Interview Scheduling: How to Schedule an Interview Effectively

Candidates, hiring managers, employers, and HR teams are all busy and often have conflicting schedules. This can make it tough to pinpoint the best time to come together for an interview. But if you don’t get the scheduling process right, your whole recruitment process crumbles.

Luckily, ModernLoop can simplify interview scheduling, with intuitive tools that keep candidates and employers aligned. We’re here to show you how to master the interview scheduling process once and for all.

What is Interview Scheduling?

Interview scheduling is the process of coordinating dates, times, and participants for interviews between candidates and hiring teams. It sounds simple on the surface, but it can often be complicated. Scheduling interviews is very much a balancing act. It involves aligning calendars, accommodating last-minute changes, and managing logistics, all while trying to deliver a great candidate experience.

Interview scheduling typically falls on recruiters, talent acquisition specialists, or HR coordinators. They handle the back-and-forth logistics of finding mutually available times. Depending on the hiring process, scheduling can begin as early as the screening stage or later in the pipeline for panel and final-round interviews.

Beyond simply setting up “initial meetings” between companies and new talent, interview scheduling is a foundational step in the hiring process. Your scheduling strategy influences how quickly you can make quick hiring decisions.

A strong interview scheduling process keeps the recruitment process moving forward.

On the other hand, a slow or disorganized scheduling strategy frustrates candidates, derails the hiring process, and harms your brand.

How to Schedule an Interview with a Candidate: Step by Step

Interview scheduling can make or break a candidate’s experience. A simple mistake can lead to wasted time for your candidate and hiring manager and annoying scheduling conflicts.

Here’s your step-by-step guide to scheduling an interview, the right way.

Step 1: Plan Your Interview Process

Before you start scheduling, you need a plan for what your interview process is going to involve. Without a structured interview format, things can quickly get confusing.

It helps to ask yourself in advance:

How many interview rounds are required?
How long should the interview time slot be?
Will the interview be in-person, virtual, or hybrid?
Which members of the hiring team or leadership team need to be involved?
What do candidates need to prepare (such as portfolios or case studies)?

Proper planning doesn’t just help you to prepare interviewers with the right training. It also keeps candidates informed of what to expect from the experience. As a result, you’ll know how much time and resources you need for each interview.

Step 2: Gather Availability from Candidates and Interviewers

Now comes the tricky part – coordinating calendars. Aligning multiple schedules across busy hiring teams and candidates can be tough. Particularly if you’re recruiting people from different time zones or trying to adapt to a candidate’s busy schedule.

The worst mistake you can make here is not gathering enough information. For instance, don’t just ask your candidates if they’re available on “Wednesdays.” You need to know when exactly they’re going to be available.

If you’re handling interview scheduling manually, you’ll need to invest time into checking your team members’ calendars. Then, you’ll have to confirm with them to see if those calendars are up-to-date. It’s often much easier to use automated interview scheduling software for this process.

With automated tools like ModernLoop, you can assess all of your team member’s calendars instantly. You can also view available timeslots that align between relevant staff members.

Similarly, candidates can self-schedule based on real-time insights into availability. This reduces the need for back-and-forth communication. Automated tools also send automated interview confirmation messages to candidates and allow them to quickly reschedule when necessary.

Step 3: Confirm the Communication Channel

Once you’ve aligned schedules between your hiring team and your candidate, confirm the date and time of the interview. More importantly, make sure you know how you’re going to communicate with your candidate going forward.

Different candidates have different communication preferences. So, ask them whether they prefer to receive confirmation messages and updates via:

Email
SMS
Phone call
Automated notifications on a scheduling platform

Once you have that information, send a clear confirmation message to your candidate. Outline everything they need to know about the upcoming interview. This includes when and where it will take place, what will be involved, and details about the interview type.

Here’s a sample interview invitation email:

Subject: Interview Confirmation – [Role Name] at [Company Name]

Hi [Candidate’s Name],

We’re excited to move forward in the hiring process with you! Your [Interview Type] interview for the [Job Title] role at [Company Name] is scheduled for:

Date & Time: [Day, Date, Time, Time Zone]
Location: [Office Address / Virtual Link]
Duration: [XX minutes]
Interviewers: [Names and Titles]

[Include any additional instructions, such as preparation details or who to contact if they have questions.]

If you need to reschedule, you can do so via [Reschedule Link] or reply to this email.

Looking forward to our conversation!

Best,
[Your Name]
[Your Position]

Interview Scheduling Issues: No-Shows, Reschedules, and Follow-Ups

Even with the best scheduling process, things don’t always go as planned. Candidates might need to reschedule, interviewers might have conflicts, or no-shows might happen.

Here’s how you can handle a few of the most common interview scheduling issues:

Dealing with No Shows: A candidate not turning up for an interview is frustrating. Especially when you put so much effort into the scheduling process. To minimize this issue, give candidates an easy way to reschedule. If they can’t attend, send reminder emails or notifications before the interview itself. If a candidate doesn’t turn up regardless, consider offering them another opportunity if you think they have real potential.
Rescheduling: Life is unpredictable and schedule changes can happen. If an interviewer cancels at the last minute, consider having alternative members of the hiring team ready take over. You can also ask the candidate if they mind choosing a new interview time. If a candidate wants to reschedule, take advantage of automatic interview rescheduling tools. Have them select a new time slot without extra admin work on your end.
Connecting after the interview: Don’t forget the power of follow-ups. After an interview ends, your hiring team should quickly reach out with a thank-you email. Let your candidate know what to expect next. Use automated tools to keep candidates informed about the outcome of the interview and share feedback.

The Challenges of Manual Interview Scheduling

In the past, interview scheduling was always done manually. Between endless email threads, calendar clashes, and last-minute changes, manual interview scheduling can feel like a logistical nightmare.

Manual interview scheduling is:

Time-consuming: Coordinating availability between candidates, interviewers, and hiring managers means constant back-and-forth communication. A single interview can require multiple emails or calls. When you’re scheduling across different time zones, the complexity increases.
Error-prone: When interview scheduling is done manually, human error is inevitable. You’ll have to deal withdDouble bookings, mismatched time zones, or missing calendar invites. This can cause confusion and lead to canceled or missed interviews. These mistakes slow down hiring and create a poor candidate experience.
Inflexible: Life happens – candidates need to reschedule, interviewers drop out at the last minute, and priorities shift. Manually adjusting schedules means recruiters have to start the coordination process all over again.

All of these issues lead to a range of problems. You can end up losing top talent to competitors because of delays in scheduling, or a headache-inducing recruitment process. Your hiring teams end up overworked and your employer brand suffers.

The Benefits of Automated Interview Scheduling

Where manual interview scheduling is slow, inefficient, and problematic, automated scheduling is a breath of fresh air. With the right scheduling tools, recruiters can eliminate the tedious back-and-forth with candidates. It also reduces errors and creates an easy experience for both candidates and hiring teams.

With automated interview scheduling software, your team benefits from:

Less back-and-forth: Instead of manually coordinating availability, recruiters can simply send a scheduling link. Candidates can choose from real-time available slots that sync with interviewers’ calendars.
Real-time syncing: Interviewers no longer need to manually block off time or worry about double bookings. Automated scheduling tools integrate directly with calendars. This means only available slots are shown, which eliminates scheduling conflicts.
Constant candidate communication: Forget manually chasing candidates and interviewers for confirmations. Automated reminders ensure that everyone is on the same page, reducing no-shows and last-minute confusion.

Ultimately, candidates get a better experience because they can pick the dates and interview times that work best for them. They can also reschedule interviews and receive updates in an instant. At the same time, interviewers get the benefit of clear, organized schedules, without tedious admin work.

It’s a win-win. Automated interview scheduling saves time, accelerates hiring, improves candidate experiences, and reduces the burden on hiring teams.

Streamline Your Hiring with Smarter Interview Scheduling

Interview scheduling shouldn’t have to be a time-consuming and complex process. With the right interview scheduling software, you can upgrade your recruitment process, minimize errors, and keep candidates happy. You might even strengthen your employer brand and attract top candidates to your team.

ModernLoop makes it easy to speed up hiring and free up recruiters to focus on matters. The platform features intelligent tools for interview scheduling, automated dashboards, and reporting.

If you’re ready to eliminate scheduling headaches and optimize your recruitment process, it’s time to explore ModernLoop’s interview scheduling solutions.

Book a demo today and see how automation can transform your hiring process!