11+ Proven Remote Job Interview Questions +Answers

To hire talented candidates, you need to have an interview process. Start with the basics as stated above, create the job description, and yes, post it everywhere you can think of. But also, instead of waiting for the magic to happen, start recruiting. Previously, companies who hired remotely did it because they wanted to hire freelancers who charged lower salaries.

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. Some employees need more guidance than others, but remote employees need to work independently from their managers and team. But preferring a lot of direction shouldn’t automatically disqualify you from a remote role. If you’ve primarily worked in an office during your career, the hiring manager may have a few questions about why you’re applying to a remote job. As a business manager, you need a close-knit team to grow and expand your company. Hiring in virtual teams isn’t only about skills and expertise but also about sharing ethics and vision.

Prepare for the unexpected.

Also, ask candidates whether they have the necessary equipment to work remotely (e.g. a computer and internet connection) unless your company provides it. You don’t need to wear a suit jacket — that would look awkward under the circumstances — but you don’t want to wear a sweatshirt either. Choose a neutral background for your interview (it probably goes without saying to avoid one of those virtual beach backgrounds). Fernández-Aráoz says that if you have a professional-looking space you can show in the background, it can help to humanize you, and it’s better than being right up against a wall. However, a blank wall can be less risky when it comes to interruptions or accidentally displaying a messy room.

• Still others might be geographically challenged (that’s me!), as in, you live in a place that makes it geographically impossible to work in the job you want.
• You might post on social media that you’re looking for your next opportunity and describe what talents you’d bring to a future employer.
• This interview question will give you an idea of how a candidate approaches a project when they’re not able to collaborate in-person.
• A remote job interview with video is a bit tricky, but you can blame human nature.

If you have pets, make sure they’ll be quiet and well-behaved, or move them to another part of the house — unless you want your cat to walk across your computer. If you have a spouse or other family members, send them out for some errands. remote interview meaning Whatever you do, you’ll want to eliminate any distractions for a few hours so you can prepare for and complete the online interview. Preparing for a remote job interview is similar to preparing for an in-person interview.

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Make sure you explain what steps you take, how you triage things, and that you aren’t afraid to ask for help when you’re in over your head. Regardless of your motives, address it head-on and be sure to position it favorably in a way that benefits the employer. Looking for more tips on building the flexible career you’ve been dreaming of? Take the tour and discover all of the ways that a FlexJobs membership can support your goals at every stage of your career. When problem-solving, I realized I had not balanced my goal of not micromanaging with accountability and support. I should have communicated more proactively with my team and ensured everyone was on track.

It’s a common interview question and one you should expect to encounter during almost every job interview. Even though the question can seem simple, it’s difficult to provide a good answer if you’re not prepared. Before 2020, many if not most candidates would have answered “no” to this question.

Prepare for a remote interview

We recommend using a structured approach to responding to interview questions by discussing the situation, task, action, and result (STAR). This is a common question during any interview process, whether remote or not. But being able to adapt to change is foundational to working in a remote team, particularly if the company you are joining is a distributed team spread across time zones and geographies. When you don’t have the benefit of working at the same time as your colleagues, you need to learn to be communicate async.

• On a single screen setup, you’ll be clicking back and forth between tabs, and that’s not a good look.
• Be sure to mention you’re comfortable picking up new things.
• If you have experience working remotely in the past, be prepared to detail when, where, and how you were able to succeed in that role.
• When you don’t have the benefit of working at the same time as your colleagues, you need to learn to be communicate async.
• From my experience, that is not the case with remote jobs.
• Explain how you used your skills to tackle those challenges.

Some people love the solitude of remote work because it gives them a chance to focus deeply on their tasks, while others need coping strategies such as sound-canceling headphones to block out everything around them. Make sure that candidates have strategies that will help them stay productive and do their best work. For the same reason, you want to practice being emotive during the interview. “Unless you have a sophisticated set of earphones, the audio gets compressed and you lose many of the undertones, which convey emotions,” he explains. “So you need to exaggerate those a bit.” He suggests practicing with a friend on video to “get some feedback about the setting, your tone, and your body language.” Your goal is to appear natural and at ease. You might record yourself answering a few sample questions and watch how you appear.