If you’re hiring an employee for a work from home position, there’s a good chance you’ll be conducting the interview remotely, as well. Often, this means a phone interview, but sometimes it can mean an interview over Skype, or a flight into town to meet the whole team. Since you can’t rely on body language cues the way you might in an in-person interview, how can you make sure you’re hiring the right person?
Here are three tips to help you choose the best candidate for your remote job:
- Hire a Great Communicator
If the person you’re interviewing has a difficult time expressing him or herself at the beginning, it will be bad news further down the road. Because all later communication will be done via email, phone, chat, or another tech, it’s vital that your candidate can communicate online. He or she needs to have a good handle on proper netiquette, plus have the ability to establish thoughts, ideas, and handle conflict well if your team will be successful.
- Look for Somebody Who is Self-Motivated
When one person struggles to stay on task, the whole team suffers. It’s important for bosses to conduct surveys to better understand morale and gain an impression of where individual improvements can be made within your remote team. A candidate who can’t set his or her own work goals and deadlines and drive projects to completion is an employee whose poor work will cause other people’s quality of work to decline You’re looking for a candidate who has a proven track record of working from home successfully or successfully leading things like group projects.
- You Need a Digitally Proficient Candidate
This is not a time to hire somebody who has trouble handling attachments or figuring out new coworking apps, simply because that person won’t have anyone nearby to show him or her what to do! Out of the gate, you’ll need somebody who is comfortable and proficient on the existing types of technology your company uses, and who won’t mind learning new systems. All the great communication skills in the world don’t help if your new work from home employee can’t figure out how to use the company’s chat feature!
Employees are clamoring to work remotely, which is great news for anyone hiring and looking for a high-quality candidate pool! Make sure to look for somebody who is a great communicator, self-motivated, and digitally proficient, and you’ll be well on your way to growing a great team.
Using pre-hire assessments that test for characteristics like motivation, self-confidence, focus, and other emotional intelligence traits will also help you narrow down which candidates are a fit for your remote team. Good luck!
