Interviews with waiting rooms

[JALMN]

I need help setting up a meeting.

There are 4 of us interviewing 3 candidates. 

Our meeting starts at 4PM and will go until 7PM.

Each candidate will have 55 minutes with us. We have 5 minutes in between candidates.

I would like to set up one meeting for the committee and stagger the times the candidates  join and enter the waiting rooms. 

Is that possible and how do I set up the invitation? I already have waiting room turned on.

[Ray_Harwood · Accepted solution]

Hi, @JALMN.

The "meeting link" should not be different. Don't use any Zoom add-in to create the meeting... just send the Join link you've copied in either a plain old Email, or if you really want to send a calendar invite, just use the calendar invite directly in your calendar app and paste the Join link in.

But yes... this is one link for all to get into the Waiting Room for your meeting, and you are the "gate keeper" allowing people in from the Waiting Room when the time is right.

[Ray_Harwood]

Welcome to the Zoom Community, @JALMN.

Sounds to me like you’ve got it set up properly.

Get the Join link (not the full invitation – just the Join link) and send it to your committee with the start time of the first session; I’d ask them to join 5 minutes early, to allow the committee to check in and have any last minute procedural discussions.

Send separate emails to each candidate with their Join link and their specific start time – staggered times an hour apart. I’d suggest asking them to arrive 3-5 minutes early, but mention they might have to wait a few minutes before being brought into the meeting. 

During the meeting, you bring in the first candidate from the Waiting Room, conduct the interview, then ask them to leave. If they don’t for some reason, just put them back in the Waiting Room; then bring in candidate number two. Follow that process again, and that should work fine. 

[JALMN]

Okay! Follow up question... 

I noticed that if I send an invitation to the team, and another overlapping invitation to the candidate, the meeting link is unique but the Meeting ID and Passcode are the same. I tested it with my partner and it appears that the Meeting ID and Passcode gets everyone to the same space. Is that correct?

Thanks for your ideas and help.

[Ray_Harwood · Accepted solution]

Hi, @JALMN.

The "meeting link" should not be different. Don't use any Zoom add-in to create the meeting... just send the Join link you've copied in either a plain old Email, or if you really want to send a calendar invite, just use the calendar invite directly in your calendar app and paste the Join link in.

But yes... this is one link for all to get into the Waiting Room for your meeting, and you are the "gate keeper" allowing people in from the Waiting Room when the time is right.

[JALMN]

Thanks for your solution but it is working using a 3 hour invite for one person and a 1 hour invite for another when we test it. The "Join Zoom Meeting" links are different and the "Meeting ID" and "Passcode" are the same. 🤔 Am I missing something? 

I think I know what I did that is different than what you are explaining. I am using my Personal ID for these meetings. That is why it is working. Does that make sense?

[Ray_Harwood · Accepted solution]

@JALMN, I always recommend against using the PMI (Personal Meeting ID) for any scheduled meetings.  Most users don't understand the subtle issues when using the PMI, so using a "generated meeting ID" is always preferred.

And in cases like yours where you're not really getting a large meeting together at one time for everyone, I do recommend sending "regular email typed by humans" rather than relying on the Zoom, Outlook, or Google-generated meeting invites.

[JALMN]

That makes sense! Good tips. Thank you for the quick replies and for breaking it down so I understand. 😊