10 Practical Tips to Conduct Productive Remote Interviews

Explain where the other employees live, how flexible or inflexible hours are, and take this time to explain the pros and cons of remote work according to your company’s experience. You may also take this opportunity to ask questions about how they would deal with the advantages and disadvantages of working remotely. If you have experience working remotely in the past, be prepared to detail when, where, and how you were able to succeed in that role. When you’re conducting a remote interview, treat the interviewee as if you were having a conversation with them in person. Sit up straight, maintain eye contact, smile when appropriate, and above all – demonstrate that you’re engaged in the conversation.

• It’s a chance to see how you actually behaved to give them a sense of how you’d function in the job you’re being considered for.
• After all, the difference between you landing the job and not doing it can be the one aspect you chose not to prepare and polish.
• In fact, there have been a number of studies on the complex topic of nonverbal communication with most experts agreeing that 70 to 93 percent of all communication is nonverbal.
• Also, pay attention to how you’re shortlisting candidates for your interviews.

But if you are ready, a remote interview can be a great way to land a job. With a remote interview, you can reach a larger pool of candidates. And because the interview process is shorter, you can interview more people. Contrary to popular belief, most companies expect you to wear formal and business attire during online interviews and meetings. You must make sure that the colors or the clothes themselves aren’t tacky or loud in terms of color or design.

Preparing for a remote interview

Have a clear picture of what your company looks like as a remote company. Absolutely don’t miss the opportunity to create an assignment for the candidate when conducting a remote interview. While a programmer can show you code and a designer can send you a portfolio full of designs, an assignment is still epically important for a remote candidate.

“If you weren’t able to resolve things, share what you should have done instead, as it demonstrates an ability and desire to learn from your mistakes,” she says. Discussing what you learned can be incredibly valuable, so if you don’t have a glowing success story, it’s OK to share an example of a time things didn’t work out the way you’d hoped. As interesting and relevant as those examples may be, the goal is to keep the focus on your conflict resolution skills. As a way to keep the interview flowing, try to maintain a structured conversation with the candidate, just as you would with a standard interview.

Ask remote interview questions.

So, these are some of the best video conferencing software for remote interviews. Consider conferencing in other employees, just like you would invite them to help out with an in-­office interview. And just like with the phone call, have remote-­specific questions prepared.

“Job seekers should expect full transparency,” Harris states. “A company can’t publish a remote job offer when it’s really ‘there is a possibility to work from home’ or ‘occasional office commute’,” she says. When conducting a remote interview, hiring managers should ideally ask candidates the same questions they would during a face-to-face interview. However, since most hires will be for remote work positions, a further set of ‘remote specific’ questions should be added. Job seekers may think that, even though they are interviewing for a remote position, the interview will take place in-person at the organization’s office.

Set Up Your Technology:

If you’re planning to conduct a longer interview, be sure to build in a break every hour or between each session for the candidate to go off camera to stretch and refresh while you write up your notes. It’s hard to say how long it might take to receive word about the job. Some organizations are quite prompt, while others leave remote interview meaning workers hanging. Occasionally, you may even run into a company that “ghosts” prospective employees, leaving them dangling without a definite yes or no. Regardless of whether you intend to pursue the job, send a thank-you note or email as soon as possible after the job interview to express your gratitude for the opportunity.

• These tasks may include scheduling meetings, appointments, answering phone calls, reporting data in the database, proofreading the documents of the company/individual, and much more.
• Do you prefer to be in constant communication with your coworkers via Slack?
• When remote interviewing, most of these non-verbal cues are not easily observable, making it harder to communicate – so you really need to listen actively to what the interviewee is saying.
• Also, make sure that your virtual interview software integrates with your ATS and is compatible with mobile devices.
• If there’s a barking dog and dirty laundry in the background, you may have a less favorable impression of a candidate who is in a quiet location with a neat and clean (or blurred!) background.

A company that treats its job candidates poorly will probably do the same to its employees. Emphasize your job-specific skills such as project management, administrative skills, or your familiarity with software packages. Also, demonstrate your people skills like communication, teamwork, and self-motivation. https://remotemode.net/ Remember that your prospective manager may not be able to train you in person. In fact, they may not even meet you in person for quite some time—or at all. You need to demonstrate that you can jump into the role without a lot of oversight and be a success, starting from day one.