In many respects, hiring telecommuters is similar to filling on-site jobs. Employers obviously want to find talented individuals capable of consistently producing high-quality work.
But industry-specific knowledge is just the start. Hiring managers need to treat the ability to work remotely as a skill in and of itself, and directed questions about remote work must be asked in order to judge competency.
Here are five questions about remote work always worth discussing before offering someone a telecommuting position:
1. Describe your home office set up.
Serious remote workers know that a dedicated, quiet space is conducive to productivity. The area needn’t be fancy, but it should be sufficient for holding work-related materials and staying free from distraction. Someone who can’t readily describe such an environment hasn’t thought enough about the logistics of working from home.
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2. Tell me about your time-management skills.
Successful telecommuters don’t just “wing it” when it comes to getting things done. They keep track of their projects and time through scheduling, calendars, to-do lists, and the like. Avoid candidates who lack plans.
3. What are your schedule requirements?
This question can prevent the headache of discovering down the line that you and the candidate have different notions of when work should be getting done.
As noted by Marilyn McCawley, director of talent acquisition and retention at World Travel Holdings, “It’s important to understand what expectations a candidate has about working remotely and to define flexibility and schedule requirements because not all remote positions are set up the same. There are roles that offer the opportunity to work from home, yet have defined schedule requirements that may not coincide with a candidate’s expectation of flexibility.”
4. How will you coordinate and communicate with your coworkers to ensure work gets done efficiently?
While communication is essential for all teams, it plays a particularly important role when workers are based in different locations. Promising candidates are aware of the various ways colleagues can get in touch with one another and aren’t afraid to learn new methods if it means better results.
“Ideally, they’ve used the same tools as you,” says Matt Cholerton, human resources leader and founder of Hito Labs. “Certainly, they’ll be able to give you several tried and true methods of remote communication, such as Slack or Google Hangouts. Likewise, they should be able to talk through the different collaboration tools (like Google Docs, Dropbox, Trello, Asana) and when they are most effective.”
5. What do you anticipate your biggest challenge will be as a remote worker, and how do you plan to deal with it?
Candidates who cannot think of any obstacles home-based workers typically encounter has either never worked remotely, views telecommuting through rose-colored glasses, or is failing to tell the truth. Seek out realistic applicants who are honest about issues such as motivation, distractions, engagement, and technical problems and are willing to address them in a mature, professional manner.
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