Interview scheduling

No more emails back and forth about times. You say who interviews and on which days, and the candidate chooses from the times when everyone is free, in their own time zone.

Calendar sync with Google and Microsoft calendars is in the Growth and Enterprise plans; scheduling itself is in every plan. See Plans and the trial.

Set your availability

Choose Your availability in the sidebar.

• Time zone: your hours are in this time zone. If you travel, change it; candidates always see times in their own.
• Weekly hours: switch on the days you can interview and set the hours. Add a second block for a split day, such as 9:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 17:00.
• Days off and changed hours: pick a day for a holiday, a trip to the shop in Tromsø or a day with different hours. These replace your weekly hours on that day.

Until you save, Careers Orbit assumes Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00. Changing your hours never moves interviews already booked.

Invite a candidate to choose a time

On the candidate's profile, under Interviews, choose Schedule an interview:

1. Interview kit: pick the kit for this interview, such as Phone screen. The Name and Length come from the kit, and the interviewers are asked for that kit's scorecard afterwards.
2. How: Video call, Phone call or In person with the address. For a video call, choose Paste a link for your own link, or, with your Google or Microsoft calendar connected, choose Create a Meet link or Create a Teams link: the meeting is made in your calendar when the candidate books, and its link goes into every invitation.
3. Interviewers: anyone on the job's hiring team. With several, only times when all of them are free are offered. Someone who isn't on the team must be added under the job's Hiring team first.
4. First day, Last day and Notice: the days to offer, up to 60 days apart, and how much notice you need before an interview.
5. A note for the candidate, if you like.

Careers Orbit shows how many times suit everyone before you send. If none do, offer more days or fewer interviewers, or ask them to check their availability. Send the link emails the candidate the "Choose a time for an interview" email, which you can change under Email templates. It must keep {schedulingLink}.

Agreed a time on the phone already? Choose I agreed a time, pick it and choose Book and send invitations; the invitations go out straight away.

What the candidate sees

The link opens a page on your hosted career site, in your colours and in their language. They see the interview, its length and the first names of the interviewers, then the free times by day, in their own time zone (they can change it). They choose a time and book.

From the same page they can choose another time or cancel, with an optional reason, until the interview starts. The page never shows your calendar or why a time isn't free.

Calendar invitations

When the time is booked, the candidate and every interviewer get an email with a calendar invitation (.ics). Opening it adds the interview to Outlook, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or any other calendar. When the time moves, the same entry moves; when it is cancelled, it leaves everyone's calendar.

On the profile, the board and the overview

• The profile lists each interview: Waiting for a time, Booked or Cancelled. From its menu you can Book a time for them or Move to another time, send the link again (the old link stops working) or cancel.
• On the job's board, a card shows when the interview is booked, or that the candidate is still choosing.
• The overview shows Interviews to come in the next two weeks, marked where you interview.
• Interviewers get a notification when an interview is booked, moved or cancelled.

After the interview

When an interview with a kit is over, each interviewer is asked for their scorecard, due by the end of the next working day, and reminded if it isn't in. See Scorecards and interview kits.

Automations

Two triggers start automations: An interview is booked and An interview has taken place. Use them to tag the candidate, notify the team or move them to the next stage. See Automations.

Google and Microsoft calendars

On Your availability, under Calendars, choose Connect next to Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook and sign in with your work account. Each person connects their own calendar. Then:

• Don't offer times I'm busy: Careers Orbit reads only when you are busy (free/busy), never what your events are, and leaves those times out for candidates.
• Add booked interviews: booked interviews go straight into your calendar and move or disappear when the candidate moves or cancels. Your invitation email then comes without the calendar file, so nothing appears twice.
• Meet and Teams links: when you arrange a video interview, Careers Orbit can make a Google Meet or Microsoft Teams meeting for it in your calendar.

Careers Orbit uses its own Google and Microsoft apps for calendars, separate from the ones you sign in to Orbit with, so signing in never asks for calendar access. Your Microsoft admin may have to approve the app once for your organisation. If a calendar stops answering, for example after you change your password, its card shows Last try failed with the reason. Disconnect it and Connect it again; until then times are offered from your weekly hours. Disconnect removes the connection and asks Google to revoke it.

If a calendar shows Not available yet, the Orbit team hasn't connected the apps on this server. The email invitations still add interviews to any calendar.