Interviewing candidates is an integral part of hiring. Once someone has applied, the clock is ticking to move them through the hiring process. Our interview scheduling tool provides a means to schedule and track interviews in a repeatable manner.
In this article, we will cover:
- Configuring Your Availability
- Scheduling an Interview
- Bulk Interview Requests
- Bulk Interview Requests via SMS
- Interview Confirmation
- Related Topics
Configuring Your Availability
Your scheduling availability is built around settings you configure in your profile. These apply automatically every time you send an interview request — individually or in bulk. Only calendar sync is required to start scheduling; the rest is optional but recommended.
Navigate to personal settings and select Calendar Sync.
Connect Your Calendar(s)
Syncing your calendar is required to use availability-based scheduling.
After clicking Connect Calendar, follow the on-screen prompts to sync your calendar provider. Supported providers include Apple/iCloud, Google, Office 365, Exchange, and Outlook.
You can connect more than one calendar — work, personal, or additional accounts.
Hireology checks availability across all connected calendars, so candidates are never offered a time that's blocked on a calendar you weren't showing before.
If you have multiple calendars connected, you can control which ones are factored into your available booking slots. For example, if calendars A, B, and C are all synced — so that interview events are sent to all three — you can choose to have only B and C influence when candidates can book, leaving A's events out of the availability calculation.
Connect Video Conferencing
Connect Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet once and a unique meeting link is generated and included in every invite automatically — no manual steps at send time. Before connecting a video conferencing provider, make sure at least one calendar has already been synced.
Follow the on-screen prompts to authorize and finish syncing your provider.
Need to use a different provider? You can disconnect your current provider and connect a new one from the same page.
Set Your Availability Window
Define custom availability windows and interview buffers directly in your profile settings. Set the days, hours, advance notice required, and how far out candidates can book.
Configure buffer time before or after interviews so back-to-back slots are never offered.
Both settings are applied to every scheduling link automatically once saved.
You can also configure availability blocks by toggling on the feature.
Times shown in green are available; white slots are unavailable. Hover over a time and click or drag to remove multiple times at once. Blocked times will not be offered to candidates when they schedule interviews.
To set your availability, make sure your time zone is correct, then select Save Availability at the bottom of the screen to lock in your changes.
Scheduling an Interview
Before scheduling, make sure the person you'd like to interview has been advanced to the In Progress stage. To get the most out of the scheduling tool, sync your calendar and configure your availability, buffer times, and video conferencing in your profile — these settings apply automatically every time you schedule.
From the candidate pipeline, navigate to the In Progress stage and click on the candidate you'd like to schedule an interview with.
Choose an Interview Format
Start by selecting the type of interview you'd like to schedule:
- One-on-One Interview — A single interviewer meets with the candidate.
- Panel Interview — Multiple interviewers meet with the candidate at the same time.
Note: Panel interviews are only available when at least one user has been assigned to the job's hiring team.
One-on-One Interviews
Next, choose how you'd like to schedule the interview:
- Send a Scheduling Link — Let the candidate choose a time based on the interviewer's availability. A synced calendar is required.
- Schedule Manually — Schedule a specific date and time or send the candidate several time options to choose from. A synced calendar is not required.
Choose Send a Scheduling Link when you want the candidate to select their own interview time based on the interviewer’s calendar availability.
Choose which availability you'd like to use:
- Use default availability — Uses the availability configured in the Interview Owner's profile.
- Set custom availability — Allows you to choose specific dates and time windows for this interview request.
Availability stays up to date after the request is sent. For example, if a new event is added to a connected calendar that conflicts with a previously available time, that time will no longer be offered to the candidate. You can also offer the same availability to multiple candidates, with times booked on a first-come, first-served basis.
Select the Interview Owner - this is who will conduct the interview. When offering times for the candidate to choose from, the Interview Owner’s time zone is used to display available times. Availability is determined based on the scheduling method — Send a Scheduling Link uses the Interview Owner’s connected calendar availability, while Send Several Times considers conflicts with interviews already scheduled in Hireology.
When you're ready, click Send Scheduling Link. The candidate will receive a unique link where they can select from the available interview times. The scheduling link expires after 14 days.
Choose Schedule Manually when you want to select the interview time options yourself. A synced calendar is not required.
You can schedule manually in two ways:
- Send a Confirmed Time — Select a specific date and time when the interview has already been agreed upon with the candidate.
- Send Several Times — Select multiple dates and times to offer the candidate and let them choose the option that works best for them. Once the candidate selects a time, the interview is confirmed.
For either option, select the date(s) and time(s) you want to use or offer to the candidate.
By default, times that conflict with interviews already scheduled in Hireology are hidden. Select Show all times, including conflicts to view and select conflicting times if needed. For panel interviews, conflicts are checked for both the Interview Owner and Required Interviewers. Interviews where a user is an Optional Interviewer are not considered conflicts.
Keep in mind: Manual scheduling does not use availability from an interviewer's external calendar, even if they have a synced calendar. Only conflicts with interviews scheduled within Hireology are considered. If an interviewer has a connected calendar, the interview will still be added to their calendar once it is scheduled.
Regardless of how you choose to schedule, you'll configure the interview details, including:
- Duration — Choose how long the interview will last (15 min, 30 min, 45 min, 1 hr, 1.5 hrs, or 2 hrs).
- Interview Type — Select Phone, In Person, or Video.
Note: Video interviews require both a synced calendar and a connected video conferencing provider, regardless of how the interview is scheduled. Hireology will automatically generate and include the video meeting information.
Panel Interviews
After selecting a Panel Interview, follow the steps above and select to send a scheduling link or schedule manually.
For a panel interview, select an Interview Owner and any additional interviewers who will participate.
The Interview Owner is the primary owner of the interview. Additional interviewers can be designated as:
- Required — Their availability is considered along with the Interview Owner's when determining available times or identifying conflicts.
- Optional — They are included on the interview and receive the calendar invite, but their availability is not considered when determining available times or conflicts.
Before sending or scheduling the interview, review the Candidate Notification and choose how you'd like to notify the candidate. COMING SOON: You can send an email, text message, or both. If you don't want to notify the candidate, leave both options unselected.
For email notifications, you can select a template, update the subject, and edit the message before sending. COMING SOON: For text message notifications, you can select a template and edit the message before sending.
When a candidate selects an interview time, they'll see a confirmation message and receive their interview confirmation through the same communication channel(s) used for the interview request. For example, if the request was sent by email and text, the confirmation will also be sent by email and text.
The confirmation email includes options for adding the interview to the candidate's calendar.
The interviewer will also receive an email confirmation of the confirmed interview. Interview participants with connected calendars will have the scheduled interview added to their calendars automatically.
Bulk Interview Requests
If you're working through a high-volume pipeline, you can send interview requests to multiple candidates in a single action rather than one at a time. Each candidate receives their own individual invite and books their own time slot.
Go to the candidate pipeline and navigate to the In Progress step.
Select the candidates you want to invite. All selected candidates must be in the same hiring step — if they aren't, move them before sending.
Choose Request Interviews from the bulk actions menu.
Choose the type of interview you'd like to schedule:
- One-on-One Interview — A single interviewer meets with each candidate.
- Panel Interview — Multiple interviewers meet with each candidate at the same time.
Configure the interview details and select the interviewer(s) who will participate.
Choose which availability candidates can use when selecting an interview time:
- Use default availability — Uses the availability configured in the Interview Owner's profile.
- Set custom availability — Choose specific dates and time windows to offer for these interview requests.
For panel interviews, available times account for the Interview Owner and all Required Interviewers.
Review the Candidate Notification and choose how you'd like to send the scheduling link. You can send an email, text message, or both.
For email notifications, you can select a template, update the subject, and edit the message. For text message notifications, you can select a template and edit the message.
When you're ready, click Send Interview Requests. Each candidate will receive their own scheduling link and can choose from the available interview times.
Times are booked on a first-come, first-served basis. Once a time is booked, it will no longer be available to other candidates.
Which time zone will interview times display in?
The time zone you see depends on where you are in the scheduling process:
- While scheduling an interview: Times are shown in the interview owner’s time zone.
- After an interview is confirmed: The interview time in Hireology is shown in your current local time zone (according to your browser).
- When sending a Scheduling Link or Several Times: Candidates see the available times converted to their local time zone. Their confirmation email will also show the time in their local time zone.
- When sending a confirmed time: The candidate’s confirmation email will show the time in the interview owner’s time zone.
Bulk Interview Requests via SMS
Send interview requests to multiple candidates at once via SMS. Each candidate gets a text with their own personal scheduling link, so everyone can pick a time without you coordinating each request individually.
From a job's In Progress tab, check the box next to each candidate you want to invite. Choose Request Interviews from the action menu, then Send.
In the Send Scheduling Link window, choose SMS at the top.
Set Duration, Interview Type, and Interviewer. Once you pick an interviewer, you'll see their buffer time, minimum notice, booking window, and available hours.
Under SMS Configuration, confirm recipients, choose a template, and review the message before sending.
Adding the Request Interview Link to a template
Every recipient gets the same message, but every Request Interview Link is unique. It identifies the candidate automatically, shows only their available times, and confirms the booking once they pick a slot. Without a unique link per candidate, there'd be no way to tell who booked what.
In the left navigation, go to Management > Templates > Text Templates
Open the template you want to use. SMS Interview Scheduled/Confirmation is the default; edit it or use as is.
Add [Request Interview Link] via the Insert a Dynamic Field dropdown (or type it in directly, brackets included). Save your changes.
Keep in mind:
- [Request Interview Link] must stay in the message, or candidates can't book.
- Available times depend on the interviewer's buffer, notice period, and hours.
- Default templates can be edited but not archived; Custom templates can be edited or archived freely.
Interview Confirmation
When scheduling by sending general availability or sending specific times, when candidate selects a time the hiring manager will receive a confirmation email letting them know that the interview is scheduled. If their calendar is syn'd they will also see the interview details on their sync'd calendar.
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