Managing interviews in Slate is similar to event management in that an interview template can be created that includes the interview registration form, communications, and basic details. Interviews differ from events in the following ways:
- Each interview slot has a registration limit of 1.
- An interview report form can be associated with the interview template so feedback may be submitted.
- Interviews that occur at the same time for the same template in the same location (i.e., where only the user is different) appear as a single item on the public-facing event landing page.
Best Practice
Take time to outline the interview process on paper before getting started within Slate and consider the following:
- Who conducts interviews? Admissions staff? Alumni? Both?
- Who is interviewed? Applicants? Prospective students prior to an application being submitted?
- How are interviews scheduled? Consistent? Variable?
This is also a good opportunity to rethink the current process and move forward with a new Slate-based interview strategy.
Conducting Alumni Interviews?
The Interviews module in Slate supports interviewers who are Slate users. If an alumni network conducts interviews as well, consider using a portal to manage and assign alumni interviewers.
Just like event templates in Slate, interview templates save time and effort by allowing the configuration of interview components in a central location. Interview templates can be used to batch create interview slots without the need for any additional configurations.
An interview slot will use its template’s registration form and communications. If changes to these items are needed after the slots have been created, those changes only need to be made to the interview template. To begin creating a Scheduler template, take the following steps:
- Click Scheduler in the top navigation bar.
- Click New Template.
- Enter the following User configurations in the popup window:
- Template Name - Give the template a descriptive name.
- Status - Make template Active.
- Timezone - The Timezone setting 'Autodetect from Location' will use the information that entered on the Location tab to determine the timezone for the interview slot.
- Privacy - Leave this setting unchecked.
- User - This will default to user account. If interview slots are created in a batch, the interviewer may be set as the user for particular slots. This setting can also be left blank.
- Admin Notify Email - Skip this setting at this time.
Override Template Info!
It is possible to override the interview template settings on an individual interview slot at any time.
For example, if a single interview slot per week meets at a different location, the location for that individual interview slot may be customized, while all other slots will continue to use the location from the template.
Since the interview slot is still associated with the template, the registration form, communications, landing page, and report form will still function as normal.
If the interviews associated with this template regularly occur in the same location (for example, in an admissions office), enter that location information for the interview template:
- Location Name - Enter the location name.
- Address - Enter address information.
- Preserve Formatting - All addresses are sent to the USPS for validation and standardization. Check this box to prevent the address from being validated. This is generally useful for addresses where the USPS abbreviates a city name, or if a building name or room number information needs to be included.
Description information may be added and will display publicly on the interview registration page beneath the title, time, and location information. Any information entered on the Notes tab will only display administratively.
When the basic template configurations are saved, the Template Management Screen will display next.
The Interview Template Management screen contains resources to configure interview template settings, while also providing an at-a-glance view of the existing interview slots that use the template:
Create a registration form for the interview template. Each interview associated with the template will use this same form, providing a central location to update the registration form for all interview slots.
On the Interview Template Management screen, click Edit Form.
Including Interviews as Related Events!
If events include the use of Related Events, consider adding on-campus interviews as a Related Event.
If the Related Events Selector is used, there is no need to customize the registration form for the interview template or make a unique Event Landing Page since registration will occur via the master event template.
Scope
The scope of an interview registration form will determine who can be interviewed and how the form is accessed.
Edit the interview registration form and click Edit Properties to access the scope configuration.
If an interview template is application-scoped, applicants will be required to login when accessing the registration form. Therefore, do not include matching fields (e.g., First Name, Last Name, Email Address, Date of Birth) on the registration form.
See examples below for when to use an application-scoped Interview Registration Form:
| Target Population | Example | How users will navigate to the registration form |
|---|---|---|
| Any applicant | Any person with a current application | On the student status page, add a teaser with a link to the Event Landing Page. |
| Specific applicants | MBA Executive program applicants | On the student status page, add a teaser or add an interview checklist item with a link to the Event Landing Page. |
If the interview registration form is person-scoped, remember to include fields that Slate can use to create a new record or match onto an existing record (Email Address, First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth) on the registration form.
See examples below of when to use a person-scoped Interview Registration Form:
| Target Population | Example | How users will navigate to the registration form |
|---|---|---|
| Anyone | Any person | Link to a public-facing Event Landing Page from the admissions website or include interviews as a Related Event on an event registration form. |
| Specific people | Any high school senior, regardless of application existence |
Send a link to an Event Landing Page through a Deliver campaign or include interviews as a Related Event on an event registration form and conditionally display the interview option for the target population or use Access/Submission conditions for the form. |
Use the interview template to create slots. On the Scheduler template management screen click Create Slots:
- Click Create Slot in the right navigation menu.
- Enter the following User configurations in the popup window:
- Page Title - Give interview slots a title. This title will appear on the public registration page. If at title is not configured, the Template Name will display.
- Folder - Save interview slots in a folder. These slots will display publicly based on the folder name.
- Status - Set the Confirmed/Active status.
- Recurrence - If creating more than one interview slot, click the Recurrence box and configure date, time, and interview slot settings.
- Timezone - Template-level timezone information will be used unless another setting is provided.
- Privacy - Leave the Privacy setting unchecked.
- User - See the next section for information about setting a user and interview assignment strategies.
Pre-Assign Interviewers to Slots
If the interviewers are to be assigned to certain slots, the appropriate user can be configured when slots are created from the template.
For example, Counselor Dan and Counselor Lucy always do interviews every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:00 am and 10:00 am:
Note: Multiple interview slots scheduled at the same time will appear as a single slot on the public-facing registration page as long as slots remain available. When the last available slot is taken, the interview slot will no longer appear as an available time. Registrants do not see the user assigned to an interview slot and the slot assignment is random if there are multiple slots available at that time.
Form-User Merge Fields
Consider using Form-User merge fields with the interview registration form communications.
For example, if interviewers are pre-assigned, an 'Upon Registration communication' to registrants may come directly from the interviewer.
If interviewers are assigned at a later date, an 'Hours before deadline' communication to registrants may contain interviewer information.
Also, consider making a separate reminder communication to interviewers that includes a link to the Interview report form {{Form-Report-Link}}.
Post-Assign Interviewers to Slots
If interviewer assignments are done after a student has registered for a slot, or after the interview slots have been created, navigate to an individual slot and update the User configuration to assign the interviewer.
The Forms/Events population in the Query Tool is used to isolate interview slots and batch manage configurations.
For example, Counselor Dan may go on vacation for one week, and he already has interview slots assigned to him during that time. Use the Query Tool to find the interview slots assigned to Counselor Dan for that week:
Use filters to find interview slots that are assigned to Counselor Dan. Use date filters to restrict results to only those slots scheduled during the week Counselor Dan is on vacation.
After running the query, select the Form/Event Output and click Export.
Use the Form/Event Management popup window to batch manage the configuration settings for interview slots:
- Form / Event Property - User
- User - Select the User
After creating individual interview slots, they will display in the calendar or list view. For example:
The folder structure will display in the right-hand column. Click on a folder name to view slots in that folder.
For example, clicking on the On-Campus Interviews folder will only display the slots saved in that folder.
When students begin registering for interviews, use the calendar view to see available slots and to see registration details for scheduled slots.
When an interview registration in Scheduler is canceled, the registration disappears from the session management page and from the timeline on the Person Record. By default, interviews with a canceled status are also excluded from the queries you run directly from the interview template.
However, you can still access the information for these canceled interviews by running a query in the Query tool and adding in one or more of the various "Interview" filters/exports. These filters DO include canceled as a status and will pull in registration information for canceled interviews. You can add these filters multiple times if you would like to filter for people who have BOTH a canceled status and a Registered status - i.e., people who canceled and then rescheduled. These filters also include the option for a date range, so you can query with this additional data point if needed.