5 Questions to ask when Interviewing for a Remote Position

Now that we’re again seeing an increase in India’s daily coronavirus cases, the Back-to-office plans are being relaxed for most of the companies. Many have shifted back to WFH or cut the office capacity to as low as 10%. 

Even as the World’s largest Vaccine rollout has begun in the country, remote work is here to stay. According to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG)-Zoom survey report 47% of employees in India will work remotely beyond the pandemic.

And since remote work has been an integral part of almost all organizations for over a year now, it is only fair to prepare an additional set of questions for the employees you want to hire for remote positions. 

But how do you assess whether one would be a good remote employee? 

Here are 5 questions to ask any candidate when interviewing for a remote position and why.

1. Have you worked remotely before?

If you had asked this question before 2020, most of them would have answered ‘No’. But due to the pandemic, most have already experienced working remotely. But it’s still important to ask this question as the idea of working from home can differ from one company to another, and one person to the other – it can be quite different from reality. 

2. What kind of challenges have you faced while working remotely?

This can give you a fair indication of how well the candidate has handled the challenges such as social isolation and communication & coordination issues. This question will also help you understand how they have dealt with the said  challenges – like scheduling a video team lunch to cope with isolation to stay connected during tough times. 

3. What does your workspace look like?

What you’re trying to understand by this is that whether they have a dedicated home office or do they plan to work from some nearby cafe or shop. They would need a quiet place with a good internet connection, and you have to know if that is achievable in their workspace conditions, to give you an idea of what they would require – a desk, chair, or maybe an office in a coworking space. 

4. How do you structure your workday schedule?

What you truly want to know is – how do they manage to stay productive. Things like when they start working and when their optimal working hour is, will give you an idea of whether they can stay productive working at flexible hours independently.

5. What communication and collaboration tools did you use while working remotely?

When you’re working in an office with your team, you communicate by going to your colleague’s desk, and the project keeps moving forward. But when working remotely, virtual tools need to be used for doing this. You use tools like Zoom, Google Docs, Microsoft teams, Google Meet, and many more to ensure that the project does not suffer. By asking this question, you can determine their fluency with different technologies, which would be crucial to their work with your firm.

When interviewing a candidate for a remote position, you must spend time asking questions to determine if they have the required skills and experience. These questions would remain the same as for an in-office position but include the 5 questions mentioned above if you’re looking for remote positions. 

Also we‘d want you to focus on soft skills, as it can be a deciding factor.

After all, when it’s a good match – it’s a win-win for both the candidate and your company.

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Ishani Singh

Ishani works as Manager – Social Media & Strategy Big Ideas HR Consulting Pvt. Ltd. and also as a Freelance Digital Marketer. She has a knack for problem-solving and also enjoys writing. She loves to share her views and knowledge with the readers by the medium of her blogs.  

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