How to Conduct Remote Interviews

Not having the program downloaded and familiar with it before the interview starts is a big mistake to start your interview off on. Be aware of your environment and your background and make sure nothing is distracting or unprofessional around you. Evaluate if your candidate is proactive about seeking help when they need it. All employees should know how to troubleshoot a challenge and when to escalate it. Send resources beforehand, including a list of interviewers. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Similarly, a lousy webcam gives the impression that you’re just not on the top of your game. Interviewers want to see and hear you clearly and easily. If you have shoddy equipment, employers may worry that they’ll have to deal with these poor conditions on an ongoing basis if they hire you.

What you’ll learn in this remote hiring guide

Remote work culture enables employees to do their best work. It doesn’t force them to work a typical 9-5 schedule, work overtime, or neglect their personal life.

A dedicated video interview application provides employers with more candidate tracking tools. “Employers are going to be evaluating you based on your behavior,” Leech says. Do you answer challenging questions clearly and forthrightly, and disclose your flaws? Do you help facilitate a successful interview through attention to the allotted time and by bringing prepared questions? This signals initiative.” Finding ways to demonstrate these traits throughout the interview process “will make you a significantly stronger candidate,” Leech says. So spend some time reflecting on how you’d like to answer these questions, then ask a friend to join you on a video chat to practice your responses. According to Jones, the key here is to have a detailed, thoughtful answer prepared.

Women@Work Diaries: Meet Katie Poehling-Seymour

Remember, one of the most important qualities of a remote worker is being able to take responsibility. Part of that is finding a solution, not JUST reporting the problem.

• On these eight working hours, an average team member produces around 3 hours.
• When you’re a remote worker, you’ll have to organize and coordinate projects differently than you would in person, so bear that in mind when you reply to this.
• ‍We’ve got a whole article on how to write job descriptions, but here we’ll talk about how your job posts need to be adjusted when you’re remote hiring.
• This means you’re going to face a few challenges that you wouldn’t face in an in-person interview.
• Think of talking points ahead of time, such as a funny story or a sports reference.
• For example, it’s almost certainly an interviewer will ask why you’re interested in the role; what you would bring to the team; and your goals for the future.

As many remote employees need to be digitally literate, communicative, and reliable, ask them about their remote work experience and technical remote interview process know-how. In the event that an unexpected technical issue arises during your interview, you’ll want to have a backup plan ready to go.

What do you need in your physical workspace to be successful in your job?

One of the best tips I can give you is to treat the questions you ask as 25% of the interview. Most candidates treat it like an afterthought — a tiny portion. Even if the main reason you applied for a role was to secure remote work, still be ready to point to areas of the job description that excite you, or what you hope to gain from the experience. Now that we’ve gotten some basic remote interview setup out of the way, let’s talk about how to truly stand out and impress in your remote interview. Next, test the specific virtual interview platform the company plans to use. You will want to make some notes as you go through and have questions of your own prepared. Don’t leave yourself scrambling to find some paper and a pen in the middle of your interview.