Remote interview tips: 5 tactics to ace your job interview

Our approach to hiring remote workers has to be different from hiring on-site workers because not everyone is cut out to be a remote worker. We have an extensive interview process where we determine if the person in question has the ability to not only be productive and complete assignments, but the ability to do so from a non-traditional office setting. In addition, they must be a good fit for blending in with our company culture and team. We not only use behavioral interview questions but also have candidates complete personality assessments that measure traits such as efficiency, integrity and sociability in order to gauge fit for working virtually. Our interview process for most roles consists of a hiring exercise, one or several phone interviews, and in-person component.

• We want you to feel relaxed and confident going into your interview which is why we’ve created this comprehensive overview of Mastercard’s recruitment process, so you know what to expect once you apply for a role.
• The objective is to identify if they have the communication skills required to collaborate from afar, as well as the organizational skills, self-discipline, and time management skills to work from home.
• If, however, you are interested in external candidates, you should include this information when you notify internally.
• If you involve a part of the team during the hiring process, they can already meet and potentially figure out if the candidate matches the job description and the team.
• While it’s common for the skill assessment to be conducted by 1–2 team members, the cultural interview will have a representative from every team present.
• However, more and more remote jobs are available these days, so it is essential to have a good hiring process in place.

This resource provides a detailed breakdown of the hiring process you’ll need to follow to successfully find your next team member. It includes an estimate of the time it takes to hire a new team member, as well as a checklist of important elements to consider before beginning the hiring process. Final interviews often include conversations with the company’s senior leadership or a more in-depth discussion with an interviewer from an earlier stage in the hiring process. Final interviews are typically extended only to a very small pool of top candidates.

Ask the Right Questions

It’s vital to hire collaboratively with your team which is extra challenging when hiring remote. It’s even more challenging if you’re receiving all your applications in a shared email inbox. ‍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. Okay, first things first – you need a new team member, so you need to create a remote recruitment job post that gets the applications rolling in. Hiring someone remotely creates an opportunity to use diversity and inclusion software to make data-driven hiring decisions based on skill, not on inherent biases. Yes, but only if you have processes in place to screen and shortlist candidates effectively.

• We approach the reference call more as a way to get coaching on how to help the new hire be successful at Help Scout.
• The ‘remote’ aspect of what we do is very appealing and attracts great people to us.
• It’s important that all those involved in the hiring decision agree to the hiring process, steps, and appropriate communication channels.
• We need to verify that they have the necessary technology to enable them to work for us.
• You can potentially conduct a remote interview with anyone, anywhere in the country at no extra hiring cost if desired.
• At Help Scout, we love to make offers over video chat whenever possible, so the hiring manager will email the finalist and ask if they have a few moments to connect for some good news.

We’ve also learned that when we open certain roles, like engineering positions, and rely solely on active candidates, the pipeline lacks diversity across gender and race. We’ve shared our diversity and inclusion strategies and have had greater success when we focus primarily on recruiting top talent from underrepresented groups. We also make sure we’re asking behavioral style interview questions, or questions that allow candidates to draw on previous experiences in order to determine their potential for success in this role. For executive or C-level roles, it might be useful to schedule in-person interviews during the final hiring stage. You’ll be working closely with them and they’ll be driving many business decisions, so it’s crucial to build that more personal connection. To run live video interviews with candidates, you can use popular tools such as Zoom, Google Hangouts and Skype.

Hiring a Mobile App Developer: How to Spot the Good from the Bad

Be targeted when placing the job ad online to get the best value for your advertising budget and get the information in front of the right people. Are they reading The Washington Post, or are they watching TikTok videos? Don’t waste your budget by advertising on the wrong platform, and be sure to tailor your tone to suit the website.

Make a good impression in the video interview by dressing professionally and practicing before the meeting. Want to speak with an expert about the hiring market, salary ranges, or how to find remote talent? Because this is more similar to the ways in which we interact during in-person conversations, it will feel familiar to the candidate. Be sure to communicate in advance the candidate’s options for joining the video call, sending any necessary access links or meeting codes. If others will be joining the call, show courtesy to the candidate by providing relevant names and titles in advance. While you’re testing your tech setup, also make sure your own background looks good.

Candidate-first hiring

We remote interview meaning real data from our company with the candidate—much of which is available online. It’s as close a proxy for working with a prospect without actually having hired them. If it’s a sales candidate, we’ll give them transcripts from real prospects, if it’s a developer, we’ll review our source code, etc. Jaclyn Westlake worked as an agency recruiter and an HR manager in the startup, tech, and finance space for nearly 10 years before branching out into resume writing, freelance recruiting, and career advising. These days, you can find her sharing job search insights on The Muse and blogging about boat life on The Wife Aquatic.