3 Steps to Improve Your Interview Scheduling

Phone interviews are important but often the slowest part of the hiring process, leaving candidates anxious and frustrated. This step in the process takes strategic time out of recruiters days when they could be focused on higher value tasks. Meanwhile, the best candidates are off the market in 10 days and typical phone interviews have been shown to add 6-8 days to an already long hiring process. Let's dive into three steps to improve your interview scheduling process to save your team time and stress while getting quality candidates on board faster.

Step 1: Align with other departments 

Aligning with other departments doesn’t have to be as daunting as it may sound. Start by gathering information. Talk to Hiring managers and ask them key questions so that you know where to begin. Ask questions like:

• If you could review all of the initial interviews at once, how long would you need to consider the candidates?
• What are your hiring objectives for the next quarter or the next year?
• How many follow-up interviews will you need?
• Will the candidates need to perform any kind of assessment? 

Hiring manager’s answers are the perfect starting point to crafting your own interview timeline. 

Step 2: Build your ideal timeline 

As you gather information, consider your organization's own hiring goals. Look at your recruitment team KPI’s and the onboarding process to see where you can improve. A set timeline brings candidates through the process more efficiently, and it diminishes the chance of candidates choosing another company. Some timeline guidelines you should implement include: 

• Engaging with qualified candidates within 2-3 days of applying - inform them that their application was received to encourage trust in your company. 
• Move candidates through initial screening phases in 2 weeks or less - candidates don’t like to wait. The faster they are through the screening process, the better. 
• Put the candidates in charge with virtual interviews. Some candidates are not available during regular office hours. Offering flexibility gives candidates a positive impression of your company. 

There are bound to be roadblocks along each step of the process. Expect some delays and plan for buffer days. There may be difficulty connecting with a candidate, or technical difficulties that delay the candidate moving through the process. Be proactive and do not let these snags be the reason you lose a candidate.

Step 3: Work smarter, not harder 

Recruiters’ days can be busy with administrative tasks that delay interviews. Implement hiring tools to automate the parts of the processes that pull you away from quality applicants. Not only are you evaluating your candidates, but the candidates are evaluating your company. Candidates take notice of how long it takes from phone screening to scheduling, to hiring. If it takes longer than three weeks, they may not have a positive impression of your company.  

Invest in the Qualifi platform to automate your scheduling and interview process. This takes the weight of administrative tasks off recruiters so that they can direct their energy towards promising candidates and value-driven projects. Asynchronous phone interviews with Qualifi will help your team:  

• Easily schedule interviews with candidates, avoiding tedious back and forth emails 
• Interview candidates outside of work hours and review candidate responses when it's convenient for your team
• Screen hundreds of candidates quickly, decreasing your time to hire and reducing the number of candidates waiting in limbo. 
• Increase the amount of time your team has for talent sourcing. (Some customers have said using Qualifi is like hiring another recruiter!)

With Qualifi, you invite hundreds of candidates to on-demand interviews at once which helps you speed up your interview timeline and decrease your time to hire. Our platform allows you to collaborate and give feedback on candidates with your internal teams while exceeding the expectations of your hiring manager.

Read more about how we’re building the fastest and most convenient phone interview experience in the world, saving both candidates and recruiters time.