In between setting up phone screens, attending college recruiting events, moving candidates through the interview process and sourcing new candidates, time is a valuable commodity for recruiters. Streamline your workload by automating candidate scheduling, so you can spend more time sourcing candidates and making offers. Here are six scheduling hacks every recruiter needs to know.
Use scheduling software for greater flexibility: Use scheduling software to schedule multiple candidates at once. Provide candidates with multiple available time slots to avoid back-and-forth email conversations, and give candidates greater flexibility by offering self-scheduling. Use scheduling software to facilitate different types of candidate interviews – from phone screens to live video interviews – in an all-in-one solution.
Build your day in time blocks: Build your daily schedule in blocks to ensure you put the maximum effort into each task. Color code your time slots for each day, so you know exactly what task to work on next. Send new candidate emails before the beginning of each workday, at lunch or at the end of the workday, to avoid getting off track and to better track candidates and their responses. Schedule open time (from 11 a.m. -12 p.m. or 4-5 p.m., for example) to handle unanticipated issues, or to allow employees to come by and brainstorm with you.
Schedule “personal” time: Schedule time at the beginning, middle, and end of each day to complete organizational and personal tasks. Visit social media sites and industry-related web pages for personal development, then block or put timers on social media sites during the day to ensure that you do not get off track. Take time to organize your email into folders and attempt to get to “Inbox Zero” before 9 a.m. Check and see that your TRM is updated with all of your candidates’ information, either before the workday starts or after 5 p.m.
Double check your time zones when scheduling meetings: When working with candidates in multiple time zones, check the time zone to avoid wasted time rescheduling. If using Outlook, add a second time zone in your Outlook Calendar. Download an app such as Meeting Planner if working internationally, to see the best time to make a call across various time zones. If you’re consistently working with certain time zones, enable the World Clock on your Google Calendar to show the current times of your preferred time zones.
Prioritize your weekly and daily tasks: Prioritize your activities at the beginning of each day, week and month to avoid wasting time on productivity-sucking tasks. If they are recurring tasks, set calendar invites for yourself at different times of day to remind you of them. Keep a notebook available to write down thoughts that come to you or reminders that pop up that are unrelated to your current task, and work on them during an open time slot in your calendar.
Use mobile apps to enable quicker access to candidate information: Use mobile recruiting apps to combine tasks into one system and eliminate time-sucking paper-based organization. Create custom email templates to send messages quicker and avoid getting bogged down in email communication. Manage all recruiting processes from one platform, to allow offline accessibility and giving you more time to spend with candidates during the workday.
Are you interested in apps to further help your productivity as a recruiter? Read, 6 Apps Every Recruiter Should Download.
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