How to Hire Remotely: 5 Tips for Growing Your Team

The average company takes 3 - 4 weeks to make a hire, much too long for the current needs of workplaces. And, with many businesses staying remote, it can become downright daunting to modify your hiring process and find the right candidates for your team.

Use our 5 tips to run your next remote hiring process and bring the perfect candidate into your team. And, download our free Remote Hiring Checklist for more step-by-step onboarding guidance.

1 - Be Thoughtful and Specific with your Qualifications

Consider the challenges of bringing on a new employee in the current business environment and connect those to your desired qualifications.

Do you need somebody who can handle change and is quick on their feet? Do you need a self-starter who is capable of keeping themselves accountable and working from home? Make sure these are called out in your job posting and evaluate candidates accordingly.

2 - Craft a Thoughtful Candidate Experience

In a typical hiring process, the candidate is able to get a feel for your company by coming into the office and meeting team members face-to-face. But, you can find creative ways to craft an experience that makes the candidate feel welcomed and introduces your culture remotely.

Try these ideas to deliver an exceptional candidate experience before and during the interview:

• Send the candidate an employee testimonial video, where team members talk about their experience with the company. This can help inspire, give a feel for the culture, and introduce team members.
• Make sure you’re extremely comfortable with the technology you’ll be using for the interview and have test runs as needed.
• During the interview, dress professionally and make sure your home background is tidy and distraction-free.
• Find creative ways to break the ice, like a quick get-to-know-you exercise or taking the candidate on a virtual office tour with your phone.
• Introduce other team members with a gallery or custom Zoom background.
• Find a way to incorporate your company’s mission, vision, or values into the interview, and ensure your candidate lines up with these.

3 - Ask Insightful Questions

As the factors of candidate qualifications have changed, so too should the questions you ask during the interview. You need to understand not only whether the candidate has the skills, qualifications, and experience needed to fill the role, but also whether they can be successful working remotely.

To gauge this, ask specific questions about their past experiences working independently.

Here are some questions to help you get started:

• Have you ever worked remotely before? What were some of the challenges and wins?
• How strong are your written and verbal communication skills? Describe a time when you had to rely on written communication to get your ideas across to your team.
• What does your work environment look like? What working hours do you keep?
• How do you stay focused on your tasks? How do you deal with distractions and interruptions while working remotely?
• Provide an example of a time when you worked independently on a demanding project. How did you self-manage and create accountability?

4 - Make a Decision as Quickly as Possible

Anyone who has managed a hiring process knows, it can feel never-ending. A number of factors, internal and external, can slow a process down drastically.

But, with a huge percentage of the workforce in need of new professional opportunities, now is the ideal time to speed up the hiring process. Remember that many candidates are in a position of needing a job immediately. So, if you drag out a hiring process beyond your initial commitment, you will likely lose a candidate who you may have been excited about.

5 - Get the New Hire Settled in

Finally, once you’ve selected a candidate, you need to bring them into your team. It can be tricky to onboard remotely but considering a few factors can help.

First, make sure you have a seamless digital onboarding process. Is your organization still using paper processes for employee onboarding, and forms like I-9 and W-4s? It’s time to upgrade those - Symply’s seamless digital onboarding only takes minutes of your time, not hours— and it's free!

Here are a few other ways to make sure your new hire’s first days are welcoming and effective:

• Send the new hire a welcome gift, like a notebook and coffee mug with your company’s logo on it. Or, you can send something fun, like a work-from-home snack box!
• Announce the new hire to your team at the next company meeting or on your messaging platform.
• Use Canva to create fun onboarding Zoom backgrounds, featuring team bingo, icebreaker games, or onboarding checklists. These can help the new hire get acquainted with their team and/or managers.
• Host an evening happy hour or morning coffee chat for everyone in the company to get to know the new hire(s). If you make new hires regularly, consider hosting a “get to know you” event monthly!