This article outlines how to efficiently manage On-Campus Interview (OCI) scheduling by setting and promoting alternates. By enabling specific settings, employers can automatically promote alternates in ranked order when slots open up. This ensures a seamless process, keeps everyone informed, and optimizes the interview schedule. Setting an applicant as an alternate is useful for maintaining flexibility and maximizing interview opportunities.
Sections
Enabling Alternate Promotion
For employers to be able to set applicants as alternates, "Allow OCI applicants to be set as alternates" must be enabled in Site Settings. This setting is found under Site Management > Site Settings > OCI and Job Listings > Access Controls and Notifications.
When "Allow OCI Applicants to be set as alternates" is activated, alternates will be automatically promoted to "Extended Interview" status in the order of their ranking as other students withdraw from or decline an interview, making slots available. Please note: automatic promotion only works when a student withdraws from a slot. If an admin withdraws a student, it will not automatically promote the applicant.
Schedule Management
Automatic Acceptance of Interviews
When the setting "Automatically add promoted alternates to the schedule if a slot is available" is enabled for the period, alternates will be added to the interview schedule under the 'Students Pending Assignment' section in the Schedule tab. Admins need to:
- Notify students by emailing them from the "Applicants" tab.
- Add them to the schedule from the "Students Pending Assignment" section.
- Notify them of their interview time if they are added to the schedule
For this period rule to apply, the setting "Will students who are extended interviews automatically accept the interviews" must be enabled for your OCI round.
To ensure alternates are added to the schedule promptly, enable the "Will students who are extended interviews automatically accept the interviews" setting on your OCI Round. This will automatically notify the first-ranked alternate via email when a timeslot opens up, prompting them to log in and select an available slot.
Automatic Alternate Management Scheduling for Promoted Alternates
To ensure alternates are added to the schedule promptly, enable the "Will students who are extended interviews automatically accept the interviews" setting on your OCI Round. This will automatically notify the first-ranked alternate via email when a timeslot opens up, prompting them to log in and select the available slot.
First Come, First Serve (FCFS) - Free For All
Allowing Alternates or employer selected students to self-select slots creates a free for all.
If you have the period permission enabled, "Allow alternates or employer-selected students to self-select slots" then the interview selection process shifts to a first come, first serve model. This is typically a separate period labeled "Open Sign Up Period".
During this period:
- Alternates are not automatically promoted when students withdraw or decline interviews.
- All alternates receive an "Interview Slot Available" notification when a timeslot opens, allowing them to log in and select the slot on a first come, first serve basis.
- Alternates can select an interview slot even if an employer-selected student has not selected a slot yet or if a higher rank alternate has not selected a slot. For example, if alternate #3 logs in, they can select a slot even if alternate #1 has not selected one yet.
Ensuring Ranked Order Promotion
To maintain ranked order promotion, disable the "Allow alternates or employer-selected students to self-select slots" setting. This ensures that alternates are promoted in the order of their ranking.
If you already had this setting enabled in an active OCI round and want to change this, please see this article:
Customizing Notifications
The 'Alternate Promoted Action Required' email can be customized to include details about the employer, position, and interview time slot. This ensures that alternates are well-informed about their new interview opportunities. This email must be enabled if you want alternates to be notified to self-select slots after promotion.
Managing Withdrawals
If an alternate withdraws after being promoted, the next ranked alternate will be automatically added and notified via email. This ensures a smooth and continuous interview scheduling process without gaps.
When withdrawing a student as an admin, the confirmation window will ask admins if they would like to auto-promote an alternate. As mentioned earlier, Admins have the option to withdraw a student without promoting another to “extended interview” status.
By carefully managing these settings, employers can efficiently handle OCI interview scheduling, ensuring a fair and organized process for both students and employers.