Guide to Have a Successful Remote Job Interview
Feb 9, 2023 • 14 min read
There is no doubt that remote work is becoming the new trend in the corporate world. That means more and more applicants aspire to lock in a new job in a remote setting. Due to the increasing benefit of work-from-home, many workers leave their comfortable office workspace.
However, due to the surge of aspiring candidates, the Human Resource Department is expected to keep up on their game. Remote setup is undoubtedly in demand, but not everyone fits the job. Therefore, finding the most efficient and qualified employee is a massive challenge in the hiring department. And, just like the application in an in-office work, the interview process should be complied with. No worries! DigiWorks listed all the things you should keep in mind when interviewing a potential candidate.
You’ll learn:
- What should you expect from a candidate?
- Setup An Effective Interview Process
- Questions to Ask in a Remote Work Interview
Ready to build your remote team?
Use the DigiWorks platform to hire, manage, and pay remote talent from all over the world.
What should you expect from a candidate?
Hiring remote employees from the office-based and remote setup is incomparable when it comes to working methods and strategy. However, it is not all completely different when discussing the things needed to get done. If your recruitment agency or hiring team is switching to a remote workforce, they need to change their qualified skillset and expectations to match it with the setting. What should be your set of expectations and qualifications when hiring a remote workforce? Let’s find out below!
1. Communication competency.
Communication is one of the most critical factors in creating a harmonious, inclusive, and diverse company culture. In the traditional office, employees can freely talk to each other as they have a coffee area and snack room to chill. However, this is highly different when it is limited virtually. Remote employees often find it hard to communicate with their co-workers via messaging tools as they might somehow feel disconnected when working online. That is why finding a communicative employee is a great help in sustaining a robust corporate bond despite the challenges. Employees will be able to uplift and celebrate one another while also helping fulfil their professional roles quickly. Communicating online also has its benefits. It eliminates conflict or disagreements among employees as they have more time to evaluate their words before discussing it with their workmates. Therefore, it avoids having harsh and violent statements against another member.
2. Organisational Skills
Remote team members are often more independent and have more freedom to command themselves as there are no higher-ups that overlook them from time to time. It is given that their managers will track their projects and performances, but there is no physical presence that reminds, encourages, and criticises them all the time. In simple terms, they are given a chance to rule their own office, which is in their respective houses.
However, just because they are free and are responsible for their own productivity doesn’t mean that it is acceptable to lack focus and seriousness with their job. Employers should look for employees who can manage themselves efficiently—someone who doesn’t get swamped with their work and is not easily distracted.
3. Unbounded innovative skills
One thing that some remote workers must be longing for is having a conference meeting in a room filled with snacks and employees bouncing off each other’s ideas. That is usually the time when you can tell that a company has solid teamwork to help come out with big projects and ideas.
Meanwhile, remote teams don’t often work that way as they are located in different countries. They usually compose ideas independently or only when they are in a virtual meeting or communicating via group chats. That is when someone who has boundless creativity becomes in demand for the job. Many companies would want an employee who can give bright and extraordinary ideas and strategies without being contingent on external factors. Therefore, hiring employees who can improve projects in one way or another is a significant factor.
4. Excellent technological expertise.
IT support is often present in an in-office and home-based setup. However, knowing the basic knowledge of technology can help minimise wasted time and maximise efficiency when finishing a project. Even just learning how to utilise basic software like GoogleD, Trello, Outlook, and other tools is a great help to the organisation. You might also want to look for someone who can troubleshoot in case their laptops start lagging or know how to plug different wires into their gadgets.
5. Motivational and inspirational.
Some companies always have a strategy to keep their employees uplifted. Perhaps, by giving them a warm coffee and chocolate and complimenting their work when they look unmotivated in the office. That might be a massive struggle in a remote setting, especially for those who need a physical connection. Not everyone in your remote team would easily know if you’re not having a good day since everything is limited virtually. That is why it is also a huge point if an employee is self-driven and independent. They can easily lift themselves during difficult days and do their best all the time.
Setup An Effective Interview Process
Now that you know what to expect and what to look for from the aspiring candidates, you may proceed in preparing an excellent remote work interview process. Before meeting new employers, there are some tasks that will help you find the ideal and perfect candidate for your company. That will also help eliminate any problems once you find the suited applicant for a remote position! Making sure that the candidate wants to work in the company more than just acquiring the job is a great way to start with. Here is the list of things you should do before proceeding with the remote job interview process:
1. Analyse the job description meticulously.
Knowing all aspects of the remote position you are offering is a huge aspect to eliminate circumstances. Familiarise yourself with all the details related to the role they are applying for so you would know what questions you might need to highlight. If you have some parts that you are not certain about, try to consult with the hiring manager, but we are sure that there is plenty of reliable information on the internet.
2. Study the applicant’s CV and rearrange the questions correspondingly
Every candidate will have a different background, skills, and experience, so make sure to prepare separate sets of questions after studying their CV. Perhaps, there might be some employees who are currently taking their graduate degrees, then you can ask if they will have challenges with schedule and workload. There are also instances that they have different work experiences, so it is better to know what asset they can sell out the best. An interview is also like a ‘getting to know’ process, so make sure to list questions that will help you understand them better and find who will fit the company the best.
3. Prepare necessary tools and an organised workspace
If a company is going to make their first impression on the applicant, it will be through you. The candidate would most likely judge the company’s reputation based on your efficiency and proactiveness. Remember, even if the candidates are the ones who need to make the best look, you also need to be appealing to the potential future employees.
In conclusion, it is best to have an organised and clean workspace, especially when doing a video interview. You should also check your internet connection and malfunctioning tools to ensure that there is no distraction throughout the process. You should also set up all the needed websites and tools, mainly when you need to share your screen. It is also best if you have already given the necessary details to the candidate, such as the invite link, timezone, time allotted for the interview, and joining persons.
Ready to build your remote team?
Use the DigiWorks platform to hire, manage, and pay remote talent from all over the world.
Questions to Ask in a Remote Work Interview
1. Start with a few preliminary questions.
Regardless of what setting you are in, the interview process is such a nerve-wracking moment among applicants. They would most likely be nervous and overthink about the factors that might disrupt the conversion and diminish their way of getting in. If you want the candidate to showcase how good they are without being nervous, begin with a few ice breakers. In that way, they would feel more relaxed and comfortable to go throughout the whole interview.
The questions don’t necessarily have to be cliched or too irrelevant to the job. Instead, you can ask them things that will also help you know them as well. You can use this opportunity to know how they found out about the company, if they know anything about the company, their experience, and anything related to why they are applying. Here are some questions you can ask at the beginning of the process:
- How did you know about our job opening?
- How did you find the company?
- Do you know what our company is all about?
- Have you had any previous experience with our company?
- Have you seen any ads from our company?
2. Assess their values and their application to the company culture
Before evaluating a candidate’s skills and experience, it is best to know if they fit with the company culture through their personality and values. Knowing that they are an excellent match to the company’s shared values wouldn’t be a problem. But, if their characteristics and values don’t coincide with the corporate environment, then the rest of the resume might not be as important.
You can ask questions that will identify their willingness and level of seriousness for the position. It will be great to find out that they liked the job they are applying for more than just the convenience of the remote setting. Then, you can also ask them questions that would identify the reason why they chose to apply for a remote position. That might be a basic question, but it will determine their personality. Perhaps, they chose this setting to have more time with their family, then it shows that they care about the people that surround them. Additionally, you can ask them some questions about their previous work experience and make sure that they are not bad-mouthing their previous managers while giving reasons why they are seeking another job. Let us find out how you can assess their values through the following questions:
- What do you like most about this position?
- Is this the job you dream of?
- Why did you decide to apply for a remote job?
- How is a remote position convenient for you?
- How do you find yourself working in a remote position?
- Have you worked in a remote setting before?
- If so, how was your experience?
- What do you admire the most in your previous or current job?
- Do you have any experiences with your previous/current job you would want to share?
3. Evaluate their educational attainment and professional experiences.
Now that the process seems more relaxed and you get to know things about the candidate, it is time to learn what motivates them to pursue the career. You can also evaluate if they had enough knowledge to successfully work in a remote setting.
You can ask them questions that will identify their readiness for the positions. You can ask if they had previous experiences as a remote worker, which says a lot about their qualification. It is also good to know how a remote position will be relevant and helpful to them, to know that they will not leave the job when they get bored or unhappy about it. You can also assess their proactiveness in this part by asking them about some crucial challenges they had in their previous position and how they resolved it. That is a great way to identify how they handle pressure and conflict in a remote setting. Here is the list of questions you can ask the candidate:
- Have you experienced working in a remote position before? If so, how was your experience?
- How do you find yourself working in a remote position?
- Did you have any struggles with your previous work? If so, how did you resolve them?
- How do you manage miscommunication in the workplace?
- Can you give a brief experience you face in school or previous work that you are most proud of?
- Why did you take this degree?
- How is your degree relevant to your career path?
4. Learn about their working strategy and methods.
Remote employees tend to face circumstances within the organisation that can’t be instantly solved by some tools or software. Some might be naturally good at constructing a work schedule and organising their work, but you cannot expect everyone to comply with this easily. In order to avoid wasting time with micro-management and neverending check-ins, try to discuss this issue during the interview.
Perhaps, you can ask them about the tools that help them organise their work and time. Make sure that they can efficiently provide quality outputs rather than just planning their whole day. You can also ask them their preferred setup with their home-based workspace. To have a better grasp of this part, here is the list of questions you can ask:
- Do you have any preferred tools to increase your work productivity?
- What time do you like working?
- Do you have any conflicts working specific hours? If so, how do you think we can resolve this?
- Do you have a home-based office? If so, what is your ideal setup?
- What is other equipment you think would help you work productively?
5. Understand employee’s personal life.
This part is more of non-work related topics, which are best to discuss at the end of the interview process. Nevertheless, this is a crucial step because identifying an employee’s work-life balance is necessary. That might be neglected in office-based interviews, but remember that remote work occurs at a remote location. Therefore, knowing brief information about their personal life will let you know how they balance things out and how the remote setting will affect their personal life.
The key to knowing which questions to be asked is by learning how you can connect their professional role and personal life. It is essential to understand that an employee can focus on their private life, even if they are working from home. You can ask them about specific arrangements that allow them to distinguish different life roles. Another thing is understanding the personal conflicts that might affect their professional character, such as being burnt out and too many distractions.
Learning about each potential candidate’s personal life will help companies resolve conflicts. After knowing these specific causes, you can revise your policies and provide new regulations that will help employees work better. Here is the list of questions you can ask regarding their personal lives:
- How important is work-life balance to you?
- How do you cope with personal conflicts when dealing with your work?
- How do you distinguish different life roles?
- Have you experienced specific problems with remote settings before? If so, what are those?
- When do you feel unhappy and stressed?
- Do you have ways to motivate and energise yourself when you are burned out?
DigiWorks understands that hiring remote employees is crucial and takes a lot of effort, especially during the interview process. However, giving these questions will provide you with a better look at each applicant that will help you find the best candidate that fits your company. Additionally, new employees will increase your brand reputation, so knowing that they are the best for the position is a plus for you!
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About DigiWorks
DigiWorks is an easy-to-use platform that helps small businesses and start ups hire amazing remote talent from around the world. DigiWorks offers a way for you to hire, manage and pay people from all countries. If you find an amazing virtual assistant from Philippines, a content writer from Nigeria, or operations manager from South Africa – manage and pay your entire team from one platform with no hassle.
If you’re looking for a more affordable and sustainable option you might consider making use of a hiring platform like DigiWorks. Virtual assistant companies or platforms like DigiWorks are amazing as they not only match you with pre-vetted and assessed remote workers that can take care of all your business needs but they will also handle all onboarding and payroll needs as well.