2. Interviewer Training - Getting Ready (Tags and Templates)

TL;DR

Before you build any Interview Training Paths, you should: 

1. define the tags trainees will graduate into

2. ensure interview templates are configured with clear events and tag requirements

3. create email templates for training enrollment and graduation so trainees get clear instructions and expectations.

Overview

Like most of GoodTime's features, you will want to invest some time in your initial setup to get the most from the Interviewer Training feature so that you can automate as much of the the trainee scheduling process as possible. Listed here is an overview of the steps you should take in order to correctly setup your Interviewer Training process for optimal automation.

1. Identify target roles and skills

Start by answering these questions:

• Which roles have scheduling bottlenecks (slow to schedule, few interviewers)?   

• Which interview types require special skills or tools (e.g. Python, C++, system design, CoderPad, sales demo)? 

• Where would having 3–5 extra interviewers make the biggest impact?

Make a short list (3–10) of interview types you want to train interviewers for. These will map to skill tags and training paths.

2. Define interviewer tags

Tags are who you define or indicate who can conduct which interview.

Best practices for tags:

• Make them skill-based and specific to a SINGLE skill set. Note that given GoodTime's ability to use boolean logic with tags, it is preferred that each tag reflects a SINGLE skill. You can always combine tags together if needed. For interviewer training, you will be most interested in SKILL tags as opposed to demographic ones. Here are some sample skill tag combinations: 

  • (Backend), (Frontend),(Coding), (Java).

    • This is an example of 4 different SKILL tag types you may use in your technical hiring process. 

  • (Behavioral), (Leadership), (Problem Solving), (Discovery Call).

    • This is an example of 4 different SKILL tag types you may use in a GTM hiring process.

• Use consistent naming conventions across engineering/sales/other orgs.

• Try to reuse tags across multiple templates (so a single tag unlocks several interviews).  

• Please review the following articles to learn more about using tags with GoodTime

  • Overview - Tags

  • Tags - Advanced Tags

These tags will later be:

• Required in interview events in templates (to select fully trained interviewers).

• Assigned on graduation from training paths to newly trained interviewers.

3. Prepare interview templates for training

GoodTime's Interviewer Training relies heavily on well-structured interview templates as GoodTime needs to know where a trainee can be automatically added to a scheduled interview.

For building Interviewer Training paths, here are some guidelines users can follow:

1. Confirm an appropriate interview template exists 

   • Make sure there is a GoodTime interview template for the role/stage (e.g. Senior Java – Virtual Onsite).  

2. Use clear event titles 

   • Clearly naming your interview event titles makes it obvious which events should be linked to which training path.

3. Set interviewer tags in events 
   Ensure that each event in an Interview Template that you want to link to a training path lists the tags required to host it (e.g. Java, Python, Discovery Call). This ensures that your trainees (who will eventually graduate into this tag type) will be shadowing or reverse shadowing the correct interview type as they build up their skills.

4. Note which events should be trainable 
   When you build training paths later, you’ll choose exactly which events trainees can shadow/reverse-shadow. This is particularly important for multi-event templates (e.g. only link the Java Skills Test panel, not an unrelated Offer Call).

4. Create training email templates (Enrollment & Graduation)

GoodTime can automatically send notification emails to trainees when:

• They are enrolled in a training path.

• They are graduated from a training path.

You can configure these emails to use custom training email templates (type: Trainee) so messages are tailored to the specific training path a trainee is being added to or graduated from.

How to create your training email templates

1. Go to Communication > Email Templates in GoodTime. 

2. Create an email template.

   • You will typically want to create two templates per training path (one for enrollment, and another for graduation).

   • We recommend using clear naming conventions for these email templates such as: 

     • Interviewer Training – [Path Name] – Enrollment 

     • Interviewer Training – [Path Name] – Graduation 

3. In each Trainee email template, you may want to include:

   • a brief welcome/congratulations

   • expectations for the trainee (what they will do, approx. number of classes, time commitment)

   • who to contact with questions

   • any team-specific notes or internal links (rubrics, playbooks, etc.)

4. Once you have drafted enrollment and graduation email templates, be sure to save them as a template with the type: Trainee.

Later, in the Training Path config, you’ll select which templates to use for that path’s enrollment and graduation emails.

☑ Quick readiness checklist

Before you start building paths, confirm the following:

• You have a list of target roles/interview types you want to build training paths for.

• You’ve defined or reviewed tags that represent fully trained interviewers.

  • i.e. You have identified the Interviewer tag group you wish to grow though Interviewer Training.

• The corresponding interview templates exist and:

  • have clear event names.

  • use tags to define interviewer pools.

• You’ve created email templates for training enrollment and graduation (should you wish).

Once everything is checked off above, you’re ready to build your first training path.