How to Schedule Club Interviews and Recruiting Coffee Chats

Recruiting season means dozens of applicants and a handful of e-board members, all with packed schedules. The trick is to schedule your interviewers first and your applicants second.

1. Fix the format first

Decide how long each interview or coffee chat runs, how much buffer you need between them, and whether one or two members sit in. A 20-minute chat plus a 10-minute buffer means each interviewer can do two per hour. That tells you how many interviewer-hours you need.

2. Collect interviewer availability

Create a FreeAvail event for your recruiting dates and have every interviewer mark when they can interview. Slots are 15 minutes, which lines up with typical chat lengths. Now you know which windows you can actually staff.

Create a free event

3. Open those windows to applicants

Create a second event using only the dates and time range your interviewers can cover. Send it to applicants with a clear deadline and ask them to use their full name, so you can match responses to applications. Applicants do not need an account, which keeps the barrier low.

4. Assign slots and confirm

A group event collects availability; it does not assign slots. So an organizer goes through the applicant responses, assigns each person a time where they and an interviewer are free, and sends each applicant a message with the time, place, or video link. Assign the applicants with the fewest open times first.

5. Keep a backup slot

Leave a few staffed slots unassigned. Someone will have an exam moved or oversleep, and a backup slot saves you from reopening the whole process.

Small details that matter

• Recruiting from a table? Show the QR code from the share sheet at your info session or activities fair.
• Fairness: offer slots on at least two different days so applicants with heavy schedules still have options.
• Regular meetings after recruiting: see how to find a club meeting time.

Compare FreeAvail with other tools on our free When2meet alternative page, or create a free event now. No account needed.