Fountain's Calendar functionality allows you to create availability for a single event or for multiple events across multiple Openings, speeding up event availability creation and giving valuable time back to your recruiters.
Example:
A Hiring Manager conducts the final interview for all Delivery Driver jobs in the Seattle region but is also temporarily helping with phone screen interviews for Package Handler jobs in Florida. The Hiring Manager can add availability for both the Seattle Delivery Driver and Florida Package Handler jobs by adding two different events, each with different availability.
Setting Up the Scheduler Stage
Before you add availability to the calendar, you must first have a Scheduler stage added to your workflow. Administrators should review the following articles before users begin adding availability and using the Fountain calendar.
Adding New Availability
To add availability for your applicants to book time with you for interviews, orientations, or other events, follow the steps below:
Click Calendar in the top toolbar of any Fountain page
If you have not yet connected your external calendar, click Connect Calendar towards the top right. This step is optional but must be used if you plan to use the Smart Availability Management feature that automatically avoids double-booking conflicts. Learn more about connecting your external calendar in this article.
Click Add Availability towards the top left.
You may choose to adjust the user and filter by (used for location or Opening) filters below the Add Availability button before adding your availability.
You can also adjust these details in the Create Availability screen.
You can also add availability by dragging and selecting on to the calendar.
Enter your Event Details including the name of the event and instructions. Fountain recommends you enter a clear title and instructions for applicants. See example below:
Event Name: In-Person Delivery Driver Interview
Event Instructions: Please park in the lot and go into the store. Ask for Billy at the check-in counter. Bring your ID and resume.
Select the date of the availability will start.
Select the start and end time of this availability, which will determine the duration of the event if you’re not splitting into smaller sessions. If you do split this block of time into smaller sessions by using the Split into smaller slots toggle, the start and end time does not refer to the duration of the event but the time block you are available to host these events. The specific length of each event session is determined by the Split Into field.
Decide if the availability will repeat. Fountain recommends creating an availability pattern if possible so it's easy for you to manage and provide sufficient availability for your applicants.
You can choose to repeat the event daily, weekly, or Monday through Friday.
You can also decide to end the pattern after a certain number of occurrences.
Determine the duration of each session with the Split Into dropdown. The options available will vary depending total time block is evenly divisible by the duration. For example, in the screenshot below, 2:30 pm - 4 pm has a one-and-a-half-hour time block and can either be divided evenly into two 45-minute sessions, three 30-minute sessions, six 15-minute sessions, or nine 10-minute sessions.
If you want this availability check for conflicts, toggle on the Smart Availability Management toggle. By turning this on, any unbooked sessions will be hidden from applicants choosing to book a slot if the Fountain Calendar sees that the slot is overlapping something on your external calendar or other booked events on the Fountain calendar. If the overlapping external event is deleted, the Fountain Calendar availability will reappear for applicants to book.
Select a Host for the Event(s) via the Host dropdown. This is the person who will be responsible for hosting the event, orientation, etc. You can choose yourself or another user else based on your permissions in Fountain.
Select the number of applicants allowed to book this session. This number will translate to number of bookable slots that will be created within this session. Interviews will typically remain 1 but events like an orientation or hiring event may have a larger number of attendees.
Use the Scheduler stage selector section to determine the specific Opening’s Scheduler stage you want to associate with this availability. This functionality works similarly to creating Rule stages in the Fountain Workflow Editor. Select Condition Type(s) and Value(s). You can target the Scheduler stage(s) of a specific Opening by building conditions around the stage name, the Opening, or the Location Group. Learn more about the Scheduler stage selector by reviewing this article.
Select the Location for the Event(s). This might be a physical location or a virtual meeting link. You can choose from locations associated with he Openings you have selected or you can click + Add new location to type an address or something like Phone call, Zoom link, etc.
Click Save when finished.
Video Demonstration
Edit Existing Events
After events are added to the calendar, you can make adjustments if needed.
On the Fountain Calendar, click the existing event and then click Edit Session to update an individual event or Edit Series to edit a series of events.
Make any changes such as the number of attendees, host, conditions, or values.
Some fields are not editable if updating a series such as the End Time and any recurring fields.
Click Save when finished.
You will be prompted with a modal to confirm your changes.
If you are updating existing events you will be presented with options to either update ALL sessions within the series regardless of booking status or only unbooked sessions.
Important Notes:
If you’re editing a session from a series, that session will be broken off from the series and saved as individual sessions, and you will not be able to combine them back into the series later.
If you create availability for a specific stage (example: In-Person Interview) and you remove the stage from the workflow or change to a different workflow any booked sessions will automatically be canceled. Cancellation emails will be sent to applicants, but there won’t be a warning for the user. Administrators should check the associated Scheduler stage first to ensure there are no booked events before changing the workflow. Learn more about Fountain workflows in this article.
Editing Series only affects sessions in the future, and past sessions will not be altered.
Certain external calendars will allow edit ability of Fountain events on the external calendar. However, these updates will NOT reflect back to the Fountain Calendar. Therefore, when making changes to Fountain Calendar events, Fountain recommends always updating in Fountain first. Those changes will then reflect back correctly to your external calendar.
Manage Applicants
If you need to manually place an applicant into an Event instead of them scheduling themself via the Scheduler stage, follow the steps below
On the Fountain Calendar, find the event slot you need to add the applicant to. Click on the slot and then click Manage Applicants.
Click Book Applicant. Use the drop-down menu to select the applicant. The applicant must have started a Fountain application for you to select their name in the dropdown.
Click Close.
To remove an applicant from a booked Event slot, follow the steps below:
On the Fountain Calendar, find the event slot you need to remove the applicant from. Booked slots will be a darker color on the calendar. Click on the slot and then click Manage Applicants.
Under Manage Applicants, click Remove to the right of the applicant’s name.
Click Close.
Scheduled Sessions Page
The Scheduled Sessions Calendar page can help you stay organized with your past, future, and fast-approaching calendar events. Watch the video below for an overview of the Scheduled Sessions page.
Add Applicant to Session via Applicant Table or UAV
If you are managing applicants on the Applicant Table or Universal Applicant View, you can manually add them to a calendar event or create a new calendar event for them.
On the Applicant Table or UAV, locate the applicant you'd need to add to a session and click the three dots icon to the left of their name.
Click Move to Stage and then select the appropriate Scheduler stage.
The Move Applicant window will appear. The settings will default to send automated emails or SMS messages per the Stage settings. Review them to verify whether you want to Perform additional actions, and click Submit.
The applicant will be moved to the Scheduler stage. Click the yellow Scheduler stage Status Label, then click Schedule in the dropdown menu.
You can select a slot by clicking the dropdown menu to view the previously created available slots. Additionally, you can Add Availability by clicking the + Availability button.
In the Add Availability window, enter the Event Name, Max Attendees (which will default to 1 if you are creating a time slot for a specific applicant), Instructions (optional), and select Schedule.
Once the applicant is scheduled for an event time, the update will appear on the applicant's Status Label, and in the Applicant's Profile.
Additional Resources
Click the tile below to launch the Using the Fountain Calendar microcourse in a new browser tab.
