Event buffers for self-scheduled events give you extra time to wrap up or take a break after interviews and help you avoid back-to-back interview scheduling. This means less hustle between calls, making the interview process feel more relaxed and accommodating for everyone involved.
The buffer time is not actually booked in your calendar. Instead, it is considered when a candidate schedules a self-scheduled event, making it unavailable for interview scheduling.
Important: In order to access the buffer settings you must have connected your Google or Outlook calendar.
Default event buffer
When using self-scheduling, the system will check your default event buffer and display it.
Your default event buffer will be set to none. To edit your default event buffer:
- Navigate to Settings > Your preferences
- Locate the Self-scheduled event buffers section at the bottom of the page
- Click on the drop-down and select the buffer time
- Once ready, click Save Changes
The event buffer applies to your existing events as well as the new scheduled events a candidate will book.
This event buffer will be used by default when using a self-schedule link unless you manually change your event buffer before sending the link. Your coworkers may have different buffer settings.
Ad hoc event buffer
You may need to modify your event buffer per case. To do so:
- Edit your self-schedule link in the email form before you send it to the candidate
- Update the event buffer on the spot
To set this buffer time as your default for future events, tick the box at the bottom of the buffer setting.
Important notes
- The buffers are applied only after an event.
- The buffers are not actually booked in your calendar. They are only used to calculate the slots a candidate will see.
- The bigger the buffer time, the more difficult it is for the candidate to find free slots in your calendar. For this reason, it is recommended for interviewers to avoid adding large buffer times. A buffer time of 10-15 minutes is sufficient.
- If there are multiple interviewers, the buffer that we take into consideration is the maximum duration buffer among all interviewers.
FAQs
- What's the impact of the buffer on existing events?
- When a regular event is scheduled, the buffers don't have any impact. However, if a self-scheduled event is booked after a regular event in Workable, then the buffer will also be taken into account for that event.
- For example, suppose you already have a scheduled call from 11-12 and you set a buffer of 15 minutes. When the candidate tries to book a slot in your calendar, they won't be able to book the 12 o'clock slot, but the first available slot will be at 12.15.