With Autopilot's automated interview scheduling, you can contact applicants faster, schedule more interviews than ever, and hire the best talent for your team. No more spending hours coordinating schedules, chasing applicants, or dealing with no-shows — make a few quick selections, and let Autopilot do the rest!
In this article:
- Scheduling interviews using Autopilot
- Viewing and stopping Autopilot
- Using Autopilot Schedule Now
- Rescheduling Autopilot interviews
- Canceling Autopilot interviews
- How applicants reschedule or cancel Autopilot interviews
Scheduling interviews using Autopilot
1. Navigate to your Applicants page.
2. Locate the employee you want to schedule an interview with and click the Begin Autopilot button (in the Actions column).
3. In the Begin Autopilot drawer, select the type of interview: In Person, Phone, or Video.
4. Enter In Person, Phone, or Video details in the field below: a physical address, a phone number, or a video link.
5. Select how long the Interview will last for from the drop-down menu.
We recommend choosing an interview length with more time than you need to prevent applicants from scheduling back-to-back interviews that leave you with little or no time to prepare in between. For example, if you're planning for a 15-minute phone screen, select 30 minutes instead.
6. Select an Interviewer from the drop-down menu.
The Interviewer is the user whose calendar will be used to determine interview availability for the applicant and who will receive all notifications about the interview.
If the interviewer you want to select is not listed, advise them to connect their calendar to CareerPlug.
7. Set the expiration date for the interview link – or how long the applicant will have to schedule the interview using the link provided – using the Can be scheduled up to drop-down menu.
Before you start Autopilot, you can click Show preview message to preview templates for the initial message, 1st and 2nd reminder, and the confirmation message – as well as the dynamic fields that will automatically populate before messages are sent to your applicant – each ready to use without you needing to even press a key.
Autopilot's standardized messages — which cannot be customized — have been crafted to capture the attention of applicants and help you efficiently schedule interviews. Standardized messages provide a prewritten introduction to you, your company, and the position, saving time that you can spend focusing on conducting interviews instead of coordinating them.
8. If you want to save your current Autopilot configuration as an Autopilot Default — allowing you to use these Autopilot options for all future applicants who apply for this job — turn on the toggle in the bottom left corner of the drawer.
9. Once you’re done reviewing Autopilot details, click the Launch button in the bottom right corner of the drawer.
The applicant will receive an automated text message inviting them to an interview. After they select a time slot, the applicant will receive a calendar invite and, later, an automated interview reminder.
Autopilot sends the initial message via SMS Texting. Applicants who don't schedule an interview within 24 hours will receive a text reminding them to select an interview time. If still unresponsive after 48 hours, applicants will receive an email reminder. However, if an applicant opts out of receiving text messages, Autopilot will only send messages via email.
The user selected as Interviewer will receive a scheduled confirmation email and the interview event will automatically be added to their calendar. However, the person who begins Autopilot will not receive any notification.
Now you can get back to running your business instead of coordinating interviews!
Viewing and stopping Autopilot
1. If you want to view your Autopilot process, navigate to your Applicants page.
2. Locate the applicant’s name and click the View Autopilot button to the right (in the Actions column).
In the Autopilot drawer, you can review the details of the interview, as well as a preview of all messages that will be sent to your applicant as part of the Autopilot process.
3. Click the Stop Autopilot button to cancel any further messages from being sent to the applicant and prevent them from being able to schedule an interview. You can always begin Autopilot for this applicant again in the future, but you will be starting the process over.
Using Autopilot Schedule Now
With Autopilot Schedule Now, you can directly schedule an interview with an applicant you're in contact with instead of initiating another Autopilot process and waiting for them to select an interview time.
1. Navigate to your Applicants page.
2. Find the employee you want to schedule an interview with, click the Begin Autopilot drop-down arrow, and select Schedule Now from the drop-down menu.
3. In the Begin Autopilot drawer, select the type of interview: In Person, Phone, or Video.
4. Enter In Person, Phone, or Video details in the field below: a physical address, a phone number, or a video link.
5. Select how long the Interview will last for from the drop-down menu.
6. Select an Interviewer from the drop-down menu.
7. On the calendar at the bottom of the drawer, click on a block of time to select it for your interview.
8. Click the block again to Confirm your selection and schedule the interview.
You can see your scheduled interview in the Upcoming Interviews section on your Dashboard.
You can also view details for the scheduled interview on your Applicants page.
View Autopilot - Schedule Now
Even after you begin Autopilot, you can always use Autopilot Schedule Now to directly schedule an interview with an applicant you're already in contact with who may be unable to schedule it themselves for any reason.
Navigate to your Applicants page, find the applicant, click the View Autopilot drop-down arrow, and select Schedule Now from the drop-down menu. Follow the same process shown above to schedule the interview now.
Rescheduling Autopilot interviews
Only the selected Interviewer can reschedule or cancel an Autopilot interview. You cannot change the selected Interviewer after Autopilot has been launched, even when rescheduling an interview.
Quickly reschedule interviews from your Dashboard, Applicants page, or within an applicant's profile.
- Rescheduling interviews from the Dashboard
- Rescheduling interviews from the Applicants page
- Rescheduling interviews from within an applicant's profile
Rescheduling interviews from the Dashboard
1. On your Dashboard, locate the applicant’s name in the Upcoming Interviews section.
2. Click the three-dots icon to the right of their name and select Reschedule.
3. In the Reschedule drawer, click one of the available (green) blocks on the calendar to select a new time slot for the interview.
4. Click the calendar block again to Confirm.
You rescheduled the interview!
The candidate will receive a text and updated calendar invite to inform them about the rescheduled interview.
You will receive a rescheduled notification email and the interview event will automatically be updated to the new time slot on your calendar (and "Rescheduled" will be added to the name of the event).
Rescheduling interviews from the Applicants page
Reschedule interviews from your Applicants page by clicking the Reschedule link in the Actions column.
Rescheduling interviews from within an applicant's profile
Reschedule interviews from the applicant's profile page by clicking the Reschedule button within the Phone Screen or Interview hiring step.
Canceling Autopilot Interviews
CareerPlug will automatically cancel any associated Autopilot-scheduled interviews when you deactivate an applicant.
Easily cancel interviews from your Dashboard.
1. On your Dashboard, locate the applicant’s name in the Upcoming Interviews section.
2. Click the three-dots icon to the right of their name and select Cancel from the drop-down menu.
3. Enter a reason for canceling the interview if you'd like. This comment will not be visible to the candidate.
4. After you enter a cancelation reason (or opt not to), click the Yes, cancel interview button.
The candidate will receive an email informing them that you canceled the interview.
A note stating that you canceled the interview — and your interview cancelation reason, if provided — will be added to the Applicant Activity tab of the applicant's profile.
Once you cancel an applicant's interview, they will return to the start of the Autopilot process. You can begin the process again by navigating to your Applicants page and clicking the Begin Autopilot button.
How applicants reschedule or cancel Autopilot interviews
Applicants have the option to reschedule or cancel an Autopilot interview directly from their interview confirmation text message.
Applicant reschedules interview
Clicking the reschedule link will take an applicant back through the interview scheduling process, allowing them to choose a different time slot for their interview.
Applicants can reschedule interviews as many times as they need to.
Once they select a new time slot, the applicant will receive a confirmation text message letting them know the interview has been rescheduled, as well as an updated calendar invite.
The Interviewer will receive a rescheduled notification email and the interview event will automatically be updated to the new time slot on their calendar (and "Rescheduled" will be added to the name of the event).
Applicant cancels interview
Clicking the cancel link will serve applicants with a cancelation confirmation page and send them a cancelation confirmation text message and a calendar event cancelation.
The Interviewer will receive a cancelation notification email and the interview event will automatically be removed from their calendar.
If the candidate does reach out to let you know they are still interested in the position, you can easily Begin Autopilot again from your Applicants page.