Creating an Interview Session, Schedule, and Scoring Rubric

Multiple Sessions

If your program offers multiple interview sessions, note the following: 

• Interviewers can participate in two different sessions on the same day, but only if the sessions don’t overlap. For example, a 9–11 AM session and a 1–4 PM session are fine. However, booking an interviewer for two sessions that occur at the same time (e.g., two 9–11 AM sessions) will result in an error, as it should. This applies to both basic and standard sessions.
• Applicants are also able to confirm two different interviews on the same day (e.g., one in the morning and one in the afternoon). However, the system displays a clear warning, reminding them that it’s their responsibility to avoid scheduling conflicts.
• Applicants cannot select two sessions from the same program. When a program offers multiple sessions, applicants can choose only one. While they may specify a second-choice session, they cannot confirm two sessions within the same program.

Initial Steps

1. From the left menu, click Sessions, then click + New Session at the top right. 
   
   
2. Select the Standard from the drop-down.. 
   
   
3. Session Visibility refers to whether applicants can see the session in their version of the Interview Portal. When you enable this option, applicants who log in to the Interview Portal can see the session and self-select it as their preferred choice (or second choice, if you have multiple sessions).
   • Note: we recommend leaving this option disabled until after you've configured everything and are ready to invite applicants to interview.  To enable later, simply open the session and use the gear icon in the top-right corner to adjust this setting. 
4. Complete the Session Details (note: by default, self-scheduling is enabled for your program but can be disabled):
   • Session Name: the name of your interview session.
   • Date: the date this interview session will occur. If you have multiple sessions, you can copy this session after creating it. 
   • Start Time: the time your first interview will begin on the specified date (note: the system automatically uses your operating system's time zone). You don’t need to enter an end time because the system will determine that later when the schedule is finalized. 
   • Applicants: the number of applicants you will host during the session.
   • Interviewers Instructions: if you have a PDF file with guidance for your interviewers to follow – for example, scenario-based questions the interviewers should ask – use this window to drag and drop the file or click Select File to browse for the PDF on your device. Once added, the file appears in the interviewer's view.  
     
     
      
5. Set the range for Session Scoring. This establishes the range for scoring, whether you’re using a single overall score for the applicant or calculating an overall score from itemized ratings. Setting the range here ensures that, despite different scoring practices (e.g., some rooms using single scores, others using itemized scoring), scores remain consistent across all interview rooms.
   
   
6. Next, setup the rooms where your interviewers will interview applicants. 
   
   
   
   In the Interview Portal, each interviewer can have their own virtual room where they conduct their interviews throughout the day. If you conduct panel interviews, you can add multiple interviewers to a room. These rooms are similar to the breakout rooms you might use in other video conferencing platforms, and in the Interview Portal, they are configured ahead of time. There are two room options:
   • Room Block for Multiple/Rotating Interviews: in a multiple/rotating interview scenario, each applicant interviews with one or more interviewers. In the Interview Portal, these are the rooms where your interviewers conduct those "standard" interviews. In our example, we have 10 applicants and 3 faculty members – each applicant must interview with 2 of the faculty members, and each interview is 25 minutes. In this case, we'll select 3 rooms and indicate that applicants must participate in 2 interviews. 
   • Additional Required Rooms for All Applicants: these interview rooms are separate from your standard, multiple/rotating interview rooms. In our example, the program director conducts shorter, 10-minute interviews with every applicant. Here, we can use 1 additional room where the program director can perform those interviews. 

Once you've configured everything click Save.

7. You can now see the 3 rooms we added for the standard, multiple interviews conducted by faculty and 1 extra room for the program director to interview all applicants. From here, you can save the initial setup and come back later to configure the rooms, or you can immediately configure each room. In this example, we'll continue configuring each room. Click the pencil icon next to the first room.
   
   
8. In the Details tab, you can:
   • Edit the room name.
   • Add one or more interviewers – you can add interviewers now or at any time prior to the interviews.  
   • Select the application PDF you want to make accessible to interviewers. 
   • Add an external video call link (e.g., a Zoom link). If you add a link, the interviews will take place on that platform when applicants and interviewers join the room. If you do not add a link, the interviews will occur using the Interview Portal's native video conferencing platform.
     
     
9. In the Schedule tab, add the Interview Duration (i.e., the duration, in minutes, of each interview) and the Review Duration (i.e., the amount of buffer time, in minutes, between each interview, which interviewers can use to submit their scores and prepare for their next interview). These durations will be used for the 3 standard, multiple interview rooms added above (later, we can add a separate duration for the 4th room we added for all applicants). 
   
   
    
10. After you enter the durations, click Apply. A schedule generates based on the start time you previously entered plus the interview and review durations.
    
    
     
11. To the right of the interview start times, you can add breaks and additional time slots.
    
    
     

12. In the Scoring tab, configure your scoring system. You can enable Single Score (an overall score for the applicant), Itemized Score (a set of competencies or questions that are individually scored), or both (such as in our example below). Note, however, that to better standardize scoring, the option to use both may be phased out for your program.

    If you enter a single score, this will be the applicant's official overall score, even if itemized scores are also provided. The itemized scores, in this case, are just for reference and comparison across applicants. If the single score is left blank, the itemized scores will be averaged to calculate the overall score. If using the itemized score, you can select an existing scoring form from your library or create a new one. If you want to apply this form in other rooms, enable the Apply this scoring form to multiple rooms option and select the applicable rooms. 
    
    Note that the session scoring range you set earlier in the process applies to both options. For instance, if the range is set to 1–10, you can enter a single score within that range. If using itemized scores, the average of individual 1–5 ratings will be scaled up to match the 1–10 range. Similarly, if you set the range to 1–3, a single score can be entered within that scale, while the average of itemized scores will be scaled down to fit the 1–3 range. This ensures consistency across scoring types.
     

     
13. Once you've configured the Details, Schedule, and Scoring for the first room, click Save & Continue to move to the next room. When configuring rooms 2 and 3, the schedule will already be set based on the schedule from room 1. However, when you reach room 4, you'll need to set a new schedule. This is because room 4 was added as an extra room for all applicants, with the program director spending a shorter amount of time with each. At this point, we'll rename the room, add the program director as an interviewer, and set the appropriate durations.
    
    
    
    
14. When finished, click Save & Exit, then Save once more to lock everything in. 

Finalize the Schedule 

The interview schedule organizes the times and pairings of applicants with their interviewers.

After you create a session and make it visible to applicants, you can allow applicants to self-select it, or you can manually assign them to it. If applicants self-select, the interview schedule generates automatically once the session is filled (note that you can modify it as described below). If you manually assign applicants, you'll generate the schedule as follows once the session is filled:

1. From the Sessions page, open the session.
2. In the Schedule area, click Create Schedule.
3. Once the schedule is populated, you can modify it as follows (be sure to Save any changes): 
   • Remove an applicant using the three-dot menu next to their name.
   • Move applicants by clicking and dragging them.
   • Use the pencil icon in the top-right corner of any room to add/remove interviewers, adjust times, and add breaks. 
   • If you need to clear the schedule, use the clear schedule icon next to the TimeTrack button. This action resets the schedule to a blank slate, allowing you to generate a new schedule for the session. 

Example of a generated schedule: 

Initial Steps

1. From the left menu, click Sessions, then click + New Session at the top right. 
   
   
2. Select the Standard from the drop-down.. 
   
   
3. Session Visibility refers to whether applicants can see the session in their version of the Interview Portal. When you enable this option, applicants who log in to the Interview Portal can see the session and self-select it as their preferred choice (or second choice, if you have multiple sessions).
   • Note: we recommend leaving this option disabled until after you've configured everything and are ready to invite applicants to interview.  To enable later, simply open the session and use the gear icon in the top-right corner to adjust this setting. 
4. Complete the Session Details (note: by default, self-scheduling is enabled for your program but can be disabled):
   • Session Name: the name of your interview session.
   • Date: the date this interview session will occur. If you have multiple sessions, you can copy this session after creating it. 
   • Start Time: the time your first interview will begin on the specified date (note: the system automatically uses your operating system's time zone). You don’t need to enter an end time because the system will determine that later when the schedule is finalized. 
   • Applicants: the number of applicants you will host during the session.
   • Interviewers Instructions: if you have a PDF file with guidance for your interviewers to follow – for example, scenario-based questions the interviewers should ask – use this window to drag and drop the file or click Select File to browse for the PDF on your device. Once added, the file appears in the interviewer's view.  
     
     
      
5. Set the range for Session Scoring. This establishes the range for scoring, whether you’re using a single overall score for the applicant or calculating an overall score from itemized ratings. Setting the range here ensures that, despite different scoring practices (e.g., some rooms using single scores, others using itemized scoring), scores remain consistent across all interview rooms.
   
   
6. Next, setup the rooms. While these rooms won't be used for the actual interviews (since you'll be conducting them in another platform), they allow you to return to the Interview Portal to input scores.
   
   
   
   The number of rooms you select will be based on the different types of scoring forms you may use. For example:
   • If you're using the same scoring form for all interviews, select 1 room.
   • If you're using one scoring form for all your "standard" Interviews and then another scoring form for shorter interviews with the program director, select 2 rooms.

After you select the number of rooms, click Save. 

7. From here, you can save the initial setup and come back later to configure the room, or you can immediately configure the room. In this example, we'll continue configuring the room. Click the pencil icon next to the room.
   
   
8. In the Details tab, add all the interviewers who will be conducting interviews. 
   
   
9. In the Scoring tab, configure your scoring system. You can enable Single Score (an overall score for the applicant), Itemized Score (a set of competencies or questions that are individually scored), or both (such as in our example below). Note, however, that to better standardize scoring, the option to use both may be phased out for your program.

   If you enter a single score, this will be the applicant's official overall score, even if itemized scores are also provided. The itemized scores, in this case, are just for reference and comparison across applicants. If the single score is left blank, the itemized scores will be averaged to calculate the overall score. If using the itemized score, you can select an existing scoring form from your library or create a new one. Disregard the Apply this scoring form to multiple rooms option. 
   
   Note that the session scoring range you set earlier in the process applies to both options. For instance, if the range is set to 1–10, you can enter a single score within that range. If using itemized scores, the average of individual 1–5 ratings will be scaled up to match the 1–10 range. Similarly, if you set the range to 1–3, a single score can be entered within that scale, while the average of itemized scores will be scaled down to fit the 1–3 range. This ensures consistency across scoring types.

   
   
10. When finished, click Save & Exit, then Save once more to lock everything in. 

Finalize the Schedule

The schedule lists the applicants participating in the session so your interviewers can later score them after conducting the interviews outside of the system. 

After you create a session and make it visible to applicants, you can allow applicants to self-select it, or you can manually assign them to it. As applicants are added to the session, they appear in alphabetical order. 

How Factors Work

Itemized questions include factors for weighting. The default factor for each question is 1, but you can choose to enter higher numbers to place more weight on specific questions. For example, you might have three questions and choose to weight one of them as double that of the others: 

• Communication: factor = 1
• Clinical Knowledge: factor = 2
• Professionalism: factor = 1

When interviewers provide their scores, each score is multiplied by the question's corresponding factor. These weighted scores are then summed and divided by the total sum of factors used. Here's an example:

Suppose the interviewer provides the following scores on a scale of 1–5:

• Communication: score = 5
• Clinical Knowledge score: = 4
• Professionalism: score = 5

The calculation works as follows: 

1. Scores are first multiplied by the factors: 
   • Communication: 5 x 1 = 5
   • Clinical Knowledge: 4 x 2 = 8
   • Professionalism: 5 x 1 = 5
2. Each individual score is summed: 
   • Total Score: 5 + 8 + 5 = 18
3. The sum of all weighted scores is divided by the sum of all factors: 
   • Weighted Score: 18 / (1 + 2 + 1) = 4.5
4. The scores are then adjusted based on the Session Scoring range. For example:
   • If the range is set to 1–3, the score is adjusted to 2.70. 
   • If the range is set to 1–5, the score remains 4.5 (because the range matches the Likert scale used for the itemizations). 
   • If the range is set to 1–10, the score is adjusted to 9.