Hi @avalsangiacomo, Short answer: yes, there is now/near-term functionality that addresses this, but it’s not exactly a “reserve slots when creating the requisition” feature. The relevant capability is Scheduling Override Preferences / additional interviewer availability.
What it does: interviewers or recruiters/schedulers on their behalf can add one-time or recurring availability blocks for an interviewer. Those blocks can be placed on the interviewer’s calendar so the time is protected, but Eightfold still treats the block as bookable and surfaces it to schedulers in Suggested Times and to candidates in Let Candidate Choose flows. This was built specifically for the “HM calendar is blocked/focus time but still wants interview windows” problem and is being rolled out/validated with customers; USAA feedback notes it can be set per requisition or globally on the backend and was already in their sandbox for testing. The external roadmap also lists Scheduling override preferences as a Q3 scheduling release item.
If you/environment doesn’t have Scheduling Override Preferences enabled yet, my recommended workaround depends on the calendar provider:
- Best workaround: use calendar blocks with a status Eightfold treats as free/bookable.
For Outlook, teams have used a custom status such as “Blocked for interviews,” or created tentative blocks and configured Eightfold not to treat tentative as busy. Internal guidance notes this is Outlook-specific and depends on how busy statuses are configured. - Pair that with interviewer availability windows / working hours.
Keep the interviewer’s Eightfold availability preferences broad enough that those protected windows are eligible, while actual meetings on the calendar still prevent conflicts. - For high-volume or fixed interview days, consider Events/Event Scheduling instead of normal interview scheduling.
For “super day” or block-style hiring, event scheduling is often the better operational workaround when the goal is to create a fixed inventory of slots rather than dynamically schedule around individual calendars .
My practical recommendation: if this is a standard interview scheduling use case, push for Scheduling Override Preferences rather than a manual calendar-title workaround. It is safer than relying on calendar event names—which product has flagged as a security/privacy concern—and it supports the intended flow: protected interviewer time that still appears as available to candidates and schedulers.
