New paper provides tips on how to successfully interview off-site candidates
Interviewing remote candidates can be an entirely different experience for hiring managers who have long been used to the traditional face-to-face setup.
However, a new white paper from Remote says there's not really a lot of difference between face-to-face and remote interviews during the recruitment process.
In fact, the remote interview process should be the same as the in-office process, according to the paper.
"The key difference, of course, is that the candidate will be on a screen, and not in the same room as you," the paper stated.
Training your hiring manager
To carry out a successful remote interview process, the paper suggested training hiring managers "to face remote biases."
"Video interviews can generate some interesting biases in the minds of hiring managers, so it's important to discuss these with them," the paper said.
An example of this is the environment of the interviewee potentially getting considered during hiring, such as when the place is messy or the doorbell suddenly rings.
"Some interviewers may argue that these things are unprofessional. However, office-based personnel may not have been interviewed in this way, so it's important to train your hiring managers to remove these biases and conduct the process as fairly as possible across the board," the paper said.
Asynchronous remote interviews
Another method that could make the interview process successful is by making it "as async as possible."
"During screening interviews, for instance, you might put certain questions to your candidates and then give them two minutes to provide a video-recorded answer," the paper stated. "You may also set written or online assessments to be completed by a certain deadline."
While nothing can replicate a real-time and face-to-face interview, the paper noted that an asynchronous interview process can help hiring managers get a "full picture" of the candidates while also allowing them to focus on other tasks.
Determining culture fit
It is also critical that employers determine the "culture fit" of the remote candidate with actual team members, according to the report, noting that this is a step that is often "overlooked" by many organisations.
"Conduct at least one interview with the candidate's potential peers," the report read. "These are the people who will be working closely with the candidate, and it gives them a great chance to assess that person's cultural suitability."
Remote's paper provides more guidelines in hiring a remote employee in the era of the distributed workforce. Read more about these guidelines here.
