November 10, 2025

Best Practices

Interview Scheduling Tips

Interview season can be one of the busiest times of year for internship programs. From coordinating calendars to communicating with applicants, small details can quickly add up. These best practices can help you stay organized, save time, and provide a consistent experience for applicants.

1. Plan Your Interview Structure Early
Decide whether your program will host full interview days, individual interviews, panel or group interviews, or a mix of different options. Defining your structure helps determine how many slots to create, which team members will participate, and how many candidates you can accommodate.

• Review our Workflow Templates for examples of common interview setups.

2. Notify Applicants of Your Invitation Date
Let applicants know in advance the date and approximate time when interview invitations will be sent. Applicants appreciate the transparency, and it helps them plan ahead. Sharing this information helps reduce stress and promotes a fairer, transparent process.

• Use the NMS Match System to help you email candidates directly.

3. Preview Scheduling Process for Applicants
See the interview scheduling process from an applicant’s perspective by watching our video walkthrough or previewing the booking page. This ensures you know exactly what applicants will see when they receive their invitation and schedule a time.

4. Keep Everyone in Sync
Team Members: Share your interview itinerary with other interviewers in advance, or add secondary users to allow your team to view, manage, and change all interview information.

Applicants: If you edit an interview event, the NMS Match System automatically updates your itinerary, and you can choose to automatically notify affected applicants of any changes (e.g., updated meeting time, added meeting links).

5. Prepare Your Rank Order List
Once the NMS Match System opens for Phase I rankings on January 19, 2026, you can import the applicants who scheduled interviews with your program to your Rank Order List. Applicants not scheduled through NMS Interview can be added manually after the import is complete.

If you have questions about NMS Interview, please email psychint@natmatch.com.

October 24, 2025

Event

NMS Interview - Community Call Recording

APPIC hosted a community call about NMS Interview for training sites on October 22.

Whether your site is new to NMS Interview or looking to streamline your current process, this session showcased how programs can save time, reduce scheduling errors, and improve communication with applicants.

Watch the Webinar Recording

You can view the full recording of the session below:

Watch the Webinar ↗ | Passcode: 2*wAHP9$

Highlights

Below are the key topics covered in the demo. You can jump to the video’s timestamp to watch the relevant section of the recording or view sections of the NMS Interview User Guide or other related pages for step-by-step instructions:

Overview & Setup

• Why use NMS Interview - 00:00:37 | Learn About NMS Interview ↗
• Plan your interview timeline, share access with other users, and configure settings like timezone, interview type, and notifications - 00:02:23 | Add Secondary Users ↗ | Interview Settings ↗

Add and Manage Events

• Add different types of interview events (Open Houses, Faculty Interviews, etc.) - 00:10:39 | User Guide ↗
• Explore the Calendar and Event pages to organize and edit events - 00:10:39 | User Guide ↗
• Preview your applicant’s booking page - 00:18:45 | User Guide ↗

Manage Candidates

• Manage, track and organize candidates - 00:20:25 | User Guide ↗
• Add and invite candidates - 00:25:45 | User Guide ↗
• Manually scheduling a candidate - 00:32:45 | User Guide ↗

Manage Candidates

• Review, filter, print and export your interview itinerary - 00:34:05 | User Guide ↗
• Move candidates to your Rank Order List - 00:35:30 | User Guide ↗

Next Steps

Here’s how to get started:

• Follow the Quick Start Guide to set up your interview schedule
• Review our Workflow Templates for examples of common interview setups
• Get detailed instructions and how-to videos from the NMS Interview User Guide
• Visit our Help Center for Internships for answers to frequently asked questions.

October 15, 2025

Event

APPIC Community Call - NMS Interview

NMS Interview is a module in the NMS Match System that provides an easy and automated way for internships to schedule their interviews.

APPIC will host a community call about the NMS Interview for training sites on October 22 at 1:00 pm Eastern Time. The call will be recorded and posted online for those unable to attend.

The call will cover:

• How to create your schedule, add your candidates, and send invitations
• How to manage and view your schedule in real-time
• New features added to the system this year

For the link to the webinar recording, please see the article above.

July 30, 2025

Event

Registration for the 2026 APPIC Match is open.

Applicants and internship sites can now register for the 2026 APPIC Match

Training Directors of eligible APPIC-member internship sites will receive an email with instructions for registering. The email includes a unique link that must be used to begin the online registration process for your site.

Match registration information and instructions for applicants are available on the Applicant Registration page. Verify with your DCT that you have permission to apply for internship and register for the APPIC Match. Do not register until you have received such permission.

July 30, 2025

Features

New Features in NMS Interview

NMS Interview is a free, integrated interview scheduling tool available to all internship sites and students in the APPIC Match. It offers a simple, automated way for training sites to manage interviews within the NMS Match System. While use is optional, APPIC strongly recommends it - even for programs that previously used other systems - because it improves efficiency for both programs and students. The system's benefits grow as more programs use it, giving students a centralized view of all their interview schedules.

Updates for the 2026 Match

We've added new features to NMS Interview based on your feedback, making it even easier to manage your interviews.

Preview Your Booking Page
See exactly what your invited applicants will see before you send invitations.

Color Coding for Different Interview Types
Assign a color to each interview type to quickly organize and identify events on your calendar.

At-a-Glance Candidate Status: Invited & Scheduled
Easily track which applicants have been invited and which have booked interviews, right from the Candidates tab.

Enhanced Message Log
View a complete record of all messages sent to applicants, including invitations, rejections, and now any changes or updates to interview events.