When it comes to finding a remote worker that matches the objectives and morals of your business, asking the right interview questions is key. Naturally, these interviews can’t last forever, so to be respectful of your time and the time of potential employees, the right questions must be asked.

By using appropriate questions, you can quickly find out a variety of things about a potential remote worker, such as:

  • Their attitude in different situations.
  • How they manage their work and life balance.
  • If they work well alongside other employees
  • How reliable they can be over a long period
  • Their expectations from the employer or managers

In this article, we share five questions that you can use during the remote interview process of remote workers that can reveal important information about candidates!

1. Have You Worked With A Company Remotely?

This is a straightforward question that directly relates to the experience of the employee. The expected answer here is ‘No’, or ‘Yes’ with a brief explanation of the remote work they’ve completed in the past.

While many companies would prefer an employee to have some form of previous experience, it’s not essential for remote work. For example, general admin tasks will require far less experience than IT consulting work.

The advantage of hiring a remote worker with experience is that the entire process will likely be much smoother. Adversely, they are likely to want a higher payment for their services. Deciding upon these preferences before starting the hiring process is certainly something that should not be overlooked.

2. How Do You Prefer To Communicate While Working?

Question number two can help you to streamline the communication process for everyone in the business. For example, if the employee prefers to use a different platform to you, this is a perfect time to step in and discuss potential alternatives.

It’s worth keeping all your conversations in one place for a variety of reasons, with just a few of these being:

  • Avoid missing urgent messages
  • No need to lose focus by switching between sites or software
  • Employees can help each other by utilising group chats
  • Training resources and other forms of media can be easily shared

3. Why Do You Want To Work From Home?

This is one of the interview questions that can help you to dig past the professional side of a candidate. Many will have reasons that make them prime hiring prospects, such as the need to look after a new addition to their family or to spend more time with loved ones.

Although this might sound distracting, it often motivates employees to perform to the best of their ability. Of course, it’s mutually beneficial too, allowing the remote worker to complete tasks by using their own method.

4. How Do You Separate Work From Your Personal Life?

Having a clear divide between work and personal life is a necessary part of avoiding burnout when working remotely. Setting boundaries can prevent work from feeling overwhelming and the more effectively this is done, the lower the risk of burnout.

So, why is this important for business owners and those who have to manage remote staff? At the start of working relationships, some remote workers may appear to be performing as anticipated, or even better than expected. However, if burnout strikes, this level of productivity can rapidly decline. This can put extra stress on you or your employees and can potentially lead to projects being delivered late.

5. How Do You Ensure That Deadlines Are Met?

Another way you can avoid late deliveries is to delve into the process each remote worker uses to meet deadlines. This can include what project tracking software they use (If any), alongside other details regarding how they work.

If you provide any form of collaborative software for workers to use, this presents an opportune time to discuss how comfortable they are with the certain platform. This could involve a quick demo or brief explanation, for example.

Other Questions To Consider

Some additional remote worker interview questions that you could consider asking include:

  • Throughout your career, what has been your favourite project to work on?
  • Can you tell me an instance in which you’ve had to change your workflow?
  • How can we help you to excel at our company?
  • What resources do you use when you’re stuck with a project?
  • If delays are inevitable, how do you manage them?

Take The Next Step With BOST Today

Now that you know some interview questions about the remote worker hiring process, why not take the next step today with BOST? We can help you find the perfect employees for your project, regardless of whether you are looking for full-time or flexible staff members.

One of the biggest benefits of using our service is that each interview is conducted by you. We can help to find the best outsourced staff, providing you with plenty of candidates to chat with. From IT consultants to cyber security experts, BOST has got you covered. Schedule a free consultation with us!