Send links to candidates where they can schedule time on your calendar for an interview. This option is best for the early interview stages in your hiring process, where you may conduct many initial interviews with different candidates.
Workable cross-references your calendar so that candidates can easily schedule a meeting or call when both of you are available. Candidates choose an available time slot on your calendar and an event is created automatically.
You must have a Google or Microsoft 365 Outlook calendar integration enabled to use this feature.
✅ Before you start using the feature, you may want to:
- Set your interview availability (and ask your colleagues to do the same)
- Set buffers for self-scheduled events (and ask your colleagues to do the same)
- Double-check that your timezone is correct (and ask your colleagues to do the same)
- Confirm that you have connected your Google or Outlook calendar (and ask your colleagues to do the same if you will send scheduling links on their behalf)
Using self-schedule links
When a Google or Microsoft 365 Outlook calendar integration is enabled on your account, you will find a self-scheduling option in the Workable email form.
On a candidate’s profile, click the envelope icon . The option to create a self-schedule link will appear in the message toolbar.
- Click the ‘self-schedule link’ button to arrange the event and modify your availability.
- Set the type of event (e.g. call or interview), duration and availability dates between which the candidate can schedule. The default event duration will always be 30 minutes, but you can adjust this before sending the self-scheduling link.
- You can also select multiple interviewers or change the organizer if needed.
- Your default event buffer will be displayed here but you can also modify it on the spot
In this example, the candidate will book a 30-minute call on our calendar. They should pick a day between tomorrow and 2 weeks from now. The available days and times to book are Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. A Google Meet link will be generated automatically and included in the event.
The link name is the text in the email that a candidate will click on to schedule an event. Example: you might put “Click here to schedule” as the link name.
Save the parameters and the self-schedule link will be inserted into your email.
- Click Send an email from the available actions and either choose an email template or create a new email
- On the email screen, under the three dots menu, click Create self-schedule link
- In the new modal, set the type of event (e.g., call or interview), duration and availability dates between which the candidate can schedule
- Click the Create button on the upper right
Managing interviewers and organizers
If you are arranging an interview for a coworker, you can remove yourself and add them instead. A list of coworkers on the job’s hiring team will appear. Pick the coworker(s) who will be conducting the interview. You can also pick another coworker as the organizer of the event.
Multiple attendees
Add multiple interviewers to a self-scheduled event if needed. The candidate will be able to select one time that aligns with all interviewers. All interviewers are invited to the event. If there is no common availability then the self-schedule link cannot be sent.
Note: Coworkers must have connected their Google or Outlook calendar to be selectable as interviewers or organizers.
Interview availability
Once the link is sent, Workable will automatically refer to your Google or Outlook calendar to further block off availability. Workable looks at the days of the week and the daily time frame that has been set for each invited user under their preferences settings (learn more here).
For example, you may allow candidates to schedule between a 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM time frame in Workable's settings, but if you have a meeting on your calendar for 10 AM already, candidates will not be able to schedule at that time. You never need to worry about double booking.
In your calendar, you can mark yourself as "Busy" if you want to block specific times off self-scheduling even if there is no scheduled meeting (for example, you may want to block time for your lunch break). That way, candidates won't be shown this timeframe for scheduling.
Email Templates
You can automatically include self-schedule links in email templates.
- Create an email template and click the [*] button
- Select [self_schedule_link] from the list of placeholder options
- A form will appear where you can set the basic parameters for this link (e.g. type of event, duration)
- Finish customizing the email and save the template
When you use the email template to contact a candidate, the self-schedule link will automatically be included. Click on it to edit the parameters or make adjustments as necessary. If you do not edit the link before sending an email, it will default to the parameters you set and refer to the sender’s calendar when the candidate schedules.
Any time a user sends this template, the link will default to that user’s calendar and settings.
Important: An email template including a self-schedule link will appear on the dropdown with available templates only if the sender has connected their calendar.
What the candidate sees
When you send a self-schedule link to a candidate, they’ll click on the link in the email to open an event page.
This event page is where they can see basic information about the interview (e.g., duration, location). The event page has a scheduling form where the candidate will see available interview time slots based on the interviewer’s calendar availability and any other additional parameters that were set in Workable. Available slots will be displayed in 15-minute intervals and this is not customisable.
🕒 The candidate can view scheduling options in their own timezone or in the interviewer’s timezone. The timezone view can be switched via the setting on the upper right.
The candidate should click on a time slot to schedule the event. They’ll be asked to confirm the date/time they selected and will have the option to add an additional note for the interviewer.
After confirmation from the candidate, the event will be booked. The interviewer and candidate will receive a calendar invite as normal. To reschedule, the candidate cannot use the same link. Instead, you must cancel the booked event and send a new self-schedule link to them.