Skip to main content

Coordinating Interviews Across Time Zones: Our Experience at Axcito

 


Recently, Axcito decided to start a new development center in Sri Lanka. As we began the hiring process, we faced a challenge – scheduling interviews that would work for candidates in Sri Lanka, as well as our team members spread across Dallas, USA, and Melbourne, Australia. Our goal was to conduct most interviews between 8 AM and 5:30 PM Sri Lanka time while ensuring the availability of interested team members from different time zones.

The Challenge: Finding a Common Time Slot

Coordinating interviews across multiple time zones proved to be trickier than we anticipated. We initially tried using tools like Doodle and Calendly, but they didn't quite fit our needs. We needed a solution that would allow us to view available time slots for all participants, taking into account their respective time zones.

The Solution: Time-Map and a Collaborative Google Sheet 😅



After exploring various options, we discovered a valuable resource: the World Clock Meeting Planner from timeanddate.com. A collaborative Google Sheet then automatically converted these availabilities to Sri Lanka time for our HR team to reference.

Our goal was to have at least two interviewers present for each interview, preferring three whenever possible. To streamline the process, we avoided multiple rounds of interviews for some roles.

Tailoring the Interview Process

In addition to coordinating schedules, we also tailored the interview process itself based on the role and candidate preferences. For certain positions, we conducted phone interviews or virtual calls, while for others, we opted for in-office, face-to-face interviews.

Tips for Coordinating Interviews Across Time Zones

Throughout this experience, we learned some valuable lessons that we'd like to share:

  • Communicate clearly about time zone boundaries with your applicants, as some applicants are happy to do interviews after hours as they dont need to take off from work.: Ensure your team is aware of the different time zones involved and the expected working hours in each region.
  • Get specific when discussing dates and times with interviewers/interviewees: Always clarify the time zone you're referencing to avoid confusion.
  • Be mindful of other teammates' designated work hours: Respect the boundaries of your colleagues' work schedules and avoid scheduling meetings outside of their regular working hours whenever possible.
  • Test out split shifts or workdays that cater to different time zones: Explore flexible scheduling options that accommodate team members in different locations. Some of Axcito team members joined in odd hours and they got off for that in normal hours.
  • Be flexible and adaptable to your candidates' needs and situations: Understand that candidates may have varying availability and preferences, and be prepared to adjust accordingly.

At Axcito, we prioritized flexibility and adaptability throughout the interview process. By leveraging the right tools and maintaining open communication, we successfully coordinated interviews across three time zones, enabling us to connect with talented candidates and build our new development team in Sri Lanka.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Axcito expands pesence in Sri Lanka with a new development center

    We are thrilled to announce the opening of our new development center and office in Sri Lanka, marking a significant milestone for Axcito as a global company. This expansion reinforces our commitment to innovation, growth, and collaboration as we continue to serve our customers worldwide. While Axcito'ss main headquarters remains in the USA, we also have teams located in Australia and Sri Lanka. The new office allows us to grow our Sri Lankan team and operations, providing an ideal training environment, especially for interns and recent graduates. Our previous office in Maharagama, Sri Lanka remains as our operation office for Sri lankan team. The new larger space features meeting rooms and areas for teams to collaborate effectively, essential as we hire more staff in Sri Lanka. This physical office space is invaluable for interns, who gain hands-on experience working in a professional environment, enriching their learning and development. Additionally, having a dedicated ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How to fine tune the Marketing Strategy

  Achieve Your Business Goals with Expert Guidance Are you feeling stuck with your current marketing strategies or frustrated by lack of results? You’re not alone. Many businesses struggle to get the desired outcomes from their marketing efforts. Whether it’s low engagement rates, poor conversion metrics or whether not knowing where to start. Recently, we had the opportunity to help a mid-sized mobile phone dealership that was facing several marketing challenges hindering its growth. They have a robust product line and a beautifully designed official website. Despite these strengths, they struggled with low engagement rates, poor conversion metrics, and uncertainty in strategic planning. Determined to overcome these obstacles, they partnered with Axcito to revamp their marketing efforts. This case study highlights the transformative steps taken and the remarkable results achieved through this collaboration. 1. Identify Problem Areas During our initial consultation, the owner of the...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Message from Axcito: Our Apologies for the Lack of Blog Posts

It's been a while since we last posted on our blog, and we wanted to apologize to all our followers for the long silence. Rest assured that we have been keeping ourselves very busy, and we have some exciting news to share. Since our last blog post, Axcito has been growing faster than ever as a full global team. Our team has expanded to mainly in three countries - USA, Sri Lanka, and Australia - and each entity operates independently. Nevertheless, we work together globally and support each other as needed. But some of the clients and some members are from different counties. In the past few months, we have been involved in several exciting projects. Our focus has been on web and mobile application development, software quality assurance, cyber security and penetration testing, and SEO projects. We are pleased to announce that we have been recognized as one of the best mobile app development firms and top professional eCommerce agencies in USA, Sri Lanka, and Australia. Our team is ...
Post a Comment
Read more