Calendar configuration and self-booking
Connect your calendar so candidates can book interviews directly with you. Choose your availability, meeting lengths, lead time, and what information candidates must provide.
This page is in two parts. First, Calendar synchronization lets Nextal read your real calendar (Microsoft 365 today, Google Workspace coming) so it knows when you’re busy. Second, Shared calendar (self-booking) turns on a public link you can send to candidates so they pick an open time from your real availability — no email ping-pong required.
Calendar synchronization
What it is. A connection between Nextal and your work calendar. Once turned on, Nextal sees the times you’re already booked (meetings, focus blocks, all-day events) and avoids offering those slots to candidates.
What it’s for. Imagine you turn on self-booking without sync: a candidate could pick Tuesday 2 PM, but you’ve had a dentist appointment in your real calendar since last week. Sync prevents that. It also writes interviews you schedule from Nextal back to your real calendar so you don’t need two apps open.
How to turn on calendar synchronization
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Find the master toggle
At the top of the page, just under the title, there’s a single switch for calendar sync.
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Flip it on
Nextal connects to your calendar provider. You may need an admin to enable the provider first if you see a warning — same situation as for email sync.
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Verify
Once on, when you book an interview through Nextal it should appear in your real calendar within a minute, and conflicts in your real calendar should now hide their times from self-booking offers.
Shared calendar (self-booking link)
What it is. A unique URL you can send to candidates that opens a public page showing your available times. The candidate picks a slot, fills in their info, and the interview lands on your calendar (and the candidate’s record) automatically.
What it’s for. Saves the back-and-forth of “are you free Tuesday? No, what about Wednesday morning? No, what about…”. The candidate sees real openings; you get a confirmed booking with one click on their side.
How to enable self-booking
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Calendar sync must be on
Self-booking depends on calendar sync to know when you’re busy. Turn on synchronization first (see above).
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Flip the Shared calendar switch
This exposes the public booking page at your unique URL.
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Copy your public link
The URL has the format
https://{tenant}.nextal.co/{lang}/user/{your-user-id}/meeting. Copy it from the field shown on the page. You can give this link in an email or paste it into a candidate template.
Weekly availability
What it is. The hours of each weekday that count as “open for interviews”. Even when your calendar is empty, Nextal won’t offer slots outside these windows.
What it’s for. Keeps interviews inside your working hours and time-zone — no candidate accidentally booking you at 7 AM on a Sunday.
How to set your weekly availability
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Find the day rows
Below the toggles, you’ll see seven rows — one per day of the week (Monday through Sunday).
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Enable each day you work
Each row has its own switch. Turning a day on accepts a default window of 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Turning it off blocks all slots that day.
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Adjust start and end time
For enabled days, two time pickers appear: a start time and an end time. Pick any 15-minute increment from 12:00 AM to 11:45 PM. The slots offered to candidates start at the start time and end before the end time.
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Different hours per day
Each day is independent — you might work 8 AM-noon Friday but 9-5 the rest of the week. Set each day separately.
Meeting lengths
What it is. The durations a candidate can choose from when picking a slot. Four options are available: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes. You can offer any combination.
What it’s for. A quick phone screen might be 15 minutes; a structured interview might be 60. By offering only the lengths that fit your hiring stage, you keep candidates from accidentally booking the wrong kind of meeting.
How to choose meeting lengths
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Find the lengths multi-select
A dropdown labelled with the durations you’ve enabled. By default it’s empty.
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Pick one or more
Click any combination of 15, 30, 45, 60. Each click adds a tag. Click the tag’s × to remove a length.
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What the candidate sees
If you pick 30 and 60, the candidate’s booking page shows a “Select meeting length” picker with those two values. They choose one, then see available slots of that length.
Minimum interview lead time
What it is. The minimum gap between “now” and the earliest slot a candidate can book. Choices: 15 min, 30 min, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h, 4 h, 6 h, 24 h, 46 h.
What it’s for. Prevents last-minute surprises. If your lead time is 24 hours, no candidate can pick a slot less than a day away — giving you time to prepare and read their file.
How to set lead time
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Find the lead-time dropdown
Single-select. Default is 15 minutes.
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Pick a value
For phone screens, 1-3 hours is common. For first-round interviews, 24 hours is common. For panels, 46 hours.
Maximum offset (booking window)
What it is. How far into the future a candidate can book. Choices: 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks ahead.
What it’s for. Caps how far out your calendar is exposed. Without a cap, an over-eager candidate could grab a slot two months from now and freeze you. A 2-week cap keeps things tight.
How to set the booking window
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Find the weeks dropdown
Defaults to 1 week.
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Pick a value
1 to 4 weeks depending on how aggressive your hiring tempo is.
Optional information fields (Company, Reason)
What it is. Two extra questions you can show on the candidate’s booking page: their current Company and their Reason for the meeting. Each has its own enable/required switch.
What it’s for.
- Company — handy when you publish the link broadly (LinkedIn post, career page) and want to know who’s on the other side before the call.
- Reason — when the link is generic (“book a call with me”), asking the reason filters serious candidates from people who want to chat about something else entirely.
How to enable extra fields
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Find the Company / Reason cards or rows
Each shows two switches: Enabled and Required.
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Flip Enabled
The field appears on the candidate’s booking form.
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Optionally flip Required
If required, the candidate can’t submit the booking until they fill it in. If only enabled, it’s a soft suggestion.