In today’s increasingly global marketplace, having remote employees on staff is becoming more and more common. However, when it comes to hiring for remote positions, the process may be different considering you’re not always interviewing candidates face-to-face. When that’s the case, it’s much harder to properly evaluate them, leading to an increased risk of a hiring mistake.
But, as one of the leading recruitment agencies around, Peoplelink is here to tell you that you can hire right, if you avoid a few common mistakes. Here’s a look at five of them:
Mistake #1: Not Evaluating Soft Skills.
Just because it’s harder to evaluate soft skills when hiring a remote employee doesn’t mean that it’s not critically important. In fact, certain soft skills, such as communication, are even more important for employees that work remotely. So when interviewing, be sure to ask targeted questions that enable you to evaluate these skills.
Mistake #2: Not Inquiring About Past Experience Working Remotely.
While you don’t need to hire someone who has experience working remotely in the past, it certainly can’t hurt if they’ve been successful in such a role. When you hire someone who has or does work remotely, they’ll know how to keep themselves motivated and on track.
To evaluate current or past remote work experience, ask questions like:
- When does your workday begin?
- How do you prioritize your day?
- How do you stay motivated when you work remotely?
- What does a typical day look like for you?
Mistake #3: Hiring Under Duress.
Don’t wait until you need to hire a new worker for a project starting next week. If you do, you’ll be under much greater pressure to make a hiring decision.
Instead, always be on the lookout for good employees to join your team and take enough time to properly evaluate and vet them so you don’t make a hiring mistake. Whatever you do, take your time and don’t rush the process.
Mistake #4: Not Using Your Network to Source Candidates.
With today’s technology and social media websites, there are endless opportunities for you to network and source candidates, whether local or across the globe. So be sure to tap into the power of the Internet by informing your network and extended network of your hiring needs.
Mistake #5: Not Having Guidelines in Place for Remote Employees.
It’s important to give your remote employees some autonomy; at the same time, rules, policies, and expectations are still important. And if you don’t have any in mind for your new remote hire, then you’re going to create confusion and inconsistency in the process.
Need Help Hiring Remote Employees?
If you do, let us know. As one of the leading recruitment agencies around, Peoplelink has the knowledge, experience, and proven processes in place to help you find and hire the highest caliber talent. Contact Peoplelink today to learn more.
