Five ways organisations can use AI to supercharge interview scheduling

Interview scheduling can be an arduous and time-consuming process for many organisations. However, AI or more specifically conversational AI, can help leading oreganisations turn their interview scheduling into a competitive advantage.

Here’s how:

1.  AI increases conversion and helps you schedule interviews first, fastest

Candidates want to convert. The reason they are applying to jobs in the first place is to get a job. They want a job so badly, in fact, that they are often applying to multiple jobs simultaneously.

For instance, high-volume candidates are notorious for applying to dozens of jobs at once — and they are going to choose whoever responds and moves through the process fastest. Therefore, the ideal interview scheduling process is one that is fast and accurate.
It is one that can immediately interact with candidates when they are interested in applying, and gets them scheduled for an interview as soon as possible. Paradox’s Conversational Scheduling software does just that.

Unlike even the most dedicated humans, conversational AI is always on — meaning that it can screen interested candidates for qualifications 24/7. When a candidate is deemed qualified, an AI assistant can immediately send open times to schedule an interview. The best part? It is all done via text, right on candidates’ phones.

McDonald’s franchises have been able to reduce time to hire by 60% by letting their AI assistant, Olivia, handle interview scheduling. All while boasting a nearly unanimous candidate approval rating for the process and returning five hours to restaurant managers each week.

2.  AI gives time back to recruiters by syncing directly with their calendars

We understand the sanctity of your calendar and how the prospects of AI scheduling you to conduct back-to-back interviews can be overwhelming.

Which is why our conversational AI software does not just integrate with your calendar — it integrates with your schedule. With Conversational Scheduling, you can adjust which times you are available for interviews, and more importantly, which times you are not. When your AI assistant sends interview times to candidates, it only pulls the predetermined availability set by you.

In organisations that hire high quantities of frontline positions, team members often have booked calendars for weeks on end. To mitigate the risk of losing a candidate to a full schedule, AI assistants can be configured to centralise all incoming interview information. This means that other users in the organisation are notified and can take on the new candidates.

3.  AI eliminates frustration and time-stealers by handling all interview types, even the most complex ones

The idea that all interviews are just two people talking face-to-face is simply not true. Many organisations have multi-stage interview processes: panel interviews where there are multiple interviewers at once; multi-day interviews that span the course of a week; round robin interviews that have different interviewers speak to a candidate back-to-back.

Our Conversational Scheduling software allows you to schedule the exact time of interview you need, and when. And it can manage this across as many calendars as you would like.

With Conversational Scheduling, you can delineate your specific interview scheduling process, and your AI assistant can still schedule with ease. And no matter the type of interview, it is still a simplified experience for the candidate. They are still receiving all the information on their phone. Should they have questions, the AI assistant can immediately clarify and answer them. Meanwhile, recruiters can set load management settings to manage their team’s workloads and prevent burnout.

4.  AI reduces drop-off and ghosting by automating rescheduling and candidate comms

It is vital to schedule candidate interviews promptly, but equally important is the pre-interview period. Neglecting candidates during this phase can result in drop-offs and wasted time. Sobeys, a Canadian grocer with 1,500+ stores, tackled candidate ghosting by deploying Sam, a conversational AI assistant. Sam automates interview reminders and offers new time slots if rescheduling is necessary, leading to an 80% decrease in interview no-show rates for Sobeys.

Too often, rescheduling interviews drains hours of time from recruiters and hiring managers, playing phone tag and email pong in desperate hopes that this time — things work out.

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With Conversational Scheduling, you do not have to spend your days glued to your calendar app. AI assistants can do all that work automatically — and you can spend less time worrying about life’s inevitable tendency to get in the way of interviews.

5.  AI strengthens teamwide communication by helping Executive Assistants manage leadership schedules

For some people, conducting job interviews is their life. For others, conducting job interviews is an item on a very long list of things they need to do in a day.

We have made sure that AI assistants can communicate with executive assistants or other team members to help manage leaders’ calendars, interview time slots, and other communications.

With Conversational Scheduling, you can maintain a better, consistent relationship with your candidates pre-interview, and you can do it without lifting a finger. So let AI handle your interview scheduling processes — and you focus on the magical moments that happen during the interviews.

To find out how Singtel is evolving their hiring process with the use of AI, join John Secrest, President & Chief Product Officer, Paradox; and Delia-Ann Ho, Senior Director, Strategic Talent Acquisition, Group People & Sustainability, Singtel at HR Tech Festival Asia 2024 on April 25 at 11am, at the CHRO Symposium.