Easy Ways to Set Up Interview Central in SuccessFactors

Interviews are an essential part of the hiring process , both for candidates and recruiters . Candidates want to ace their interviews , and the interviewers need to make sure the interview process goes smoothly . Setting up an interview schedule that works for everyone involved is not easy and can be somewhat challenging. SAP SuccessFactors has come up with robust functionality of Interview Scheduling & Interview Central which simplifies and streamlines the entire interview process.

There are two ways to set up an Interview in SuccessFactors Recruiting Management

• Directly in the relevant status in the Candidate Pipeline
• By using Interview Scheduling feature

Path: Recruiting -> Job Requisition -> Select Requisition -> Candidates (click on required Candidate for whom interview to be scheduled)

In the Interviewers portlet, click on set up Interviewers to set the Interview for the selected applicants by Recruiter.

When setting up a list of interviewers, the recruiter may specify a date and time of the interview, as well as notes.  A recruiter can also Edit/Delete the date and time of an Interview.

1. Apply Interviewer List to All Applicants – This interviewer list applies to every applicant presently in interview status and those placed for discussion in the future.
2. Include in the invitation e-mail – It helps the recruiter to include Resume, Cover letter from the application record and interview guide (basic instructions, tips, and tricks on how to run the interview, such as basic questions to ask) as an attachment to the e-mail notification sent to the interviewer.

Path:: Recruiting-> Interview Scheduling


Interview scheduling feature simplifies and expedites the Interview Scheduling Process. To use Interview Schedule feature, navigate to Interview Scheduling Tab in Recruitment.

Then locate the Job requisition requiring a Scheduled Interview and then click the “X not started”(x stands for no of candidates) link for the required job requisition. This will take you to Select Candidate screen shown below.

Select Candidate screen will consist of a list of all the candidates that need to be interviewed for a Job Requisition. Select a candidate for which you would like to schedule an interview and click start scheduling.

During the interview schedule, the recruiter set the meeting type (phone, virtual, or face-to-face), choose a location for the interview, and check the availability of the Interviewer and fix an interview slot. It also has room booking facility, where Organizers will see a link to add possible rooms to the interview. They can include multiple rooms that might be suitable for the interview, and the system will pick the first room that is available.
As soon as the interview is scheduled a mail is sent to the candidate, asking for confirmation. It also provides us an SMS feature, which can send Ad Hoc SMS as well as the Interview Notification SMS to candidates.

If the organizer only selects one-time slot for the interview, organizers can confirm this time on behalf of the candidate or candidates. A check box appears on the Send Email screen that says book, this slot for candidates. If this box is checked, the candidate or candidates are scheduled for this time. After the time slot is scheduled, the
candidate receives an invitation e-mail, to invite them to select an interview session or confirm the appointment. Organizers can choose to update an interview schedule without sending an e-mail to the candidate.
Outlook Integration: – Interview Scheduling supports integration with the Microsoft Office Outlook Calendar. When Outlook Integration is enabled, interview schedules invites, and meetings appear directly on the user’s Outlook Calendar. Outlook integration also supports room booking facility.
Candidate View: A tab in Career Site helps candidate manage all activities related to scheduling of upcoming interviews. In the Careers Site, under My Interviews tab, a candidate can see all scheduled interviews that need confirmation, future confirmed interviews or previous interviews. If the candidate needs to reschedule the interview, or that the candidate cannot attend, the candidate can choose to cancel the interview or decline and reschedule the Interview. Candidates cannot cancel or reschedule a confirmed interview within 24 hours of the scheduled interview time.
Interview Central:-
1 ) Interview Central can be enabled by –

2. By adding the assessment scale to the Job Requisition Template(in XML)
Interview Central tab is found under Recruiting in SuccessFactors HCM.

Interview Central comprises of a rundown of skills/competencies (from Job Requisition) on which the candidate will be evaluated & the lists of all the interviewers who will interview the candidates.

Interview Central lists all open and closed interview requests. The interviewer will find a list of requisitions for which they are interviewing, and each request expands to show the list of applicants to which the interviewers have been asked to provide assessment feedback.
The Print and Go! Pack tab provides a quick and straightforward summary of all the information you need to know for your interview with each candidate. The Overall Ratings visually summarize each candidate’s hiring recommendation with thumbs up & thumbs down. The Rate now tab takes you to the Interview Assessment Page.

The Stack Ranking drop-down (on the right-hand side) can be used to compares candidate’s ratings on individual competencies or stack candidates by overall score.
The interviewer’s rating and comment on each candidate’s capabilities with regards to the skills from this rating scale and comment on it by clicking on the comment icon. Clicking on the Candidate name on Interview Assessment Sheet takes the interviewer to the Candidate application and candidate resume, filled and uploaded by the candidate while applying for the Job.
The Overall Ratings visually summarize each candidate’s hiring recommendation with thumbs up & thumbs down. It also has a comment icon, which helps the interviewer to add comments for the following rating. The comment icon helps the interviewer to take notes during the interview. Using Interview notes, Interviewer can upload their meeting notes.

The Recruiter and Hiring Manager view candidate score on the Job Requisitions tab, where they can review the interviewer’s ratings and feedback for each & every candidate. It helps the Recruiter and the Hiring Manager to get the overview of the applicant eligibility status.

On clicking View Candidate Rating, a screen pops with the individual scoring and comments for all the interviewed candidates, which help the recruitment team, analyze and take a final call. Here is a quick summary of features of interview scheduling.

• Interviewers can enter their availability directly into the system to schedule interviews easily
• Candidate Self-scheduling functionality allows organizers to propose different timings to the candidates, who can then select their preferred time
• Interview Central brings together all assessment data, allowing the organization to keep a dossier on potential new hires.
• It reduces paperwork and wondering who has which record.
• It ensures right candidate with right skills at the right time.
• It allows permission-based access to interview portlet and view both overall interview feedback and Candidate Ratings via mobile phone

However there are currently some challenges with current interview scheduling system:

• Interview scheduling currently only support integration with Microsoft Office Outlook Calendar.
• The longest interview schedule is limited 12 hours.
• If multiple days are needed, it needs to be set up as multiple interviews in different status
• Interviews will be set in the recipient’s time zone. It is important that user’s time zones are set correctly in

The SAP SuccessFactors Interview Scheduling functionality helps simplify and streamline the entire interview scheduling process. SAP SuccessFactors Interview Scheduling enables interview organizers to access an interviewer’s availability directly within the tool and gives candidates the flexibility to choose time slots that work for them.

Visit Our SAP SuccessFactors HCM suite to transform your HR functions!

Poorna Chandra Murthy Akurathi, Principal Consultant – Pre-sales & Delivery – SAP HCM/ SuccessFactors – YASH Technologies

• Interview Central
• Recruiting Management
• SAP SuccessFactors