Job coaches: scheduling coaching sessions and follow-ups

Once a jobseeker has started working with you, the support becomes a rhythm: weekly coaching sessions to prepare applications and interviews, then visits at the workplace and short check-ins once a job starts. Create one service per type of meeting, book series of sessions from your calendar, and let people book extra sessions online when they need them, such as before an interview. You keep a steady weekly schedule, the person always knows the next date, and the follow-up after a job starts doesn't slip.

A coaching session at the office, a visit at the employer and a quick video check-in each need different time and places. On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page, and each slot belongs to one service, sits within one day and has its own capacity. Give each slot one place, so one person books each meeting.

Durations are examples: set your own. The price field is optional; leave it empty if the support is funded.

Regular coaching works best on a fixed day and time. After the first meeting, book the following sessions yourself from your calendar; first and last name are required, email and phone optional, and the person receives a confirmation with a calendar file for each one if you enter their email. Book doesn't send reminders, so the calendar file helps people keep track, and a short message the day before can help if they agree.

An interview next week or a difficult first day can call for an extra session. Open a few interview preparation slots each week that people can book online themselves. When a slot is booked, it leaves your page, so the next person picks another time.

Once a job starts, visits at the workplace help the person settle in and give the employer a contact. Create a workplace visit service with travel time inside each slot, and book it yourself after agreeing a time with the person and the employer. Book has one booking page per business, and your public page lists every open service, so say in the description that workplace visits are arranged by you.

Short check-in calls in the first weeks of a job catch problems early, such as travel difficulties, unclear tasks or a missing adjustment. Book a series at a pace that suits the person, such as weekly at first and then monthly. Rescheduling works across services, so a check-in can become a workplace visit if something needs attention on site.

The booking form takes first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note that reaches you in the new booking email and appears in the booker's calendar file. Invite people to use the note for what they'd like to work on, such as an application deadline or an interview date, or an adjustment they need. Since the note appears in the calendar file, ask them not to write health details there.

Once someone is working, sessions may need to move to early morning, lunchtime or after work. Open a few slots at those times on set days. Slots repeat each week on the weekdays you choose until an end date, so a timetable that includes evening slots takes a few minutes to set up.

A review every few months with the person, and with a family member or referrer if they wish, shows what has been achieved and what comes next. Create a longer review service and book it from your calendar, and invite the people the person wants present by forwarding the calendar invitation from the confirmation.

People can't move or cancel bookings online: they contact you, and you move the session from your bookings list. If you have to cancel, tell the person yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Bookings sync with Google, iPhone or Mac calendars, so office sessions, workplace visits and calls sit in one view. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.