Recruiters can now expire scheduling links, pause new bookings on an interview activity, and decide whether candidates can request more time. The headline: no more zombie invites resurrecting weeks after a role is filled.
In Journeyfront's interview scheduling, every invite link used to be effectively immortal. Even after a recruiter filled a role and was ready to close out the workflow, candidates with old invite links could keep booking interviews weeks (or months) later, for a job that no longer existed in the recruiter's head.
A new set of lifecycle controls brings that loop back into operational reach. Recruiters can now decide when a scheduling link is valid, who can use it, and what candidates can do with it.
The build was driven by a BPO customer running fully remote hiring across multiple client engagements. They escalated a recurring headache: interview links never expired. After closing a role, they kept seeing fresh interviews land on the calendar from candidates whose invites had gone out weeks earlier. The only available remedy was to delete the interview activity entirely, which would also break things for candidates who had already scheduled correctly.
So they did what any operationally pragmatic team does. They stepped away from in-product scheduling and started managing the loop through manual email, which defeated the point of having scheduling built in.
Their ask was specific. Give us a way to stop accepting new interviews on an activity without disrupting candidates who already booked. Let us expire links after a window of our choosing. And give us the option to turn off the Request More Time button, which didn't fit their workflow.
That's what shipped.
1. Accept new interviews
A master on/off for whether an interview activity is currently accepting bookings. When on, candidates with an invite link can schedule. When off, the link shows them that scheduling is closed.
The toggle sits at the top of the Interview Scheduling Options screen. Default is on, so existing customers see no change unless they flip it. Already-scheduled candidates keep their bookings. Only the candidate self-service path is blocked. Recruiters keep an escape hatch and can still book a time directly using Schedule Time on the candidate's profile.
2. Interview link expiry
A toggle that expires scheduling links after a configurable number of days from when they're sent. Default window when activated is 30 days. Once a link is past expiration, the candidate sees a "no longer active" message instead of a working scheduler. To re-engage them, the recruiter sends a fresh invite.
Existing activities created before this release keep their unlimited link lifetime by default. The new behavior is opt-in.
3. Allow candidates to request more time
A toggle on the candidate-experience section that controls whether the Request More Time button appears on the candidate scheduling portal. The field existed before but was hidden and defaulted off in a way that didn't match how customers actually wanted it. This release flips the default to on and gives the toggle a clear label so recruiters know exactly what it does.
There are two cases, and the split is intentional.
Candidates who have not yet scheduled see a calm, branded message in place of the scheduler:
This scheduling link is no longer active. The link you used has either expired or been turned off. No action is needed on your end. If scheduling reopens, you'll receive a new invite by email.
Candidates who already scheduled before the link went inactive see their normal interview view, with the meeting time, the ability to decline, and rescheduling if the activity allows it. Existing bookings are not disrupted just because the link itself was deactivated. Once a candidate is on the calendar, we don't take their booking away because the link went inactive. The controls govern new bookings and re-bookings, not retroactive invalidation.
Closing a req cleanly should be a one-toggle decision, not a workflow gymnastics routine. For BPO teams running concurrent hiring waves across multiple client programs, the cost of stale-link bookings compounds quickly. Three minutes here, a manual email there, until the team quietly migrates the whole loop off the platform.
These controls bring that loop back. New defaults on new activities, opt-in changes for existing ones, no behavior change for customers who don't want one. They join the broader set of recruiter workflow controls inside the Journeyfront platform.
Where do these settings live?
On any interview activity in a job's screening plan. Open the job, go to Setup, then Screening Plan, click the interview activity, and the three new controls plus the existing toggles are on the Interview Scheduling Options screen.
Does turning off Accept new interviews affect already-scheduled candidates?
No. Their booking stays intact, and they can still cancel or reschedule per the activity's settings.
When does the link expiration clock start?
At invite send time. Changing the days setting after invites are out does not change the expiration on links that are already in candidates' inboxes.
Can recruiters still book a time when Accept new interviews is off?
Yes. The toggle only blocks the candidate self-service path. Recruiters use Schedule Time to book directly.
What's the default for existing customers on release day?
No behavior change. Existing interview activities keep doing what they were doing. The new controls are opt-in. Only new activities created after this release pick up the new defaults.
Interview scheduling controls are one piece of a broader intelligent hiring suite built for BPO operational reality. Walk through the full platform, including assessments, scheduling, structured interviewing, and analytics, on the Journeyfront platform page.