The Best Way to Conduct a Remote Interview

Remote work is here to stay, with working from home becoming the new norm for many people across the globe. Because of this, many workers will be finding new ways to collaborate and communicate through the web, and job recruiters are no exception. Here are some tips to help you adjust to doing remote job interviews rather than face-to-face ones.

Plan ahead, email any interview expectations to your candidates beforehand.

Being uncertain about how the interview will be conducted can make any candidate nervous. This is why it can be helpful to share as much information as you can with them before your interview is scheduled. 

This means sending them an interview schedule, what will be discussed and what is needed from them. You might also want to give them instructions on how to use video call software to conduct the interview. Your goal here is to let the candidate know what to expect once they click on that meeting link. 

Be prepared for a successful interview. 

As a hiring manager you always expect your interviewees to show up on time and ready to present the best version of themselves to you. This means you should be giving them the right platform needed to conduct the interview. Make sure that you test and retest your technology and that you have a quiet place to conduct the virtual interview once they get on a call with you. 

Leaving things up to chance and not being prepared for an interview reflects poorly on you, and as a result on the employer, so make sure you set aside some time to make sure everything is set up and ready to go. 

Have a back up plan ready.

Sometimes, things are meant to fail no matter how much you prepare or plan ahead. If that’s the case, be sure that you have your candidate’s phone number and email handy so that you can easily connect with them if things go wrong. You might need to have a phone call interview instead of a video interview. 

Another common issue when it comes to doing things remotely is bandwidth. If multiple people are using the internet at the same time, it can result in delays or other issues when using video conferencing platforms. 

While this may not be ideal, you might need to turn off the video function during an interview to save on bandwidth. You will still be able to speak with each other, but there will be no visuals. You can also schedule the interview when there are less people using the internet at a certain time. 

Only use relevant information to evaluate candidates. 

While your job candidates should be taking steps to make sure they are prepared for a great remote interview, have an understanding that some things are out of their control. As you meet with more candidates, make sure that factors like this don’t affect how you view them. The interview could get interrupted by a noisy neighbor or dog barking, or internet issues could happen at any moment. While these are annoying distractions, they don’t tell you whether or not a candidate is suitable for the role. 

In some rare instances, the entire interview  might be disrupted. If this happens, then ask the candidate to reschedule, or finish the interview via phone call. If you were impressed by their background enough to set up an interview, you should probably put in efforts to give them an opportunity to discuss why they are a good fit for the job. 

Try to avoid conducting team interviews.

Setting up group interviews was a pretty popular way for recruiters to conduct interviews because it’s a great way to consolidate the hiring process and make the interview process feel more like a group discussion. 

But, because of the things that can go wrong with remote interviews, we know that problems are more likely to crop up when too many people are participating. Tech issues should be minimized, so this means you should only have interviews with one candidate at a time. 

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At 1Huddle, we offer cloud-based employee gamification software that can easily adapt to any onboarding or employee training strategy you want to implement at your workplace. You can customize your content for a seamless experience and all of your employees will be able to access their training anywhere, anytime and at the push of a button. You can use our gamification platform to measure their performance and make key decisions on where you should take your gamification strategy next. 

Do you want to learn more about how 1Huddle can help you level up your workforce? Request a demo today.