Let candidates book their interview time

Invite a candidate to pick an interview time when everyone on the panel is free - in their own time zone, in the app or by an emailed link.

In short

Instead of choosing a time yourself, invite the candidate to book one. They see only start times when everyone on the panel is free, in their own time zone, and pick one. The interview is then scheduled for everyone with calendar invitations, and the application moves to Interview.

Before you start

Who: only people who manage the role send invitations to book. The panel is chosen from the role's hiring team.
Plan: Jobs is part of every plan, Free included.
First: the working hours and the busy time in each panelist's Planner decide which times are offered (see /help/planner/planner-settings).

Invite a candidate to book

Open the role in Jobs › "Hiring" and find the applicant.
Press "Invite to book" - the card's main button at the Interview stage - or pick it under "More".
Under "Panel", tick the interviewers. You are ticked already.
With more than one interviewer, choose what "Each interview needs": "Everyone on the panel", or any 1, 2 ... of them. Then the panel is a pool: the candidate sees a time when that many are free, and the ones with the fewest interviews in those days take it.
Choose the "Length" (30, 45, 60 or 90 minutes), the "Kind", and "They can choose from": the next 3, 7 or 14 days.
Optionally add "Where, or the video link" and a "Note for the panel". Only the panel reads the note.
Read the line under the form. It says how many free start times there are and when the first one is, so you never send an empty calendar.
Press "Send invitation". The candidate gets an email, and an inbox note if they have an account; the card shows "Invited to book".

Pick your time (for candidates)

Open the link in the email, or Jobs › "Find work" › "Applications" › "Interview times" › "Pick a time".
Choose a start time. The times are grouped by day, in your own time zone.
Press "Book this time". The page says "You're booked" with when and where, and a calendar invitation comes by email.

Offer extra times by hand (for interviewers)

Open Planner › … › "Planner settings…" › "Interview times".
Under "Interview times offered by hand", choose "From" and "Until" - an evening or a weekend, for example.
Press "Offer this time". Candidates may now pick from it too, beside your working hours.

Good to know

A start time is offered only when every panelist is free. The time must fall inside their working hours (9 to 5 on weekdays in their time zone when none are set). It must also fall outside the busy time their calendars show and their other interviews. Time they offered by hand counts too.
Start times come every half hour, at least 12 hours ahead, and at most 80 of them. What keeps anyone busy is never shown.
The place or video link is shown to the candidate only once they book.
If two people pick the same time at once, only one gets it; the other sees the times still free and picks again.
An application has one open invitation at a time. To stop it, open the applicant and press "Withdraw invitation": the candidate's link stops working, and you can invite again or use "Schedule interview by hand".
Once booked, it is an ordinary interview: change or cancel it as in /help/jobs/teamwork-and-interviews.
Only people who manage the role send invitations to book; the panel is chosen from the role's hiring team. A time offered by hand is at most 12 hours long, and past ones drop off.

If something goes wrong

"The panel has no free time in these days." - choose more days or fewer people, offer time by hand, or schedule the interview by hand.
"This candidate already has an open invitation to book - cancel it first."
"This time is booked - cancel the interview instead." - the candidate already booked, so withdraw by canceling the interview.
"That time was just taken - pick another." / "That time is no longer free - pick another." - the list shows the times still free.
"This invitation has closed." - the days to choose from have passed or the team withdrew it; ask the hiring team for a new one.

/help/jobs/teamwork-and-interviews
/help/jobs/hiring-pipeline-and-timeline
/help/jobs/my-applications
/help/planner/planner-settings