5 Practical tips to conduct interviews for remote jobs

Since COVID-19 is forcing people to work from home, there are numerous changes that both the company and employees have to experience. Including remote interviews. For a company, the interviews are as important as they are for the employees. So, you both need to “convince” each other that you are the most suitable candidate. We will discuss now about 5 practical tips that will help your company to conduct interviews for remote jobs.

1. Communicate the details about the interview:

First of all, you have to prepare the details. Meaning you have to decide if it’s going to be via phone call or video meeting. If you will go with the video meeting, make sure to choose the right tools. For this, you can read my article about 4 Online meeting tools you didn’t know about. After you made your decisions, make sure you have all the info. This means the date, time and link for the meeting. Additional to your meeting details, you might want to give some instructions on how to connect to the meeting, especially if you choose a tool that is not as common as Zoom. But if you choose the phone call interview, then the date and time are the most important.

2. Remote-interviewing etiquette:

Even if it’s a remote interview, that does not mean it is less professional. So, you have to pay attention to some details:

• Choose a quiet place even if you are home or at your office. If there is a key that can lock the room, use it!
• Dress as you would do for an offline interview! Meaning pajama pants are not welcome.
• Silence your notifications from your phone or computer. Or just turn them off.
• Keep your background neutral. You don’t want your interviewee to see your personal items.
• Position your device so the light will be in front of you. If the light will be behind you, your interviewee will see just a silhouette and they will not be able to read your facial expressions.
• Make sure you have a good internet connection. And also, have a backup plan. If the meeting tool will have some issues, be ready to use another tool.

3. Adjust your questions:

Now that we have to get used with remote interviews as well, you might need to change or add some additional questions. Owl Labs has prepared a list of suitable remote job interview questions.

4. Act natural:

Even if it’s an online interview, remember to act natural. Keep your voice calm, speak clearly, try to look at the camera and not your image or the other person’s image, make sure you’re demonstrating the interviewee that you are engaged in the conversation. Every person needs to see facial expressions so they know if they are on the right track or not.

5. Have a clear ending:

Conclude your meeting, let the person know what is going to happen next and ask if they have other questions.

During an online interview, you are representing the company. Conducting an effective interview will help you build a positive view both of you and your company.

Resources:

8 Tips for conducting a remote interview

How do you conduct interviews remotely? 

10 Practical tips to conduct productive remote interviews