Creating and managing interview events

Create interview events on a job's Events tab, choose the right type, invite candidates and manage bookings, cancellations and reschedules.

Every interview you schedule in Recruit belongs to an interview event on a job's Events tab. An event ties together a pipeline stage, the people who interview, the email candidates receive and the times on offer. This article covers creating events of all three types, what each field does, and how to invite candidates and manage what they book. For how the candidate's booking page looks, see "Candidate self-scheduling links". For the overview of how events fit into the pipeline, see "How interview scheduling works".

Who can do this

Only Admin and HR users can create, edit, publish, close or delete an event, add or remove slots, invite candidates, book candidates in, change booking statuses, cancel, reschedule and export. Other people on the job team can open the Events tab and see the event list, but they cannot make changes or open an event's bookings. The tab is not shown while a job is a draft, pending approval or pending setup, so it appears once the job has been through those steps.

Private events (see the Private event switch below) are hidden from everyone except Admin and HR users and, on slot-based and static events, the people ticked under Required Attendees.

The pickers for hosts, attendees and interviewers list only people on the job's team, so add them to the team first. Every host or interviewer who will use a connected diary must connect their own calendar under Settings, then My Profile.

The three event types

Create an event

1. Open the job and select the Events tab.
2. Select Create Event. On a job with no events the same button sits in the empty state under No events set up.
3. Under Select event type, choose Calendar availability, Slot-based or Static and select Continue. Calendar availability is pre-selected.
4. Under Select a pipeline stage, choose the stage the event belongs to and select Continue. A stage that already has a calendar availability event is greyed out for that type and shows This stage already has a calendar availability event. To use a stage that does not exist yet, select Add new stage, enter a Name (up to 100 characters), choose a Position (After an existing stage, or At the end) and select Create stage. The new stage is selected for you.
5. Complete the form for the type you chose (below) and select Create.

The event is saved as Draft and stays invisible to candidates until you publish it. The one exception is a slot-based event created with at least one slot already chosen on its calendar, which is created as Open straight away.

Fields every event has

• Event Title: required, up to 255 characters. A static event starts with the stage name followed by "Interview".
• Description: optional, up to 5,000 characters.
• Format: Online or In person. Choosing In person reveals Venue (up to 255 characters). Format, venue and the private setting start from the defaults an Admin or HR user sets under Settings, then Events. On a static event the stage's own location wins over the default venue.
• Private event: marks the calendar entry private, turns on a lobby so attendees cannot join instantly, and restricts who can see the event in Recruit.
• Duration: 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, 360 or 480 minutes. New events start at 30 minutes (calendar availability), 60 minutes (slot-based) or the stage's duration if it has one, otherwise 60 (static).
• Timezone: defaults to Europe/London. Slots and schedules are read in this timezone and each candidate sees the times converted to their own. Once an event has slots or any booking you cannot change its timezone or duration.
• Candidate Email: the message candidates receive. If your organisation has templates in the Scheduling or Interview Reminder categories, a dropdown lets you start from one (or choose No template). Choosing a template copies its text into the editor, where you can edit it for this event. Use Insert merge field for candidate and interview details. Preview email shows the result with sample values.
• Attachments: Attach a file uploads a PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint or image file, up to 8 MB each and 10 per email. Select from job attachments reuses files already on the job's advert. If a file is later deleted it is dropped from the event and a notice tells you to re-attach it.

Calendar availability events

These forms have four extra sections.

• Hosts: tick the team members whose calendars decide availability. If a ticked host has not connected a calendar, a Calendar not connected banner names them, with a link to Connect calendar in profile settings, and the form cannot be saved until they connect or you untick them. You cannot connect a calendar for someone else.
• Availability Schedule: a switch, a start time and an end time for each day from Mon to Sun. The default is Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00, with Saturday and Sunday off. An enabled day's end time must be after its start time.
• Blocked Periods: select Add blocked period for a time range (it starts at 12:00 to 13:00) and an optional label such as "Lunch break", up to 255 characters. Up to 100 periods. They are times of day that are never offered, and the end must be after the start.
• Minimum advance notice: No minimum, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours or 1 week. Candidates cannot book a slot closer than this.

There is no slot list to maintain. Recruit works out the bookable times from the schedule, the blocked periods, the notice period and every host's diary when the candidate opens their link.

Once saved as a draft, select Publish to open the event. You can delete a draft with Delete Event.

Slot-based events

The slot-based form has these extra parts.

• Interview Breaks: select Add break, then set a Start time and a Duration of 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 45 or 60 minutes. Breaks appear as bands on the availability calendar. Two breaks that overlap show an error and block saving.
• Candidate Email must contain the Scheduling Link merge field, because that is how the candidate reaches the booking page. Without it you see The email body must include the Scheduling Link merge field. and the form cannot be saved. If you start from a template, check that its text includes the link.
• When to Send: an optional date and time. It delays the confirmation email to a candidate when you book them in yourself with Add Booking. It does not delay invitations.
• Required Attendees: tick everyone who takes part. Each person shows Calendar synced or No calendar.
• Primary Interviewer: choose from the people you ticked, or leave No primary interviewer. Choosing someone also ticks them and locks their tick. Their calendar decides which times candidates can book.
• Availability Calendar: a week view in the event's timezone. Nothing shows until you have ticked an attendee. Colours are Available (everyone free), Partial, Busy, Selected (a slot you have added), Booked and Overlap, with a question mark where a diary could not be read. The Bookable only switch hides everything except cells where a slot can be added, and the arrows move between weeks.

Click an available cell to add a slot of the event's duration, or drag across several cells to add a run of slots. Click a selected cell to remove it, or drag across selected cells to remove several. A booked slot cannot be removed. While you are creating the event, slots are held on screen and saved with it when you select Create. On an existing event, each change is saved as you make it. If the stage has more than one draft or open event, a Book Interview Slot dialog first asks whether the slot belongs to a new event or to an existing one you choose under Select Event. Slots cannot be added to a closed event.

A slot-based event cannot be published until it has at least one slot and at least one person named as Primary Interviewer or ticked under Required Attendees. Until then Publish is greyed out and the message Add at least one time slot before publishing. or Set a primary interviewer or pool before publishing. appears when you hover over it. Creating a slot-based event with slots but no interviewer fails with the second message.

Static events

• Interview Date & Time: required, in the event's timezone. It must be in the future. If it falls in the hour that disappears when the clocks go forward you see This time doesn't exist because of a daylight-saving clock change, so pick another.
• Required Attendees and Primary Interviewer: as for slot-based events, without the calendar labels. Saving an existing static event needs at least one of them.
• Candidate Email: required. If it does not contain the Scheduling Link merge field a notice says so, but the candidate's link to confirm or decline is added to the email anyway.

Select Publish once the event is saved as a draft. Publishing needs at least one attendee.

Event status

Events show one of three statuses on the event list, where each card also shows the stage, type, job, duration and format, and a Private badge where it applies.

• Draft: being set up. Candidates cannot use it. You can delete it.
• Open: live. You can invite candidates and take bookings.
• Closed: finished or cancelled. This cannot be undone, and a closed event cannot be reopened.

To close an open event, use Close on a slot-based event or Cancel Event on the other two types. Closing cancels every pending invitation and every active booking, and removes the online meetings Recruit created. What candidates hear depends on the type:

• On calendar availability and static events, Cancel Event offers Cancel without notifying and Send cancellation email. The second needs a Cancellation message, which is placed in your organisation's Interview Cancellation email template and sent to every booked and invited candidate.
• On a slot-based event, Close sends nothing. If candidates should be told, cancel their bookings one at a time with Cancel Interview first, which does email them.

Invite candidates

The Invite Candidates tab appears next to Details once an event is Open or Closed. A slot-based event created with slots already chosen opens on it straight away.

On calendar availability and slot-based events, select Invite candidates (only shown while the event is Open), search by name or email, tick the candidates and select Invite with the number shown. The list holds active applications on the job that do not yet have a booking on this event, up to 500, with people in the event's own stage first. Candidates whose identity is hidden by redaction or confidential shortlisting appear under a label instead of a name. The button is disabled for anyone who cannot move candidates between stages.

Each candidate gets an email with their own booking link, which is valid for seven days. They also get a text message with the link if your organisation has the SMS add-on and holds a valid mobile number. The candidate then shows as Invited with a delivery badge (Pending, Sent or Email failed). A failed badge usually means the address is unsubscribed or was rejected.

If you invite someone who already has a live invitation, an Already invited prompt asks whether to resend. Resend invite cancels the old link, creates a new one, emails it, and opens an email window for each candidate in turn so you can add a message. Cancel the prompt to leave the existing invitation as it is.

If nobody is set as Primary Interviewer or ticked under Required Attendees, the invite fails with This event has no interviewer configured. Name someone on the event and invite again.

On a static event, select Invite candidates on the Invite Candidates tab, tick candidates and select Send invite to the number shown. The event must have a template chosen in the Candidate Email dropdown and saved, otherwise the dialog warns This event has no candidate email template and the button stays disabled. Each email carries a link for the candidate to confirm or decline and, for an online event, the join link. The tab lists each candidate with a delivery badge (Pending, Sent or Failed), a response badge (Confirmed, Declined or No response) and a running count of each. If some invites fail, the dialog stays open with only those candidates still ticked, and the message gives the reason: no email address on file, an empty subject or body, or not delivered.

Bookings

On calendar availability and slot-based events, the Invite Candidates tab groups people as Invited (link sent, nothing booked), Booked and Complete. It refreshes every minute and shows the candidate's email, the booked date and time and, for online interviews, a Join meeting link. If Recruit could not create the meeting you see Meeting link could not be generated for this booking and should send the candidate a link yourself.

Booking statuses are Booked, Attended, No Show and Cancelled. On a booked row, Update Status opens a menu with:

• Send email: opens a window to email the candidate. Pick a template or write your own, edit the Subject and Message (both required), and send now or schedule it.
• Mark Attended: moves the row to Complete and adds a View Feedback link to the interview feedback page for that candidate.
• Mark No Show: keeps the row under Booked with a No Show badge.
• Cancel Interview and Reschedule Interview, described below.

To book a candidate in yourself, select Add Booking, choose an available slot under Time Slot, search for the candidate by typing at least two characters of their name or email, then select Book Slot. The event must be Open. The candidate gets a confirmation email and the interviewer is told about the booking. A slot someone else has taken in the meantime gives This time slot is no longer available. Refresh the page and try again.

Cancel or reschedule a booking

Cancel Interview cancels the booking, frees the slot for others, removes the online meeting from the calendar and emails the candidate using your Interview Cancellation template (a standard one is used if you have not edited it). A text message goes too if you have the SMS add-on.

Reschedule Interview does all of that and then issues a fresh booking link, so the candidate receives the cancellation email and a new invitation to choose another time. It needs someone who can act as interviewer, taken from the original request, the event's Primary Interviewer or its Required Attendees. If there is nobody the reschedule fails and shows Failed to update booking.

To cancel several at once, tick the booked rows (or use Select All) and choose Cancel Selected. This cancels the bookings and removes their meetings, but it does not send the cancellation email, despite what the confirmation says. Text messages go out with the SMS add-on. Tell those candidates yourself.

What candidates are sent

Export bookings

Open the event's Invite Candidates tab and select Export CSV. The file is named after the event and has one row per booking with Candidate Name, Email, Date, Start Time, End Time and Status. Cancelled and no-show bookings are included. If the download fails you see Failed to export CSV, and it is worth trying again.

Changing an event later

Open an event from the list to edit it and select Save. Timezone and duration are locked once slots or bookings exist, and you see a message giving the number of each. You can delete an event only while it is a Draft.

Related articles

Calendar availability events need each host to have a connected calendar: see Connecting your calendar. For choosing who interviews and which feedback form a stage uses, see Assigning interviewers and feedback forms to a stage.