Talent Acquisition adds enhanced interview scheduling

Sage People now enables you to schedule candidate interviews through Microsoft Outlook. The process is fully integrated with Sage People Recruit and is driven by the recruiter.

  • Outlook Interview Scheduler can be used if your organization uses Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Outlook - the feature integrates with Teams and Outlook using APIs to book appointments in your Microsoft calendar.

  • If an interview has been created using the legacy interview feature but no interviewers added, editing the interview in Outlook Interview Scheduler creates a new interview.

  • No objects have been created to support Outlook Interview Scheduler. Interview details continue to be recorded on the Application, with one interview per application active at any one time.

  • A new Scheduled Event panel has been added to the Application page for the existing interview scheduler and the Outlook Interview Scheduler, replacing existing New Interview and Assign Interviewers buttons. If the panel is not displayed by default you can add it; follow the steps in Configure Outlook Interview Scheduler.

  • Profile changes to grant access to the new feature are automatically made as part of the package upgrade. Check the configuration changes have been correctly applied to your org.

  • Recruiters must manually maintain interview status in Recruit.

Feature comparison

Outlook Interview Scheduler provides a more integrated solution for recruiters than legacy Recruit functionality:

Feature Legacy Recruit Outlook Interview Scheduler
Outlook integration Not available Yes
Salesforce Calendar Yes Yes
Cancel Not available Yes
Create

Yes.
Interviewer assessments must be requested separately

 Yes, with integrated interviewer assessments
Edit Yes Yes
Template based emails Yes, predefined Yes, chosen by the recruiter
Recruiter controlled Yes, but fragmented Yes, with clear process flows
Assessment events Yes Not yet available
Interviewer assignment Yes, but requires separate actions Yes, integrated in the creation process
External interviewers Yes Not yet available
Interviewer/candidate journey Fragmented Fully aligned

Feature summary

Framework

  • Feature toggle

    Displayed as a checkbox on the Sage People Recruit Configure page, Overall tab. Select to enable or disable the feature. Unchecked by default.

    Enabling Outlook Interview Scheduler replaces and disables the existing internal interview scheduling. You can continue to use the existing functionality for external interviews and assessment event scheduling. Actions related to an internal interview use Outlook Interview Scheduler when the feature toggle is on, and revert to the existing functionality when the feature toggle is off.

  • Scheduled Events displayed on the Application page

    Displayed as a dedicated panel showing scheduled event details and enabling you to create, edit, and cancel interviews.

  • Delegated access to Microsoft Calendar controlled by administrator

    Enables recruiters to create interviews with Microsoft Calendar by confirming their password; administrators setup users who need access. Password confirmation is only required once per session; as long as the user stays logged in to Sage People, access tokens are refreshed automatically.

Interview creation

  • Recruiter controlled interview scheduling

    Responses to interview invitations are sent to the recruiter, enabling them to update status and reschedule if necessary.

  • Book interviews for current and future dates

  • New interview selectable option

    Visible on the Vacancy page, Active Applications, and on the Application page, Scheduled Event panel. Available if there are no assessment events configured for the current recruitment stage and there is no interview scheduled with a date in the past. Select the option to create a new interview.

  • Create, edit, and cancel interview

    Creating a new interview adds a record to the Interview Assessment object. The record is modified if the interview details are edited, unless the interviewer is changed in which case the original record is deleted and a new record created. The record is retained if the interview is canceled.

  • Integration with Microsoft Outlook

    Outlook invitations are sent direct to interviewer and candidate. Supporting information about the interview is sent by Salesforce email.

  • Automatic links to candidate resumes

    Emails to interviewers contain links to the candidate's resume/CV.

  • Add a single attachment for candidate emails

    Include an attachment of up to 2MB with the candidate email. The file can be zipped to compress larger files. Recruiters can remove and replace an attachment before the email is sent, with later attachments automatically replacing one uploaded earlier.

Date and time selection

  • Integration with Microsoft Calendar

    Available interview slots are automatically identified and when selected booked directly in participants calendars.

  • Manual calendar entry

    An option to enable the recruiter to override Calendar API suggestions and book interview dates and times manually.

Interviewer support

  • Support for internal interviewers

    An interview conducted by an interviewer who is a member of your organization with a valid federation ID, enabling full calendar integration.

  • Select interviewers from all active Team Members

    Access expanded to enable interviewer selection from across your organization. Chosen interviewers are automatically added to the Hiring Team for the vacancy.

  • Support for multiple interviewers

    Create events with a single interviewer or with shared interview responsibility, such as panel interviews.

  • Interviewer assessment record support

    Interviewer assessment records are automatically created, edited, and deleted depending on the outcome of the interview.

Email support

  • Interviewer email template selection

    An option on the Create Interview dialog enabling you to select a pre-defined template for the email you want to send to interviewers with the details of the interview to support the Outlook invitation. You can edit the email content. You can select an alternative template as part of the edit interview dialog.

  • Candidate email template selection

    An option on the Create Interview dialog enabling you to select a pre-defined template for the email you want to send to candidates with the details of the interview to support the Outlook invitation. You can edit the email content. You can select an alternative template as part of the edit interview dialog.

  • Use merge fields to include vacancy information

    Emails to interviewers use merge fields to include key responsibilities and description fields from the vacancy record.

Timezone support

  • Interviewer timezone display

    When creating an interview the timezones for all interviewers are displayed, enabling the recruiter to select a realistic time for all.

  • Local timezones respected

    Outlook invitations are sent in the local timezone for interviewers and candidates.