Introducing the Accept/Decline Interview feature!

With links in emails to candidates, they can easily accept or decline interview invitations, enhancing their experience and improving visibility for recruiters and interviewers. It also results in a reduction in manual follow-up and allows for better tracking of candidates’ responses, ultimately decreasing interview no-shows and improving the recruitment process.

This feature can be used for any manual interview bookings, excluding those using the MS Teams feature as acceptance/declining would be handled by your email browser / MS Teams invite process.

To activate this feature, please reach out to our support team. Once activated, this feature will be enabled for all manual interviews.

What's included in this guide:

• Inviting a candidate to interview
  • Editing emails
• The candidate experience
  • Accepting an interview invite
  • Declining an interview invite
• Visibility of accepted and declined interviews
  • Accepted interviews
  • Declined interviews
    • Link expiry
• Amending and rescheduling interviews 
  • Rescheduling or updating interviews
  • Cancelling interviews
  • Homepage: interview calendar
  • Reporting
• Setup 
  • Step 1:
  • Step 2: Email Templates
  • Step 3: Candidate Application Statuses
  • Step 4: System Customisation
• FAQs

Inviting a candidate to interview

On the candidate listing page, click the Interview icon.

A pop-up screen will be displayed confirming the candidate’s name and the job title.

To create a manual invite to an interview, click Create New Appointment. You’ll then see this page below to add the details of the interview:

• Interview Date: Add the interview date, in the format shown (DD/MM/YYYY)
• Interview Time: Select from the dropdown options the start time of the interview 
• Interview Duration: Select the duration of the interview e.g., 1 hour 30 mins   
• Add Interviewer: Choose the interviewer(s) that you would like to receive an email advising of the interview slot.

This field pulls from the list of contacts in the Address Book.

If you need to add any interviewers, you can do so in Settings by adding System Users (if the user also needs access to the system) or adding to the Address Book (if they do not need to log in to the system).

MS Teams Invite: Interviews booked with the MS Teams feature do not have the Accept/Decline Interview feature because acceptance/declining are managed through the email browser or MS Teams invite process.

If you have activated the Microsoft Teams integration please click here for guidance on interview booking.

• Email to Candidate: Turn this on to automatically send the selected invitation email and attachments when you 'Send Invite'.
  1. Once an email template has been selected a Preview Template button will appear allowing you to preview the email selected.
  2. Add document from Library: Here you can choose to attach documents from the document library to the email invite.
  3. Add Calendar Meeting File (VCS):  If enabled this will add a calendar attachment to the candidate’s invitation email.

• Email to Interviewers: Turn this on to send the selected interviewers an email notification of the interview booking.
  1. Once an email template has been selected a Preview Template button will appear allowing you to preview the email selected.
  2. You can choose if you would like the interviewer to receive the CV, Pre-Assessment Form or Application Form as an attachment to their interview notification email by toggling the relevant item on.
  3. Add Calendar Meeting File (VCS):  If enabled this will add a calendar attachment to the notification email selected.
     
     

Press Send Invite.

Editing emails

If your user permissions allow you to edit emails sent on a status change, then after clicking Send invite you will be able to edit the email content prior to sending.

Please note: The merge field below must be included in the invite email to the candidate to allow them to accept or decline the interview.

Merge field: {AcceptDecline}

After clicking Send Invite, this triggers emails to the candidate and/or the selected interviewers.

These emails are logged in the candidate’s sent emails and the content can be viewed from there.

The candidate’s application status will also automatically update to the Invite Sent status configured in System Customisation.

Exit & Close to return to the candidate’s record/candidates listing page. The date and time will appear in the Interview column.

The calendar icon in the candidate listing page/candidate profile page will be amber to indicate the interview is unconfirmed as the candidate hasn’t yet accepted or declined the interview. 

The candidate experience

The candidate will receive the interview invite email and can click the accept or decline link which will open a browser window with the interview details. Candidates aren’t required to log in to accept or decline the interview helping to ensure a seamless candidate experience.

This window will have two options presented to the candidate, for them to accept or decline the interview.

Accepting an interview invite

If the candidate accepts the interview invitation, they will get a confirmation message on screen reconfirming the interview date and time.  

Declining an interview invite

If the candidate declines the interview, they will be directed to the page below where they can provide a reason for their decision. Please note that stating a reason for declining is optional.

The candidate will only be seen as having declined the interview once they select Decline Interview. They will be presented with a final confirmation that the interview has been cancelled.

Visibility of accepted and declined interviews

Once the candidate has accepted or declined the interview, this will be updated in real time in the candidate listing page/candidate’s record. 

Accepted interviews

Once a candidate has accepted the interview the calendar icon in the candidate listing page/candidate’s profile page will change to a green icon with a check mark, to indicate they have accepted. 

The candidate’s status will automatically update to the Interview Accepted status as set in System Customisation.

The candidate’s history will update to indicate that they’ve accepted the interview along with the status update. 

Declined interviews

If an interview is declined, the calendar icon in the candidate listing page/candidate profile page will change to a red icon with a cross. The interview date/time is also removed.

The candidate’s status will automatically update to the Interview Declined status as set in System Customisation.

Interview cancellation emails will be sent to the interviewer (as set in System Customisation > Interview Cancel Email).

The cancellation email to interviewers will include a .VCS file if sent initially, to remove the interview from their calendar.

Any comments added by the candidate when declining the interview can be included in the cancellation emails if required (see setup section).

The candidate’s history will be updated to indicate that they’ve declined the interview, including the reason why, along with the status update. 

Clicking on the declined interview history entry allows you to see the candidate's reason for declining. 

Link expiry

The accept and decline links in the email will expire once the interview time has passed.
 

After the interview date and time has passed, if the candidate hasn't responded, the icon and candidate status will remain unchanged until manually updated by a system user or until the candidate withdraws or deletes their application.

Amending and rescheduling interviews 

Rescheduling or updating interviews

To reschedule or amend an interview, click on the interview icon displayed (regardless of which icon it is) to update the date, time or other information. 

Changing the date and/or time and selecting Send Invite will effectively reset the process:

• The interview invite emails will be sent
• The candidate’s application status will also automatically update to the Invite Sent status configured in System Customisation
• The calendar icon will revert to the orange unconfirmed interview icon

This is useful in circumstances when a candidate has declined because they are unable to attend an interview and a new date has been agreed. The candidate is then required to confirm the new interview date.

If a new interview is sent, the accept and decline links in the previous invite email will be invalidated. 

Cancelling interviews

To cancel a candidate interview, follow these steps:

• From the candidate’s record/candidate listing page, click on the interview date and time
• Select Cancel Interview and then press Yes 

Once the interview is cancelled:

• A standard cancellation email is sent to both the candidate and interviewer, including any VCS cancellation files if previously selected when inviting the candidate
• The accept and decline links in the candidate’s email become invalid
• The date and time is removed from the candidate list/candidate’s record and the calendar icon reverts to the default colour
• An entry is added in the candidate’s history confirming the interview deletion, along with the name of the user who deleted it
• The interview will be removed from the interview calendar on the homepage

Homepage: interview calendar

The interview calendar on the homepage will reflect the booking status of interviews allowing users to easily review any upcoming interviews that are confirmed/unconfirmed.

The colour of the interview slot will display as follows:  

• Green = accepted Interviews
• Yellow = unconfirmed interviews (where the candidate has not accepted or declined)

Declined interviews will not appear here because the interview has been cancelled when the candidate declined the invite.

Reporting

An additional column has been added to the Interview Details Report to display the status of interviews. This will show any accepted interviews and those awaiting a response. 

Setup 

Step 1:

To activate this feature, please reach out to our support team.

Please note: Once activated, it is enabled for all manual interviews. 

When activating the feature, we will complete configuration steps 2 to 4 outlined below.

Setup information is provided for future reference so that any future config changes can be easily managed without needing assistance from the support team.

Step 2: Email Templates

Go to Settings > Communications > Email Templates:

2.1 Add in Accept/Decline hyperlink 

The {AcceptDecline} merge field must be included in any invite to interview emails to the candidate to allow them to Accept/ Decline the interview.

Add the merge field below to any candidate manual invite to interview email templates.

• Hyperlink Merge field: {AcceptDecline}

2.2 Create interviewer cancellation email 

When a candidate declines an interview, a cancellation email is sent to interviewers and will also include the candidate's reason (if given).

A new email template will need to be created for this.

To include the candidate reason for declining an interview, add this merge field in the email content: {InterviewDeclineReason}.

Step 3: Candidate Application Statuses

Go to Settings > General Settings > Candidate Application Statuses and add a new candidate status for Interview Declined.

Step 4: System Customisation

4.1 Statuses 

In System Customisation the Interview Statuses section needs to be configured.

Go to Settings > System Customisation > Customise > Interview Statuses.

• Invite Sent: This is the status the candidate will update to once the invite has been sent
• Interview Accepted: The status that candidates are updated to once they have accepted the interview
• Interview Declined: The status that candidates are updated to if they decline an interview

4.2 Emails

Navigate to the ‘Emails’ section of System Customisation and scroll down to Set Manual Interview Email. 

• Default Candidate Interview Email: This is the default invite to interview email that is sent to candidates – this can be amended when inviting candidates if required
• Interview Cancel Email: Add in the Interviewer’s Cancellation email created in step 2.2

FAQs

Is it possible to reschedule interviews once an invite has been sent?
 

Yes, you can reschedule and amend the interview details and resend the invite. Please click here for more information. This process is useful for candidates who declined due to scheduling conflicts and need a new interview date and/or time. 

This will then restart the process and the candidate can confirm the updated interview by clicking the email links.

Can I still use standard merge fields to pull in Interview details captured on job access? 

Yes, candidate and job-related merge fields will work in these emails so information such as Interview Details captured on the Job Access page of the job. 

Once a candidate accepts or declines an email is a further confirmation email sent advising of their acceptance or declination? 

No, additional confirmation emails for candidates aren't required since the original invite email can include a .VCS file and interview details.  

If you want candidates to receive an email after declining, we recommend attaching an email to the candidate decline status, as specified in system customisation.

How can I track/report on declined interviews?  

When a candidate declines the interview, the following actions occur:

• The interview is cancelled and interview cancellation emails to interviewers are triggered 
• The calendar icon changes to a red icon and the date and time are removed 
• The candidate’s status updates to the ‘Interview Declined’ status configured in System Customisation 
• An entry is added in the candidate’s history detailing that the interview date/time was declined. 

Declined interviews typically occur when candidates withdraw or delete or need to reschedule, resulting in an immediate new booking. Therefore, no additional declined date/time details are kept and declined interviews won't be shown on the homepage calendar or interview details report.

Instead, you can manage reporting, searching and filtering on candidates who declined interviews using the status change or candidate status history record.

What happens if a candidate clicks the button after already accepting or declining?

If a new interview is sent, the old link should be invalidated. Once a candidate has agreed or declined, the link in the email is then invalidated preventing the candidate from changing their selected choice. 

Instead, they will be presented with an onscreen message advising the invite is no longer valid requesting they get in contact directly.
 

How long are the accept and decline links valid for? 

The accept and decline links in the email will expire once the interview time has passed. The candidate will be presented with the ‘Invite no longer valid’ message onscreen prompting them to get in touch.
 

What happens if the candidate doesn’t accept or decline their interview using the links in the email? 

After the interview date and time has passed, if the candidate hasn't responded, the calendar icon and candidate status will remain unchanged until manually updated by a system user or until the candidate withdraws or deletes their application.

Can candidates accept or decline interviews from their candidate homepage?

No, the candidate must follow the links in the Invite to Interview email to accept or decline the interview.

Can system users accept or decline interviews on behalf of a candidate? 

Yes, simply go to the candidate’s sent emails, click on the invite to interview email and click the accept or decline link.

Does this work with MS Teams?
 

No, this feature is not compatible with the MS Teams integration, as acceptance/declination is handled by the client’s email browser.

Does this feature work for interviews booked via the Calendar Event Manager? 

No, this feature is specifically for manually booked interviews, as candidates book their own interviews with the event manager so the ability to accept and decline interviews is irrelevant.

Why has the candidate not been given the option to accept or decline?

You will need to ensure that the {AcceptDecline} merge field has been added to the email template used when sending out the interview invite.