logs into the Candidate portal, selects the relevant application indicating "Action required" and chooses an available slot.
   
   If recruiter scheduling, the recruiter may allocate a slot on a candidate's behalf, either by searching and selecting a candidate from the slot; or searching and selecting a slot from the candidate (candidates must still be added to the series first).
   
   
4. Complete slot
   Once an outcome is known for a candidate at a particular recruitment stage associated with an assessment series, the slot should be "completed". This is usually done automatically as part of running the appropriate Proceed or Reject process, which combines this action with appropriate folder moves and comms to the candidate.

Adding interview slots/availability

See Add slot/Create new slot above.

If the slot is to be applicable to a particular vacancy (or vacancies), we suggest adding the slot via the Create interview slot icon () on the Vacancies page in the first instance. You may then search for additional vacancies for the same slot as required.

You may also add multiple specific vacancies to slots on the Create slot form by selecting "No" for the "Do you want this slot to be available for all vacancies" question and you may then search and select for vacancies by title or reference number.

Time saving techniques for adding slots and slot patterns in bulk

• First add all required slots to a particular day, using the Gap field to set the default time in between slots on that day
• Add slots from the Vacancies page via the Create interview slot icon () if adding slots to a particular vacancy
• Edit the start times, end times or gaps for a particular slot - all the slots after the edited slot will update automatically
• Once a one day slot pattern has been added, use the Copy slots function, selecting either particular slots or multiple slots using shift + click to select and copy the relevant slots to different times/days as required (repeat to copy the same pattern to multiple days)
• Use the search/filter options to filter the slot list to show only the slots you want to copy
• Once a week's slot pattern has been added, select an entire week to copy the slot pattern for a particular week to other weeks
• After using the Copy function to quickly create lots of other slots, use the Edit, Move and Assign interviewer functions to make minor adjustments as required (avoids having to open the full slot edit page)

Vacancy-specific slots v. non-vacancy-specific slots

Slots with have one or more vacancies allocated will only be available for candidates in those vacancies to choose. If no vacancy is added to a slot, the slot will be available for candidates in all vacancies to choose or to be allocated to by a Recruiter.

Candidate self-scheduling

This is the most common and efficient configuration for the Interviews module. Candidates are sent an "Invite" email, advising them to login to your Candidate portal. When they login, they can see any applications which have an action required, e.g. ACTION REQUIRED - Please select an interview slot.

The candidate may then select the relevant application and navigate through to view a list of available slots within the slot window (see above).

Selecting a slot is usually configured to run all required actions e.g. 

• Candidate is moved to the appropriate "Confirmed" candidate folder/status
• Candidate is sent an appropriate confirmation email
• Slot is marked as "Confirmed" within the Interview scheduler

Supporting processes may be configured to chase candidates who have not yet chosen a slot - e.g. reminder, final reminder, withdraw as appropriate - all in one click

Recruiter scheduling

Provided that a candidate is already allocated/invited to the required interview series, Recruiters may manually allocate a slot on a candidate's behalf. There are three ways to do this:

1. From the Manage attendees page - search for and select a slot for a candidate - Assessments tab > Manage attendees () > Find slot () > Assign to slot ()
2. From the Slot list page- search for and select a candidate for a slot - Interviews tab > Assessment slots for a particular series) > Find candidates () > Assign to slot ()
3. Search for and select a slot for the candidate from the Candidates page via the Assign interview icon ()  in the Functions column > Assign to slot ()

Merge fields for use in comms (emails, SMS and letters)

There are a number of merge fields which may be used in emails, SMS messages and Word mail merge documents. All fields apply to the current (uncompleted) slot the candidate is allocated to (miss off the {! and } if using the merge fields in Word documents): 

• {!InterviewSlot.Start} - the full date/time stamp of the slot
• {!InterviewSlot.StartDate} - the start date of the slot only
• {!InterviewSlot.StartTime} - this start time of the slot only
• {!InterviewSlot.End} - the full date/time stamp for the end of the slot
• {!InterviewSlot.EndDate} - the end date of the slot only
• {!InterviewSlot.EndTime} - this end time of the slot only
• {!InterviewSlot.Name} - the name/venue of the slot
• {!InterviewSlot.Notes} - the notes from the slot
• {!InterviewSlot.Description} - the description from the slot
• {!InterviewSlot.CreatedDateTime} - the date/time stamp of when the slot was created
• {!InterviewSlot.OptionalFieldValue1} to {!InterviewSlot.OptionalFieldValue10} - custom client slot fields (if configured)
• {!InterviewSlotApplications.Status} - the status of the candidate in the slot
• {!InterviewSeries.Name} - the name of the assessment series
• {!InterviewSlot.Assigned} - true/false value as to whether the candidate is assigned a slot
• {!Interviewer.FullName} - the full name(s) of the interviewer(s) assigned to the slot
• {!Interviewer.Email} - the email address(es) of the interviewer(s) assigned to the slot

Editing existing slots (no candidates allocated)

If no candidates are allocated to a slot, there is no problem with moving or editing any details on the slot. Just make sure there are no candidates allocated first (see Allocated column).

Editing existing slots (candidates already allocated)

Depending on the security group a user is allocated to, they may be able to edit slot details, even after candidates are allocated.

IMPORTANT: Care should be taken when doing so, particularly when changing the date or time of the slot:

• Has the candidate agreed to the new date and/or time?
• You may need to contact the candidate first, remove them from the slot and either assign them to a different slot straight away or advise them to login and select a new slot.

Interview complete and the importance of "Completing" a slot properly

Candidates who are not completed remain as active on the Manage attendees page, greatly increasing the noise for users and, worst case, making the system slower for everyone due to a lot of historical, irrelevant data being displayed.

User should ensure that the appropriate process is run on candidates who have completed an interview - usually a Proceed or Regret decision recorded on an outcomes pop-up page, followed by clicking the relevant "Submit" button; or by running the appropriate process from the Candidates list page (processes column or bulk action menu).