Troubleshooting application & interview issues

🌎  Why am I getting applications from so far away?

So you received an application from well outside your area, say from 100 miles away. It seems obvious that this applicant is not based in your city! What can you do?

First, consider whether these candidates might actually be in your area. On HigherMe and our partner job boards, applicants search for jobs based on the area they want to work in. Is it possible your applicant has recently moved? Many college students split the year between two locations (school/home). Maybe they're planning a move or accidentally using a prior address. Sometimes miscommunications happen – this applicant could just be your next great hire!

Of course, some candidates do apply to jobs outside of the area they are currently able to work in. Generally speaking, job boards cannot restrict applicants from applying to jobs anywhere in the world, so it's not uncommon to see international applicants. There is always the possibility of candidates looking for sponsorship.

If you're looking to screen out applications from outside your immediate area, consider adding an auto-reject question in your application, such as "Do you live within X miles of our location?" or "Are you legally authorized to work in [the US/Canada]?". Click here to learn how.

🗓️  Why did my applicant request to reschedule their interview?

There are a few reasons that an applicant might send you a request to reschedule. It's possible that their own schedule changed and they are no longer able to attend their original interview time... but their reschedule request might also mean you need to add more availability to your calendar 👀

• If you haven't added new availability slots in a while, it's possible that your interview slots had already passed when this applicant tried to book their interview
• If you've been interviewing a lot lately, it's possible that your interview slots had already been claimed by other applicants when this applicant tried to book their interview

In the cases above, your applicant would be informed that there are currently no interview slots available and instructed to send you a request to reschedule. As long as you have availability on your calendar when you re-invite them to interview, they will be able to schedule with no trouble!

🫥  Why did I receive an unnamed application?

We do require applicants to enter their full name when they apply to HigherMe jobs – whether here on HigherMe, on a branded careers site, or on third-party job boards like Indeed. However, we are aware of edge cases where an employer may receive an application with no name listed. (Their name may appear as "Name unknown" or "Null null.")

This can occur when an applicant's information already exists in our system without a name attached to it (due to prior incomplete applications). Down the line, if that applicant goes on to submit other applications via third-party job boards, those future applications get matched up to their original, nameless application. This means that their name may not come through in the application that you receive.

In this case, we recommend using the Request more info feature to ask for the candidate's full name. You can also leave an application note to other managers explaining that you've done so!

⛔️  Why isn't this interview time showing up as available?

If you schedule interviews through a third-party calendar like Google or iCal, that means that when you schedule an interview on HigherMe, it automatically syncs to your external calendar, helping you keep everything in one place. In the same vein, any times you have blocked off as "busy" on your external calendar will be marked as unavailable on HigherMe.

This helps you avoid making overlapping commitments, but if you do find yourself in a situation where you want to make a blocked-off time slot available, simply:

1. Open your third-party calendar (say, Google Cal)
2. Locate the event that is already occupying that time slot
3. Either delete the overlapping event from your third-party calendar or change it from "busy" to "free" (if your calendar's event settings allow)

This will open up that time slot for potential HigherMe interviews. ("Free" just means that your calendar will allow other events to overlap with that event.) You'll still need to set up your availability in your Interview settings page and/or when inviting a candidate to interview, but this time will be back in the running!

🗺️  Why do my jobs look far away?

Your phone or computer settings might distort how far away your jobs look on HigherMe. Maybe your jobs appear to be 9 miles away from you while you're sitting in your store – we know that's not right! Here are some things that might affect how HigherMe shows your distance from your jobs:

1) Your device is trying estimate your location based on your IP address location. This is called IP geolocation, and it isn't always accurate. IP geolocation can get a general sense of your location (such as city, ZIP code, or area code), but this doesn't always match your exact location. To improve the accuracy of this estimate, make sure your device is using WiFi!

2) Your device may be caching, or temporarily storing, your past location results. Caching allows your device or browser to access past files and load results more quickly. If you traveled recently, it's possible that your previous location is being read as your current location. Caching is normal (nothing to be alarmed about!), but you can try clearing your cache/cookies if you think this may be impacting how your location is being read.

3) Your computer or phone may be using a VPN. A VPN is a tool that hides your IP address by securely rerouting your network activity to another server in a different location. VPNs allow you to browse the Internet more or less anonymously, without your activity being directly linked to your actual IP address. This can make your location show up as somewhere you are not physically located – for instance, using a VPN in Virginia might make your location appear as Belgium. To see if you're using a VPN, visit www.whatismyproxy.com or check your device's WiFi settings to see if a VPN/proxy is listed.