Lockdowns have been the new norm of late and, with that, businesses are forced to allow their workers to work remotely. The business continues as usual, with existing workers working more-or-less comfortably from the confines of their own private spaces away from the office. While lockdowns are easing around the world, remote working will remain a trend in the coming years. For organizations looking to hire new workers, a new layer of complexity must be dealt with – finding and hiring remote workers.

How to hire your remote employees

The process of hiring remote employees is different from when you employ onsite employees, and you might need to tweak your hiring process to ensure you attract the candidates who are right for both the job and your organization. You could also hire a company like TalenX that makes use of technology, data, and human science to predict the best candidate for a job.

1. Determine the qualities/skills your ideal candidate must possess

Working remotely is not rocket science, but some workers can work remotely better than others. Remote employees should be evaluated based on culture fit, communication skills, level of motivation, management skills, and adaptability.

Remember that you do not need to hire candidates who have previous experience of working remotely – although that could be beneficial. Here are some traits to look out for when recruiting remote workers.

The candidate must be able to work independently

Working from the comfort of one’s own home, without colleagues around, can be demotivating. It can also be a setback for those who lack discipline. Remote workers must be excellent time managers. They should also be capable of making decisions on their own, being resourceful, and meeting expectations with little hand-holding.

Working from the comfort of one’s own home, without colleagues around, can be demotivating. It can also be a setback for those who lack discipline. Remote workers must be excellent time managers. They should also be capable of making decisions on their own, being resourceful, and meeting expectations with little hand-holding.

Senior candidates, freelancers, and candidates who have experience working remotely are more likely to possess these traits than entry-level candidates. On the other hand, entry-level candidates need coaching, do better with structure, and feel more confident when they have a mentor they can work with.

The candidate must be able to communicate proactively

We have said that the candidate you hire for a remote task must be able to work independently. But that is just one side of the coin, on the other side is the necessity to be able to communicate with teammates so that everyone is on the same page.

From clarifying questions, regularly updating the status of ongoing projects, or taking the initiative on action items, the candidate must take proactive steps to ensure the entire team is updated via emails, online messaging, chats, telephonic conversations, video meetings, etc.

Candidates must possess good communication skills, including being able to articulate (both verbally and through writing) and listening.

The candidate must possess strong collaboration skills

To work as a team, teammates must have a common purpose and goal, trust each other, clarify their roles right from the start, communicate openly and effectively, and balance the team focus. They should also be able to appreciate a diversity of ideas.

The remote candidate you choose must be able to:

• Work as a part of a remote team
• Manage a project or a team remotely if the need arises
• Help team members not just to succeed but thrive in a remote environment
• Contribute to the overall productivity of the team.

Look for candidates who possess good project management skills, are adaptable, open-minded, and are not afraid of accountability.

The candidate must be a self-starter

Whether one works from a brick and mortar office or the comfort of one’s home, being self-motivated is a trait that is worth having. However, it’s easy to fall off the bandwagon, get complacent, and procrastinate on jobs and projects when working remotely without a boss or manager to check on them. So being able to be and remain self-motivated is especially necessary for working remotely.

2. Create a job description

A thorough job description is one that includes the following:

• Job title – this makes it easy for candidates to find your job on job boards. Include keywords such as “remote,” “freelancer,” “work from home,” or “virtual” in the job title.
• Job description – accurately describe the work they will be expected to do on a day-to-day basis, as well as how their role will contribute to achieving the company’s goals.
• Position details – give specific information such as if the job is full-time or part-time, areas of the world the candidate can work from (if applicable), who the position is open to (local applicants or global applicants), etc.
• Skills and qualifications – include job-specific skills, nice-to-have skills, prior experience, soft skill requirements, and educational background.
• About the company – introduce the applicants to your company – what you do, what you sell, your mission, values, culture, and the benefits of working as a remote worker.

3. Post the job posting and promote it

The good news is that although there is an increasing demand for remote workers across the globe, the lockdown has expanded the pool of remote workers. So, you have a wider choice of candidates. Here are some sites you can find excellent remote workers who are waiting to be picked up by organizations.

AngelList: An excellent place for both employers and potential employees to meet. There is a section dedicated to remote job postings and is popular with recruiters on the search for remote talent. AngelList also shares data regarding the most-demanded remote working skills, where to hire remote teams and the latest remote roles that are trending.

Remote.co: Another platform for both recruiters and candidates. Remote.co also shares valuable insights and best practices on remote working.

Upwork: If you are looking for freelancers, Upwork is the place to be. The platform makes use of data science to ensure the right match of job and candidate.

YouTeam: This platform is designed specifically for companies looking to hire remote engineers.

We Work Remotely: This is one of the world’s biggest remote work communities and boasts of over 2.5 million visitors. Its customers include the likes of Google, Basecamp, Amazon, and GitHub.

FlexJobs: A popular site for candidates who are explicitly looking for flexible and remote jobs.

Now you know where you can look to find remote workers and candidates looking for flexible and remote jobs.  The next job is to figure out how to hire the best remote workers.

Don’t stop at posting the job on these websites – promote it as well. Use social media to dip into a wider pool of candidates and let them know you are hiring. Post the job posting from both your personal as well as the company’s social media accounts.

Make use of video formats to introduce your company to candidates who might be a good fit for your organization.

4. Screen the remote candidates

Expect to receive several applications – the more places you post the job posting, the more applications you can expect to receive. Now it’s time to sift the wheat from the chaff. Here are some tips on how to screen remote candidates.

1. Create a hiring rubric that you can use to measure potential candidates. Focus on the core skills and competencies required to fulfil the specific remote role.

2. Review the rubric to ensure the skills and experiences of a candidate match up to the expectations and requirements needed to fulfil the role.

3. Carry out an initial phone interview to get to know the candidates a bit better. Choose those candidates who are the best fit for the position and ensure the job description matches the candidates’ expectations.

4. Ask the candidates to perform a task remotely. This will give you an idea of whether they will be able to work remotely, meet deadlines, and a sense of their problem-solving abilities.

TalenX’s unique platform can help you find the right fit for a job from a sea of applicants. The system ranks candidates for you automatically so you can breeze through the filtering process and focus on the suitable candidates.

5. Preparing and conducting the interview(s)

Once you have screened and chosen the best potential candidates, the next step is to prepare for the interview process. Now, the interview can either be held remotely or onsite. If the candidates will be working even part-time from your office, it will be worth conducting an onsite interview.

You might also want to consider conducting the initial rounds of the interview online and then bringing in the final candidates for an onsite interview.

You must also put together a hiring team of key decision-makers for hiring for that position. The team must include the manager and anyone the hired candidate will be reporting to.

Decide who will interview the candidate and the competencies that will be tested.

Ensure that all the interviewers have the hiring rubric, so they know what skills to look out for.

When conducting remote interviews, take into consideration the candidate’s time zone and use video conferencing software that they have access to.

Ensure the interview is conducted as professionally as an onsite interview and in a clutter-free environment.

6. Make a decision

Once you have interviewed all the candidates, it is time to make a decision. Before you inform the lucky candidate that they have been chosen, ensure that you have informed all the hiring team members of your decision. Let them know about the next steps in the onboarding process and introduce them to their team as quickly as possible.

With all these steps in place, you can be sure that you are completely organized to find and hire the best remote worker for a particular job. Not only will you get the best fit, but you will complete the hiring process more efficiently, faster, and with the least wastage of resources.