Set up Interview Scheduling

Before your team can schedule interviews in Rival Recruit, an administrator must complete the initial calendar configuration and assign scheduling user types to each user who will participate in interviews.

Calendar configuration (admin)

Recruit connects to your organization's calendar service using a service account managed through Cronofy. This one-time setup allows the system to read free/busy periods from interviewer calendars and create interview events automatically.

Your IT team must configure the service account and authorize calendar access before Recruit users can schedule interviews.

To access the setup page, navigate to Administration > Settings > Scheduling (under the Integrations section). This page contains the Calendar Authorization settings, guide links, and Scheduling User Type Management.

Detailed instructions are available in the following guides:

• Scheduling Configuration Guide (PDF) — IT admin setup for connecting Google Workspace or Microsoft Office 365/Exchange to Recruit.
• Scheduling User Guide (PDF) — End-user guide for recruiters and hiring managers.

Calendar Authorization

The Calendar Authorization section requires two accounts to be linked before scheduling will work:

• Service Account — Used to retrieve availability periods from your organization's calendars. You will be redirected to the Cronofy application to enter service account credentials.
• "Neutral" Account — The holder of all events scheduled through the application. You will be redirected to the Cronofy application to enter Neutral account credentials.

Both accounts must be authorized for scheduling to function. Use the Reauthorize buttons to reconnect if credentials expire, or Deauthorize to disconnect an account.

Supported calendar services:

• Google Workspace (G-Suite)
• Microsoft Office 365
• Microsoft Exchange (2007 SP1 or later)

Microsoft Teams integration

Once the Service Account and Neutral Account are authorized, the system can also generate Microsoft Teams meeting links automatically for scheduled interviews. This requires the admin to link the company's MS Teams account through the Neutral Account authorization.

After admin setup is complete:

• An Add Teams Meeting Link toggle appears in the Event Details section of the scheduling form (both panel and sequential).
• The toggle is ON by default — a Teams meeting link is automatically created and included in the calendar event unless the organizer turns it off.
• If the MS Teams admin setup has not been completed, the toggle does not appear in the scheduling UI.

Scheduling user types

To use Interview Scheduling, each user must be assigned a scheduling user type. The user type determines what the user can do within the scheduling system.

User Type	Description
Organizer	Can initiate the scheduling of interviews and be added to meetings as interviewers. Recommended for recruiting managers and recruiters.
Participant	Can only be added to interviews as interviewers and cannot initiate the scheduling of interviews. Recommended for hiring managers and interviewers.

Assign a scheduling user type

The Scheduling User Type Management section (on the same Administration > Settings > Scheduling page) provides a guided workflow:

1. Step 1: Ensure the Service Account and Neutral Account are linked in the Calendar Authorization section above.
2. Step 2: Assign each active ATS user a scheduling user type — either Organizer or Participant.
3. Step 3: Track updates in the Scheduling User Type Assignments section below.

Bulk assignment by role

To assign the same user type to all active ATS users with a specific role, check the box for that role and click Assign Scheduling User Type. The available options are:

• Assign Organizer to all active Recruiting Manager users
• Assign Organizer to all active Recruiter users
• Assign Organizer to all active Hiring Manager users
• Assign Participant to all active Hiring Manager users
• Assign Participant to all active Administrator users
• Assign Participant to all active Exec./Report Viewer users
• Assign Participant to all active Employee users

Individual assignment

To select individual users instead of assigning by role, click Choose Individual Users. This navigates to the User Accounts page, where you can select one or more users and choose "Assign Scheduling User Type" from the bulk actions menu.

Scheduling User Type Assignments (status)

The process for assigning scheduling user types is asynchronous — it can take a couple of minutes for the assignment to take effect. The Scheduling User Type Assignments section at the bottom of the page shows:

• The current count of users assigned as Organizer
• The current count of users assigned as Participant

Alternative: Assign from User Accounts

You can also assign user types from the individual user record:

1. Navigate to Administration > User Accounts.
2. Search for and select the user.
3. In the Scheduling User Type field, select Organizer or Participant.
4. Click Save.

Filter users by scheduling user type

To find users who are assigned a specific scheduling user type:

1. Navigate to Administration > User Accounts.
2. Use the Scheduling User Type filter to select Organizer, Participant, or Pending/Failed.

Link your work calendar

Each user who wants to participate in scheduled interviews must link their work calendar. This allows the system to read your free/busy availability and ensures interviews are not scheduled when you are unavailable.

1. Click your name in the header and select My Account.
2. Scroll to the Interview Scheduling section.
3. Click Set Availability.
4. Select your calendar provider and follow the authorization prompts to connect your calendar.

Set preferred availability (optional)

Setting preferred availability defines a recurring window of time when you are available for interviews — beyond what your calendar shows as free/busy. This is optional. If you do not set preferred availability, the system uses the default of Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

1. Click your name in the header and select My Account.
2. Scroll to the Interview Scheduling section.
3. Click Set Availability.
4. From the Calendar dropdown, select the calendar you linked.
5. Create time blocks for each weekday when you are available:
   • Select a Day, From time, and To time.
   • Click the add button to add the time block.
   • Repeat for each time block you want to add.
6. Click Save.

Key information

• You can set one time block or multiple time blocks per day, but time blocks cannot overlap.
• If you do not set a time block on a weekday, the system treats that day as unavailable.
• Time blocks reoccur on a weekly basis.
• Only users who have linked their calendar can be selected as attendees/interviewers when scheduling.
• Organizer notification — The interview organizer receives event status notifications but does not receive the interviewer confirmation email unless they are also listed as an attendee. To ensure the organizer receives the full confirmation, add them as an interviewer on the interview.
• VPN, firewall, or MDM restrictions — If your organization's mail server or calendar service is behind a VPN or firewall, calendar connectivity may require additional whitelisting. Recruit uses Cronofy to connect to calendar services, and Cronofy's IP addresses must be accessible. See the Scheduling Configuration Guide for details.