How to Recruit & Interview Remote Workers

It’s no secret that remote work is revolutionizing the modern business world. Thanks to record low unemployment and growing skill gaps, they’ve finally acknowledged that hiring remote employees provides many benefits for their companies. But while leaders across all sectors and sizes now recognize new opportunity to recruit and retain talent, they are also concede the challenges that remote work opportunities present their organizations.

Remote work doesn’t just benefit employers. It assists more traditional employees as well, by creating the opportunity to pursue jobs that interest them without upending their lives to relocate. But as with any new workplace implementation, recruiting and hiring remote workers unearths a new set of challenges. Luckily, a few modifications and additions to your recruitment practices can initiate significant change and improvement. If you’re wondering where to start recruiting and interviewing remote workers, continue reading for expert tips that will help you attract remote workers to your business today.

Improve Your Online Employment Brand

One thing that will help attract and retain more qualified people is having a positive employment reputation, which you can build through recruitment marketing. While local candidates are easier to reach because they’ve likely heard about your company or know one of your employees, physically distant candidates will likely learn about you online through your digital “blueprint,” such as your company website and social media. Because of this modern-day consumer behavior, you should curate your digital presence to create a consistent message and accurately represent what life is like at your company. You can start to improve your company’s online presence by updating all social media accounts, your company website, your career page and any other customer-facing resources. Through these accounts, showcase employee testimonials (both in-office and remote), images of in-office meetings or conference calls, and other sneak peeks into what makes you a desirable employer. Giving potential new employees this insight will allow them to make informed decisions on whether to apply and ensure a better of flow of qualified candidates.

Find Ways to Connect in an Interview

 During the interview, your team of recruiters and hiring managers must create a welcoming environment. Candidates should feel comfortable and relaxed to show off their best selves. Face to face meetings are still incredibly effective for building engagement, so it’s desirable to meet candidates in your office or a mutually convenient location for an onsite meeting when possible. Unfortunately, with remote jobs, this is not always possible. Consequently, phone and video interviews will be the most frequent communication channels. The “cloud” has simplified remote communication and nearly anyone has access to the equipment and software that makes access convenient, efficient, effective, and affordable. he easiest way to keep all of your communication tools in one place is by utilizing the cloud. Voice over Internet Protocol technology or VOIP, as well as most laptops, tablets and even smartphones allow recruiters and to connect with candidates on their computers and mobile devices, eliminating expensive and complicated equipment.

Carefully Curate Your Interview Questions

When it comes to hiring employees for remote positions, it is critical to identify individuals who have the discipline and commitment to work independently. They will need to collaborate and communicate frequently and easily with managers and co-workers that may never meet face-to-face. Subsequently, it’s more important than ever to focus your interview questions on both job fit but also the ability to work remotely. Here’s a list of 12 qualities that can help assess the best fit possible. Develop specific questions for each quality. Focus on questions that give you insight into each candidate’s level of self-direction, organizational abilities, and overall interest in the field or position. Explore how they’ve worked independently and what strategies they use to manage their time and resources and stay focused. Evaluate their proficiency with the technology and tools they’ll be required to use. These might include project management software or file-sharing services.  Pre-employment assessments can help too. Many of these hiring tools assess a candidate’s organizational ability, focus, flexibility, reliability, and ability to collaborate.  Finally, be sure to ask about their available hours because many remote workers may have unavoidable distractions, family responsibilities, or gig jobs that could interfere.

Hiring for remote positions requires a different set of interviewing skills. It also requires different management skills.  It’s important to assess the fit of the candidate as well as the compatibility and competencies of managers who manage remote or blended workforce. And while it’s a different world and workplace, remote workers offer significant benefits to your company – starting with expanding the availability of talent in a market where top talent grows more scarce every day. If you’re looking for more recruiting help, check out our other tips on Recruiting in the Age of Automation and What Recruitment Metrics Your Teams Need to be Looking for.

Guest post contributed by Jordan Sweeney