What to expect when interviewing and onboarding 100% remotely

As you discuss your pastjob responsibilitiesand accomplishments,deliberately detail how they were performed off-site. Skip city/state in the formatting and note that it is work that is performed remotely in the first sentence. “The remote nature of the job should be a secondary reason for wanting the job. Employers want to hear that your primary interest is the job itself,” said Brie Reynolds, FlexJobs’ former Career Development Manager and Career Coach.

Including an example of a real project you’ve worked on remotely in the past may also help to strengthen your answer. In addition to listing the types of technologies you’re familiar with, you should also be prepared to explain how and why your team used them. “Be prepared to describe a variety of practices to make remote work effective,” Leech says. Prior to your interview, revisit the job posting or ask the recruiter which tools your prospective team uses so that you can frame your response with those technologies in mind. And know that you probably won’t have experience with every single platform any given employer uses. Just be sure to mention how quickly you’ve learned new tools in the past. This might feel like a conversational ice breaker question, but it’s one you need to answer thoughtfully.

Why do you want to work remotely?

If your workers feel lonely, they’ll feel less engaged, less productive, and less motivated. According to Buffer, 24% of remote employees struggle with feelings of loneliness. Starting around March 2020, more people than ever before began working from home, most of them with little to no notice.

Organizations and individuals didn’t have time to prepare for remote work or think about the best ways to transition teams, processes, and culture to an online-only environment. No one knew how long the COVID-19 pandemic—and thus an increased number of remote workers—would last. If you have the freedom of choice, consider whether hiring remote workers is a good fit for your company culture and mission statement. Highly skilled remote workers are technically confident and competent. Although they don’t necessarily need to have experience with the platforms, they should be willing to learn quickly.

#5 Ask the interviewer questions, too

The Job ad or listing or description is essentially a document that puts together all the skills, experiences, and traits you are looking for in your ideal candidate. If you are hiring for a specific skill set, make sure they have the necessary experience working remotely with that skill set. In some situations, you will require a candidate to have specific skills and experience working remotely. For this reason, remote employees need to be self-starters and self-managers. Use the services of websites like EliteBrains that provide a list of vetted workers and their hourly rates.

• Here are 20 tips for leading a better and more productive remote-work life, based on my experience and what I’ve learned from others.
• A hiring manager with a successful team wants to maintain that company culture.
• These will remind you of the exact points you want to make and ensure that you don’t miss anything important in the heat of the moment.
• Read here for more killer interview questions to ask employers.
• Ready to see what radically personal customer service looks like?
• This schedule is not universal to remote workers, and that’s kind of the point—the idea with remote work is that it’s flexible.

“X” here stands for any technical concept, for example, encapsulation in basic object-oriented programming. As per the describe your experience working remotely description, you, as a remote developer, would be required to have technical experience and clarity over certain concepts. Remote workers may also mention models like Agile which they use to split the task into phases and keep it open to adaptations when required. You could highlight how standups at your previous remote workplace helped you take stock of what you worked on the day before, what you’re working on today, and the blockers you are facing. The interviewer wants to know that you are serious about your work and that you won’t be constantly disturbed.

— Mention the Company’s Culture

Those serendipitous interactions don’t occur remotely, every communication is intentional. These are some common habits among great potential remote workers, so try to demonstrate these traits when the interviewer asks what type of culture you prefer. Feel free to talk about what has worked best for you in past roles, too, even if those previous positions were not remote jobs. Most remote employers don’t require you to have worked remotely before. Not all candidates make great remote workers, so the person interviewing you will be paying careful attention to how you respond. Some employers will give preference to remote job seekers or those who have already proven themselves on a remote team.

• For those unexpectedly working from home who are also trying to reduce face-to-face contact, set up a video call with your colleagues or manager once a week to check in.
• They refer to software or applications that do not work as required.
• This question specifically asks you about the tools you leverage for time and project management .
• Think of a scenario where the lack of a particular resource was a challenge.
• So hiring managers will want some assurance that you’ve got a grasp on how to push through the inherent distractions and distance of remote work.