10 Tips to Nail Your Remote Interview Process

Follow these tips, and the interview experience will leave candidates with a positive impression and entice them to complete the next stage of onboarding with your company. For more remote interview process best practices, be sure to check out our Guide to Hiring Remote. Sending out a candidate experience survey after the interview will help your team act on inclusive hiring practices.

• For example, candidates can’t see where other employees hang out, how busy they are, and whether they’re stressed or enjoying their work.
• If things are still looking strong at this point, the next step is a relevant project that gives candidates a chance to showcase their skills.
• While not every review will be glowing (it happens!), a majority of the reviews should be positive.
• They shouldn’t need a refresher on how to use Google Docs or how to connect to a wireless network.
• We will then conduct a series of recorded interviews, assessments, and usually a live interview as well to help us evaluate candidates and make hiring decisions.
• It’s also a good idea to look for candidates who have previous remote working experience.

After the conclusion of your remote interview, ensure that you explain to candidates the next step in the process. Ask the candidate if they have any final questions and thank them for their time.When it comes to providing feedback, never leave candidates waiting for weeks – or indefinitely – with no answer. As any hiring manager knows, an interview (whether remote or in-person) will reveal much more than an interviewee’s answers. It will ultimately showcase a person’s communication skills and ability to think on the spot. If you’re new to remote interviewing or simply want to improve your hiring process, read on. If you’re looking for a remote, hybrid, or flexible job, Remote can help.

How can we structure a remote hiring process? For example, should we invest more time in final interviews?

Melissa Bruno, VP Head of People at Stack Overflow, reminds us that if the company is not tech-savvy, you will have to start from the basics. Keep in mind that feedback offers closure and improves the candidate experience. This is a crucial factor as it establishes professionalism on your part and helps to build your brand. When we communicate with another person, whether it be a friend, colleague, or a stranger, only a small percentage of what we communicate is verbal. In fact, there have been a number of studies on the complex topic of nonverbal communication with most experts agreeing that 70 to 93 percent of all communication is nonverbal. It’s also important to maintain a clear interview structure, rather than becoming sidetracked with unrelated conversations . When this occurs, it interferes with the goal of the interview and diminishes your ability to accurately assess the candidate.

• It’s not as simple as transposing your standard approach to the remote world and assuming it’ll stick.
• Identify your recruitment needs, then use prescreening to ensure applicants are the right fit for your organization.
• Because the thing is, remote hiring has specific limitations and challenges that hiring in person simply does not.
• Especially in a virtual environment, where bonding and communication are crucial to build trust and establish a productive flow.
• Looking at the rising number of remote employees, there is a need to hire right, fit candidates to build your product.
• Back-to-back appointments will also serve as a reminder to stay on track and adhere to appointment durations.
• Organizations are now designing virtual onboarding programs for fresh recruits.

Ensure that you have a ‘test run’ to confirm that your software (microphone, camera, etc.) is working accordingly. If you run into issues, offer to continue with your video off and to save bandwidth.

Create an amazing interview experience

For example, if one of your company’s values is ‘constant improvement’, show real examples of how that is demonstrated in your culture. To showcase that specific value, you could highlight an employee who has grown with your company – both professionally and personally. Likewise, you could share an example of a team-building event that facilitates both shared learning and camaraderie. Based on the remote position that you’re hiring for, you can start by compiling a list of skills and traits that a new employee should possess.

Screens may separate us, but that shouldn’t dehumanize the experience. After all, dialing in from respective home offices should allow conversations to feel even more human and authentic.