For companies: Prepare for the job interview
The rexx software supports companies in all common methods to get to know candidates better. Be it the classic face-to-face job interview, the video interview or the long-established telephone interview. Mass procedures such as assessments – online and as face-to-face events – or recruiting events such as so-called “taster days” are also easily carried out with the tool.
The rexx interview management helps employers to optimise the entire process and keep everything in view:
From scheduling to room management to interview evaluation – even in case of appointment cancellations and postponements. This way, the interview process does not get bogged down and no steps are forgotten in order to attract the best talent.
On a sure course for success with rexx:
- 2.600 Clients
- Medium-sized companies & corporations
- Cloud & on premise
- International, multilingual, multi-client capable
- ISO 27001 certified
- EU-DSVGO compliant
Organising appointments for job interviews
For employers without supportive software, coordinating the interview dates is a time-consuming and disruptive process, especially if not only supervisors but also future colleagues with specialist knowledge and people from HR or the recruiting team are to take part in addition to the applicants. In some companies it is not unusual for the works council or staff council to be invited to take part in the interview.
It is a challenge to reconcile the schedules of all these people. The recruiter may be able to see the appointments of his own people in the company calendar, but not those of the candidate. So if a free slot for the interview and a free room have been found for the internal people, the candidate is usually invited by email, stating the date. But if the date does not suit the candidate, it starts all over again.
This is where the applicant management software comes in:
- rexx automatically finds free dates and free rooms and takes into account interviewer preferences away from the calendar dates, e.g. never on Fridays.
- So-called “multi-appointments” increase the likelihood of the applicant accepting the appointment because he/she can choose from several proposed appointments.
- The acceptance, rejection and change of appointments on all sides is done completely digitally. This speeds up processes around the job interview enormously.
Seamless integration with Outlook, Exchange Server or Office 365
To plan and prepare for job interviews, appointment coordination is the neuralgic point. Many companies use Microsoft products for the company calendar. The rexx software therefore offers an interface to the Exchange/Outlook calendar. This functions like another calendar user who only has the authorisation to check the availability of the people involved in the interview. Thus, this is also completely uncritical from a data protection point of view.
The interview management tool then makes a request to the exchange server and gets back the blocked and free slots for all people involved. Based on the preferences stored, the system automatically suggests suitable dates and, if applicable, free rooms for the interview. The recruiter accepts these with a click and the appointment reservation is sent to all internal people involved and of course to the applicant via automatic invitation and notification letters.
Here you can see how rexx automatically finds the optimal dates for a job interview by the supervisor Anja Auer and the recruiter Reto Ranzen (the green background means “free” and the orange background means “reserved”):
The rexx interview management generates a reservation of the performance date for the people involved in their Outlook calendar. Changes to the appointments are automatically synchronised between Outlook and the rexx calendar.
The applicant can confirm, cancel or suggest a new appointment via a special link in their notification email. The people involved are automatically informed about status changes to the appointment. This is how digital efficiency works with rexx!
Here, for example, an appointment for the job interview transferred by rexx Recruitment is shown in the (web) Outlook calendar of a participating interviewer:
What companies should consider when preparing for and conducting interviews
10 Golden Rules for employers in job interviews:
- Applicants and other participants should be given sufficient notice for the interview, about 1 week. When choosing the time, bear in mind that applicants are usually still in employment, so appointments from 4:30 p.m. onwards are ideal for many candidates.
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Telephone interviews can also be conducted spontaneously. Here it is important to first clarify when calling whether the applicant can speak freely and is not, for example, at his/her workplace. Spontaneous telephone interviews allow for extremely authentic impressions.
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The more important the position to be filled, the more time should be planned for the interview – 90 minutes and more are not unusual for divisional management positions.
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The conversation starts with an ice-breaker, e.g. about the journey to the appointment or the current weather. This is followed by a short introduction of the people taking part. If the position requires special expertise, it may be useful to include future colleagues.
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If the job advertisement and the written communication were in the “you” style, the interview should of course also be in the “you” style.
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The applicant is asked to give an oral rendition of his CV. This is a terrain in which he knows his way around and so he loses any uncertainty. The interviewers can then ask questions here so that a natural dialogue ensues.
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The interview should have a real conversational character and be conducted less in the style of an “interview”. The extensive taking of notes by interviewers during the interview, which is still common today, should be kept to a minimum, as it does not correspond to a conversation at eye level. Otherwise, important impressions of the interview should be recorded in writing soon after the interview if necessary – rexx provides the appropriate functions for this.
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It is advisable that the company representatives explain the tasks of the vacancy again in detail with concrete examples. This can be combined with a short company presentation beforehand. To avoid disappointment on both sides, supervisors and recruiters should present the job and the spirit of the company as comprehensively as possible, as well as how the department is embedded in the company.
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It is advisable to clarify the salary expectations of the applicant before the interview. For this purpose, rexx Recruiting provides standard form fields which are filled in through the online application. If the desired salary is more than 25% above the budget, an interview generally does not make sense, as you will not get together. In some sectors, it is therefore also customary to state the salary range or the collective agreement classification directly in the job advertisement.
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If the candidate leaves a good impression, this should be communicated directly at the end of the interview without obligation. This creates a positive memory of the interview for the applicant and hopefully they will choose us if they receive several offers. Otherwise, the applicant should be given an outlook as to when feedback can be expected and what the further process will be. It is also very important for the employer to stick to commitments and timelines.
