Remote hiring: How to set up a smooth remote interview process

When the pandemic forced large parts of the population into working from home in 2020, businesses had to quickly rethink a great number of their workflows and processes, including their way of hiring and recruiting new staff. But if we believe what talent professionals say, the shift towards remote hiring and recruiting is permanent. In fact, the Future of Recruiting survey by LinkedIn showed that 70% of talent professionals believed virtual recruiting to become the new standard.

Remote recruitment, onboarding and performance management work differently than with a local team. The same goes for remote interviewing. Conducting interviews remotely requires a different set-up and approach than traditional in-person interviews. Not meeting candidates face-to-face makes it harder to get to know them properly during the interview, and with the entire process taking place remotely, it’s a lot easier to lose qualified candidates along the way. 

Creating a seamless remote interview process which not only allows HR and Talent Acquisition to identify the best candidate but also makes applicants feel at ease should be a top priority for businesses in the era of remote work. Here are some actionable tips and best practices to help you set up an effective and smooth remote job interview process. 

The key difference between a remote interview (also called virtual or online interview) and a traditional in-person interview is obviously the location of the interview partners. As the name suggests, remote job interviews are conducted remotely, meaning that interviewer and interviewee are in two separate locations and communicate via videoconferencing. 

While this distinction might seem trivial, the fact that interviewer and interviewee don’t actually meet face-to-face during a virtual job interview has a significant impact on engagement and body language. Online interviews lag behind face-to-face interviews when it comes to engagement, and seeing your conversation partner through the lens of a camera also makes it harder to perceive and interpret body language, which can be problematic.

The reason why so many businesses and HR teams are still hesitant when it comes to remote interviewing is that conducting virtual interviews comes with some additional challenges that add to the pressure of having to identify the best candidate.

One of these challenges is the possibility of having technical difficulties. As with virtual team meetings, there can always be a problem with the internet connection, the software, the camera, the microphone or any other technical component needed for the interview.

Another challenge which is unique to online interviews is that it’s a lot more difficult to get to know the candidate properly without meeting him or her in person. That is because many of the non-verbal cues we can gain information from during a face-to-face conversation are missing in virtual encounters. 

Without these additional, non-verbal pieces of information, it’s a lot harder to interpret the reactions of the person at the other end of the video call, which could lead to misinterpreting certain statements and ultimately having a less positive impression of a candidate. Also, videoconferencing usually fails to capture things such as a candidate’s charisma, which can equally distort the overall impression. 

Many people perceive remote interview situations as awkward; therefore, remote interview processes should, first and foremost, aim at being a pleasant experience for both the HR team and the candidate. Of course, whether the candidate feels at ease during the conversation largely depends on the personality and behavior of the person conducting the job interview. But it’s a lot easier for candidates to feel less nervous if they know what to expect. 

Also, a good remote interview is a job interview which is conducted professionally and effectively and runs smoothly from start to finish. This means that, at any given moment of the interview process, the candidate should know what the next steps are so that they can prepare. And just as for an in-person interview, the conversation shouldn’t drag on for ages. Instead, you should set a clear timeframe for the interview, usually not longer than 30 to 60 minutes.

So, now that we know what the interview process at a remote business should be like, the next question is how to get there. In other words, how to create a smooth, effective remote job interview process. Here are a few pointers to help you get started. 

Get the technology you need

Having the necessary technology is crucial to ensure virtual interviews run smoothly. There are a ton of video conferencing solutions out there which can be used for conducting remote interviews, including Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts. In addition to choosing the right software, it’s also important that the camera and microphone used during interview calls allow for high-quality transmission of visual and auditory information. Once you’ve got everything together, take the equipment for a test run to see if everything runs smoothly.

Prepare your remote interview questions

Carefully prepared interview questions are the key to identifying the right candidate. Some might even argue that doing your due diligence is even more important when setting up a remote interview process, since there are even more criteria to take into consideration. 

First of all, the position you’re interviewing for is most likely a remote one, which means that, in addition to everything else, you need to find out if the candidate is remote ready. Second, you need to remember that you’re also hiring for team fit at a remote organization, which can be tricky. And last but not least, preparing interview questions in advance means leaving less room for bias, which will make your hiring process more ethical. 

Don’t forget that candidates are likely to also ask questions about the role and the organization too. Here are a few remote job interview questions candidates might ask during the conversation.

Create an appropriate space from where to conduct interviews

Regardless of whether you’re interviewing remotely or in-person, you need to appear professional. This means that the space from where you conduct the interview needs to give off the same vibe. If your usual working space at home isn’t quiet and well-lit, choose a corner of your home that is. Too much or too little light can make it difficult for candidates to see you, which makes it even harder to perceive body language or other non-verbal cues of communication. Also, clean up your desk and double-check there are no distracting objects around you or in the background. 

Work out a schedule for before and after the interview

Although the job interview itself is the central part of your remote interview process, the work doesn’t start (nor does it stop) there. Think about what needs to happen before and after the interview to keep candidates and other team members in the loop and keep up a consistent flow of information. Develop a schedule you can follow, detailing how far in advance to send details about the interview to candidates and the participants of the hiring panel – if you decide to use one. You should also set reminders to send out follow-up information and thank-you notes. This ensures candidates know where they stand and what to expect. 

Put together all the necessary documentation

Along with the schedule of tasks to complete before and after the actual interview, you should also prepare all the documents you might need in the process. Email templates containing information about the interview process, expectations and more can be prepared in advance. The same goes for employee handbooks and other information that could be useful for potential future employees. Create a folder with all the documentation you will need during the remote interview process. At the same time, you can also create an onboarding checklist for new employees so that you’re prepared all the way through the hiring process.

Set up an online calendar where candidates can choose a schedule

Emailing back and forth with candidates to find a date and time for the interview that works for everyone is time-consuming and slow. To avoid spending too much time on coordinating interview schedules, it can be a good idea to set up an online calendar where you list all the time slots that work for you (and the other members of the hiring panel). This way, you can simply share the link with candidates so that they can book an interview slot that also works for them. 

By following the different steps we talked you through in the previous section, you should already be well set-up to conduct a successful and productive remote interview. But since there’s always room for improvement, we want to share some more tips and virtual interview best practices with you. 

Don’t forget to be personable 

It’s true that conducting interviews remotely requires you to be every bit as professional as during an in-person interview. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t be personable at the same time. Online interviews often feel less natural than face-to-face interactions, and a little encouraging smile can go a long way towards making candidates feel more at ease with the situation, which is exactly what you want. You can also try opening the conversation with an ice breaker question – instead of jumping right into the assessment of the candidate’s character and skills.

Consider different time zones

Remote hiring opens up vast opportunities for your business to tap into a global talent pool and find the perfect candidate; however, recruiting new teammates all over the world could mean that the perfect candidate is situated in a different time zone. Conducting remote interviews with candidates who are based in a country that is just a few hours ahead or behind usually isn’t much of a problem. Interviewing someone from Australia when you’re based on the U.S. west coast, however, can be challenging. Keep this in mind for your remote interview process.

Build buffers into your interview schedule

Although the rule of not letting the interview continue for too long also applies in a remote setting, it’s common for job interviews to take longer than usual. It’s therefore important to not schedule interviews and other meetings back to back. Instead, you should build buffers into your schedule to give yourself some time to deal with additional questions candidates might have. Like this, you can avoid having to rush out of the virtual interview, which could leave a bad impression on the candidate. 

Ask candidates for feedback

Just as much as your feedback can help candidates better prepare for their next remote job interview, candidate feedback is also a valuable source of input on how to improve your remote hiring and interview process. Ask candidates what worked well for them and what could be improved. If there are any obstacles in the process on the candidate’s side, you should remove them quickly – otherwise, you risk losing high-quality candidates. 

Consider the before and after

Don’t think of the remote job interview as a singled-out aspect of your hiring process. Instead, the interview process should be an integral part of your overall remote hiring strategy. It’s only when the interview is followed by a seamless remote onboarding process that you’ll be able to create a smooth candidate experience from start to finish. And since the quality of the onboarding has a direct impact on employee retention and productivity – research by the Brandon Hall Group found that organizations with a flawless onboarding process could increase the retention rate of new hires by 82% and productivity by more than 70% – getting both the interview process and the onboarding right should be your top priority. 

When hiring internationally, however, ensuring a smooth onboarding phase for a new remote employee can be tricky. But not with an Employer of Record. An Employer of Record (EOR) ensures full compliance when hiring team members abroad and takes the entire administrative burden off your shoulders, so you can fully focus on integrating your new hire into your team. Book a demo with our expert team to learn how using Lano’s Employer of Record solution can help you establish a seamless onboarding process across borders.