In a world where talent has no boundaries, more organizations are embracing the option of hiring talent across the globe. There are many advantages of hiring remote employees, but there are an equal number of challenges in finding a prospect. With a little preparation, you will be able to make sure that the employee you’ve hired will be the employee you need.
Here are some tips to help you find the best suitor.
Place accurate job adds:
Now I know this sound obvious! But it is shocking to see the number of job adverts out there that are not clear. You need to send out a well-written add for the role and ensure that the add conveys your expectations and responsibilities clearly. This will also funnel the applicants.
It would help if you also talk about the flexibility of work timings or the number of hours of input required weekly. These details help you get connected to the right set of candidates, which is a lot more time saving and convenient.
You can also share the details about your organization, job role, and job expectations in a video clipping. Videos are a lot more engaging and thus can connect you to a broader network. Video adds also give you the chance to show your conviction and your passion for what you do, which invites promising candidates.
Use the right Applicant Tracking System:
The Applicant Tracking System gives a great deal of convenience and organizes the hiring really well. While hiring remotely, you need to consider the time difference across continents, which could be challenging when interviewing multiple candidates based on different continents.
These challenges can be overruled by using a proper Application Tracking System. A poor interview experience can lead to poor recruitment, eventually resulting in losing money and time. You must also ensure that your software and network are highly secured to protect the candidates’ data. There are strict rules and policies in various countries to maintain the candidates’ data securely.
Use video format and prepare well in advance:
- Who will place the call?
- What online platform will you use?
- Share the names and titles of the people who will be joining the interview with the interviewee beforehand.
- Conduct a trial run of your video conferencing platform. Check the computer, internet, and microphone connection. The most common platforms used are Skype and Microsoft Teams. Moreover, you must also ask the candidates shortlisted for interview to check their equipments beforehand to ensure there are no faults in them.
- If any assessments have to be taken online, prepare them in advance, and design them effectively to be used online.
These are some of the traits that one must look at while hiring employees remotely:
Team Player:
Look for a candidate who is humble yet driven to deliver the best. A humble person who is talented and skilled is a great indicator of team player. Though employees will be working remotely but teams will still drive the work dynamics.
In fact, a lot more effort is needed to build the team motto when the employees are remotely connected with each other. So, always look for a candidate who is humble and yet a great team player.
Self-starter:
You need to look for people who are motivated and can manage their time without supervision, this is one of the if not the most important things to watch out for. Remote working is a success only when employees are able to successfully finish their work within the given deadlines. For this, it is extremely important to hire a person who is a self-motivated to perform without specific set of instructions.
Superior Work Ethics:
In remote working, feedback is constant but is not regular. The employees must use their time constructively to finish the given task at the earliest.
Reference checks and employee track record can help you understand more about the candidates you are interviewing.
Look for the non-verbal cues:
As the employee is visible to you on camera, you can check his expressions, body language, and other non-verbal cues. It is not just what they say but also how they say it is what matters.
Look for cues like eye contact, hand gestures, and facial expressions of the candidate. You also need to pay attention to the voice modulation and the zeal with which the candidate answers the questions. Asking the right questions constantly will help to reduce biases of any sort.
Video Cover Letters:
Video cover letters are a popular way to learn more about candidates quickly. It helps to shortlist candidates beforehand for an interview. If you are time-pressed, then inviting video cover letters will be a great strategy to shortlist candidates quickly.
Be Transparent:
Take your candidate through each step of recruitment. Let your candidates know if they have cleared the previous stage of recruitment or not. Taking them along the entire process will engage the candidates better.
You must share the details about your organization with the employees to grab their interest in working with you. Share the details like, ‘What are your plans shortly to grow your organization? How many employees work remotely in your organization?’ What are the benefits offered?’ etc. This kind of transparency builds a strong connection with the candidates.
Tech Savvy:
You need to test the computer skills of the employee. They should be complacent in handling the softwares required to do the job. The candidate must also be well-versed with other basic computer skills.
Focused:
You need to check if the employee can stay focused remotely without any distractions. Many a times you will come across employees who mention that they can work best in a team environment or need constant feedback.
In remote set-up this is often not possible. Feedback in working remotely is constant but not regular.
Passion:
You must check if the candidate can work with purpose in mind. Ask them what they are passionate about? Then, watch them talk about their passion.
Can you see them talking with excitement? You would want to hire candidates who is passionate about what they do. The passion with which your entire team works eventually can be seen and felt by your customers too.
These were some of the tips that are very helpful in remote hiring. These tips can smoothen up the remote hiring process and can make remote working a big boon for one and all.
