Now, more than ever, remote work is the essential alternative to traditional office jobs. The global pandemic has not only pushed most office employment to adjust to some form of remote duties, but this push has shown how attainable quality work can be via an online work environment.
Since the idea of traditional work being completed virtually may be relatively new to most managers, then so is the process of hiring a team with the sole intent of remote employment. Fortunately, there are minor adjustments to your hiring and thought processes that will assist in a smooth remote team build.
Remote Work Requires Problem Solving Skills
You can not put a price, in any work setting, on an employee that is decisive and a problem solver. Virtual employees need heightened amounts of critical thinking and problem solving skills in order to remain effective because they do not have co-workers physically sharing a space with them to ask for help.
Resourceful and innovative employees obtain the capabilities to troubleshoot basic issues, which allows them to efficiently work during their scheduled work hours. Not only are you looking for successful completion of work assignments, but innovative employees will likely continue to build their skill sets and bring improvements to current processes.
Effective Communication
If any employee poorly corresponds electronically through email, chat or other various methods; then they are likely going to communicate poorly to current or potential clients. Not only will bad communication skills reflect negatively to clients, but this will also prove ineffective with team members and restrain progress on your remote projects. This is why you should pay attention as a hiring manager to every written or virtual interaction with the applicant. You may even want to consider outlining a hiring process that requires the applicant to submit an additional written document, such as a cover letter, or submit an email with attachments to ensure the applicant is clear and organized with their communication. This will also give you first-hand experience with how the applicant would virtually submit their work!
Look For Exceptional Resume Skills
Anyone can throw together a document compiling their work experience and submit it to multiple companies to see who will bite, but a well-composed resume is a strong indicator of a high-quality employee. Top-tier, thorough resumes are expected from those with significant work experience. Resume traits of a seasoned employee will include proper placement of their skill sets, such as tailoring the skills to the position, and concise language throughout the document.
Applicants that may have just graduated college with little job experience should submit a functional resume to successfully highlight their skill sets in place of applicable work experience. This indicates the maturity and self-awareness to submit a document advocating for their experience in spite of just getting a start on their career.
Confidence in Selecting Your Remote Team
Preparing methods to pinpoint skills critical to the success of remote employment, such as time management, consistency, adaptability, and responsibility will boost your confidence in selecting a top-notch virtual team. Try asking interview questions to prompt the applicant to explain instances where they had to be flexible and overcome obstacles, juggle multiple deadlines and describe the extent of their technological capabilities.
Gathering these details from the interview, and maybe even from completing professional reference checks, in addition to the skills listed previously should give you a clear picture of the success of the applicant on your remote team.
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