Remote Interview Process: A Hiring Manager’s Interview Guide
But when it comes to interviews for remote roles, it’s even more important, as people who work from home need to be especially proactive, organized, and communicative. This is a great example of a situational or behavioral interview question, which should be a signal to you that the hiring manager remote interview meaning wants you to share a story from your past work experience. 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. “You have a lot of independence in how you manage your time when working remotely,” Taparia says.
This means asking every candidate the same questions, sticking to the script, and providing everyone with an equal opportunity to ask questions in return. Just because your interview is remote doesn’t mean you can slacken your professional dress code. The invitation to the interview may tell you how to dress, and if it doesn’t, there is nothing wrong with simply asking. To counter the limited number of times you can communicate with your body, make sure you smile often and nod when the other person is talking. By nodding every now and then, you show that you are listening to what they are saying.
How Do You Manage Your Time and Stay Organized?
The globalised world was already responsible for causing an increasing number of remote interviews. Job interviews conducted online using conferencing software, and a camera (webcam) fall into this category. You can speak to the person and evaluate candidates without or prior to bringing them in for a formal in person meeting. It is important to note that company culture is 100x more important in a remote team than an in-house team.
- Start by doing mock virtual interviews with family and friends.
- It allows you to get interviewed by companies in different parts of the world.
- Expect this type of remote interview to become very common as the technology improves.
This means that it’s essential you maintain your concentration and listen actively to your interviewee. 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. Remote interviews can happen via phone, or increasingly with video conferencing technology such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet.
Agile HR Best Practices for Effective Teams
At some point in your interview you’re likely to be sharing your screen. Just like you want to look good on camera, you want your work to look good too. Minimize distraction and clutter by deleting and organizing the icons on your desktop. If you’re sharing a browser screen then close all the tabs except the ones you need for the interview. Try to have your laptop on a desk, and not on your lap where the camera will bounce as you type or move around.
Their answer here can show whether they’ve done their homework on your company. Great candidates want to work at companies that value similar things that they do. If they know what values you exemplify, they’ve most likely taken the time to research and understand how the company is a good fit for them. Many remote workers work this way to be able to live in reasonably priced areas and work at companies in more expensive urban areas.
Set The Background And Lighting For The Remote Interview
Add to that the chaos of working from home, flaky internet connections, unreliable web applications, and the occasional solar flare, and something is bound to go off-script. Whatever technology they use, be sure to practice using it before your real interview. Practice drawing out system diagrams for common problems in this environment. However, most current interview prep material focuses on onsite interviews—with tips like “practice a firm handshake” and “bring your own markers” that no longer make sense. Being consistent will create a level playing field and minimize bias.
Keep your laptop connected (muted and with the camera off) so you can share a screen if needed or collaborate on a document. Since your phone is your backup device, you should keep it charged before the interview just like your laptop. At some point in your tech interview, you will probably need to share your screen. When you’re on a phone dialed into a video conference service like Zoom, the aspect ratio your interviewer sees will be different than their monitor and likely at a lower image quality. To get the best hiring outcomes out of the remote interviewing process, follow these steps before, during, and after the interview.
How do you best prefer to communicate with team members?
People have similar levels of anxiety when it comes to both offline and remote/online interviews. The remote interview is nothing but an interview conducted over teleconferencing. More than right or appropriate answers, the interviewers will examine your body language and communication skills. A remote interview, or virtual interview, can come in various forms. The most general definition is that it’s an interview conducted from afar (with you and your interviewer in separate places). A basic get-to-know-you remote interview could happen over the phone, but usually, a more in-depth interview (including technical interviews) will use video and various other tools.
There are many more apps and software choices to enable you to find the best fit for your goals. At DistantJob, we realized that seven days is the average amount of time for an employee to integrate and adapt to a company’s culture and workflow. After ten years we finally got the hang of it, and created a guide about it, for you to check.
