Summary:
Remote workers are not just seeking the flexibility of virtual work. They’re also looking for an environment that’s engaging, present and makes them feel part of the organization. Interviews that include these topics provide both parties with useful information about how well a prospect would feel engaged and satisfied in an organization. The author presents 3 tips for employers seeking to master virtual interviews and identify top talent remotely.
The benefits of remote jobs are attracting candidates worldwide who seek the comfort and savings of working from home. Meanwhile, there’s also valuable opportunities for employers such as saving costs and working with a culturally diverse team.
Human resource teams are accustomed to in-person assessments– how a handshake feels like and how a candidate walks in the room. But now companies need a different mindset assessment approach– one that identifies top talent within the confines of a computer screen.
Following are three tips that allow recruiters to create an engaging virtual environment and assess candidates just as effectively as in-person.
Focus on emotional intelligence.
Most commonly, when conducting virtual interviews, employers are tempted to give up on assessing a candidate’s emotional intelligence– EQ. This is because they assume EQ is only important when an employee works in a physical space.
However, EQ determines a candidate’s fit for a remote job more importantly than it does for a physical one.
Online work is still evolving and comes with its own challenges that tests a person’s ability to handle situations politely. Examples of these situations include: receiving (incomplete) details on emails and chats; and the need to over communicate when there’s negligence from the other side.
You may ask the following questions in your virtual interview to assess emotional intelligence of your candidates:
- What inspires you?
- If you had an opportunity to open a business, what three values would you set for your company?
- Tell me about a workplace conflict you were involved in, either with your peers or someone else in the company. How did you manage that conflict, and were you able to resolve it?
Tap into the intimacy of the screen.
One exclusive benefit of remote interviewing is that the intermediary ‘screen’ provides a sense of psychological safety that makes the candidate open up more compared to an in-person environment.
Use this opportunity to ask friendly questions about the candidate’s personal life; for example family relations and culture belongingness. It helps employers quickly reach a hiring decision by noting how a candidate’s response aligns with the requirements of the job.
Observe reactions to distractions.
Unexpected events– such as door bell ringing, pet intrusion, child’s cry or an emergency call can happen during video interviews. And here’s an opportunity for you to observe how well a candidate reacts to these distractions.
You might observe the following: Did the candidate remain authentic to the situation or started panicking? Did they apologize for the ‘kitchen crash’ and asked for a 2-min pause? Did they take a moment to introduce to their interrupting child who came crying? etc.,
Such events reveal important information about how a candidate would deal with clients later at their job.
If nothing as such happens during the interview, you can directly ask them questions such as:
“While working remotely, can you remember a time when something unexpected or distracting came up? What was it, and how did you respond?”
To conclude, employers can conduct successful virtual interviews that, a part from the standard assessment criteria also include topics around the challenges of remote work. These topics are: emotional intelligence, personal and cultural belongingness, and dealing with distractions.
