Working remotely – or working from home – presents its own unique challenges. While it is a popular solution for many people – both employers and employees – not everyone has the right characteristics, temperament, and skills to make them a successful remote worker.
The recruiter has an increased challenge when he or she is hiring for a remote position. Not only are they trying to assess whether or not the candidate has the capacity and aptitude for the job, will fit in with company culture, has staying power, etc. but they also need to determine if the candidate will be able to perform under the added difficulties of working remotely.
In this short article, we’ll take a look at 4 of the most common interview questions remote workers should prepare for and what information we can expect to glean from the answers.
1. Do You Have Experience Working Remotely?
For most recruiters, this would not be a make-or-break question. Of course, if the candidate has prior experience working remotely, we can learn about the challenges the candidate was faced with and what steps they took to overcome them. But if the candidate has no prior experience working remotely, we can still investigate their ability to confront obstacles and problem-solve to overcome them.
The obstacles a remote worker is faced with can be different in nature than those faced by typical office workers.
- Easily distracted
- Difficulties self-motivating
- Low morale, feelings of depression, isolation, or loneliness
It’s a good idea to ask the candidate who has no prior experience working remotely about the challenges they expect to be faced with, and how they expect to stay motivated and in good spirits. This can give us an idea of whether or not the candidate has done the research and has thoroughly thought out the position they are applying for.
What to look for in the answer
Remote work is still a relatively new phenomenon. By only considering workers with prior remote work experience, you run the risk of eliminating many viable highly-skilled potential employees. Instead, focus on the personal characteristics and soft skills that increase a worker’s chances of success in remote work.
2. Are You Suited for Remote Work?
Many workers are choosing to work from home, while for many others, it isn’t a matter of choice. Some who aren’t suited for remote work adapt. Others do not. During the job interview, we should be able to get a good sense of which camp the candidate falls in.
There are certain personality traits and characteristics that make someone more likely to be a successful remote worker.
- Focused – Candidates with experience working with deadlines, who aren’t fans of multitasking, and prefer to work on one big project rather than several small ones
- Tech-savvy – Candidates who own or have used devices and software or who at least have an appreciation and curiosity about them
- Inquisitive – The sibling of “self-motivated” or as close to a synonym as we can get, it’s also easier to get a sense of how inquisitive a candidate is rather than take their word for it that they are self-motivated.
What to look for in the answer
The candidate should – either from personal experience or from thoughtful research – have a concrete idea of why they are suited for remote work. The candidate should express a certain level of tech-savvy and self-reliance.
It is important to bear in mind that remote work does not mean isolated work. Remote workers are still expected to work in a team environment and communicate effectively. The ideal answer to this question, “Are you suited for remote work” should express how the candidate plans to maintain an open line of communication and cooperation with the team and/or company.
3. How Do You Plan on Overcoming Distractions?
Remote workers are faced with distractions that one wouldn’t normally expect to find at the workplace – children, pets, housework, etc. The candidate should have already put some thought into how he or she plans to avoid or mitigate these distractions. Get an understanding of how the candidate anticipates eventual problems, envisions a solution, and devises a plan or methodology on how to implement it. These skills greatly increase the chances of success for a remoter worker.
What to look for in the answer
The answer to this question should address how the candidate has prepared (or plans to prepare) the space in which they work. In addition to the practical implications of their solutions, the candidate’s answer will also give you insight into their ability to envisage potential problems and find creative and feasible preventive solutions to them.
It is worth bearing in mind that everyone deals with distractions in different ways. You shouldn’t look for the method that you feel would work best, but instead, look to see how much forethought and seriousness the candidate has put into this eventuality. The solutions should be largely (though not exclusively) preventative solutions.
4. What Do You Need to Stay Motivated?
Companies with remote workers have taken a variety of different approaches when it comes to keeping remote workers integrated, involved, and motivated. Some companies have regular group video conferences. Others have strict reporting deadlines. It’s a good idea during the job interview to get a sense as to whether or not the candidate will adapt well to whatever strategy your organization has put in place.
If the tools and managerial approach the candidate needs to stay motivated are the same as those already implemented by your company, that’s a point in the candidate’s favor. If your company’s approach to remote workers is quite different from what the candidate has experienced before or from what they think would make them successful, you will need to determine how well the candidate can adapt to new situations. With a varied approach to handling remote workers, this shouldn’t be a problem. The best way to keep remote workers motivated is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
What to look for in the answer
Regardless of the candidate’s past work experience, he or she will have had to draw upon a source of motivation to carry out a project or task (whether work-related or personal). The ideal answer a candidate gives to this question should incorporate concrete examples the candidate has used in the past with success. This or these solutions should be replicable.
5. What Challenges Do You Expect to Face Working Remotely, And How Do You Plan on Overcoming Them?
This question calls on concepts and skills that should have been communicated in the previous four questions. However, they are framed in a more direct problem-solution fashion.
This question should give you a better, clearer idea of just how much remote experience the candidate has and just how much forethought they have put into the position they are applying for.
What to look for in the answer
This is potentially a difficult question for a candidate to answer because the answer is likely to reveal a weakness or weakness in the candidate. Challenges can easily be interpreted as tasks or situations we do not do well, hence a weakness. Do not be alarmed if you have to prod or prompt a bit to get a full answer.
Depending on the structure of your company, the ideal answer to at least one of the challenges the candidate names should involve asking for help or seeking a solution from the company or the team the candidate would integrate. While remote workers are meant to exhibit a certain amount of self-reliance, they are also expected to be team players. The answer the candidate gives to this question should provide you with insight into just how the candidate perceives this balance.
6. What Do You Enjoy Most About Remote Work?
Part of the interview process is “selling” your organization and/or the position to the candidate. For this reason, it’s important to always include a few positive questions in the interview. This question will accomplish several key tasks for the recruiter:
- Get the candidate to think positively about the job they are applying for
- Provide the recruiter with the information they may need if they should have to convince the candidate further to take the position
- Give the recruiter insight into the personality and priorities of the candidate
- Get a sense of the long-term viability or staying power of the candidate
What to look for in the answer
In this specific case, the question is more important than the answer as it is meant to frame the interview and the position in a positive light. Whatever answer the candidate gives can be used in later discussions should the recruiter feel the need to convince the candidate to accept a job offer.
However, the ideal answer would relate the specifics of the candidate’s personality, and skill set and how they are best optimized in a remote work context, as opposed to the perks of comfort and convenience remote work can often provide.
7. How Are You Able To Maintain Boundaries Between Work and Private-life When Working Remotely?
This question is quite similar to the question “How do you overcome distractions?”. However, when presented in the framework of work-life balance, the question should offer the candidate to express their priorities as well as give insights into their availability and how they plan or are willing to communicate with the team.
This question strikes at the heart of a common concern remote workers face. The simple fact of asking this question should show the candidate that you take the concerns of your remote workers seriously. This is an important goal to achieve in the job interview as you want the candidate to come away from the process with a favorable image of the company, regardless of whether you end up offering them a job or not.
What to look for in the answer
Similar to the question “what do you enjoy most about remote work?”, with this question, it is the asking that is more important than the answering. However, the answer can still provide you with valuable insight into the mindset of the candidate, how much forethought they have put into the position they are applying for, and the likelihood they will be able to hold the position for an extended period of time.
The answer the candidate gives should address the limits of their availability. And it is important that they have considered this point already.
8. Can You Tell Me About A Remote Work (or On-site) Environment in Which You Thrived?
Creating an environment in which the worker thrives is what every company or employer wants. So, it stands to reason that the company and/or employer should get as much insight into these kinds of environments as possible.
Remember: finding the right person to fill a given job vacancy is an important objective of the job interview, but it shouldn’t be the only objective. The recruiter should also have as an objective to ensure the candidate comes away with a positive impression of the company and the recruitment experience, and the recruiter can use individual job interviews to gain practical information about how to improve the recruitment process and how to improve on the work environment to ensure the employees’ skills are maximized.
What to look for in the answer
The ideal answer to this question incorporates elements of teamwork and communication. The answer should also express the pride the candidate feels in successfully carrying out a task or project. The answer will give you insight into how the candidate interprets the word “thrive,” and ideally, their interpretation involves group success and added value.
In a Nutshell
In addition to assessing the candidate’s skills and prior experience, when it comes to hiring remote workers, the recruiter is confronted with a whole new set of criteria to look for. Specific challenges such as distractions, feelings of isolation or loneliness, difficulties staying motivated need to be anticipated, and the tools and strategies to implement need to be considered as well.
This article was written by lensa.com
a career advocacy and job searching platform.
