How to Recruit and Hire Ideal Remote Employees – The Ultimate Guide

Curious to know how to hire remote employees? Here’s a guide full of insights and best practices for hiring remote employees and onboarding.

There is no secret that flexible and remote work opportunities are becoming more popular. According to Indeed, 2015 research found that remote job searches had increased by 85% in just two years. It is just one reason why companies should consider telecommuting options.

But, remote employees are not the same thing as in-office staff. There are numerous things to stay aware of them. The hiring strategies and techniques you follow for in-office hiring may not work in the other case.

However, the right strategy can develop a great remote employee team for you, which may be much more reasonable than in-office staff. There are several other considerable benefits as well.

The following guide by TheIndiaJobs will give you an overview of how your remote employees hiring process might look.

Why Should You Hire Remote Workers?

Let’s cherish some facts you still aren’t convinced about the possibility of remote workers being hired.

Remote work is an excellent option for companies because they have more candidates and potential employees. Remote work suddenly becomes an option for people who live far away.

Companies can cut operational costs by not having to provide office space or electricity for employees. Currently, we can’t neglect the cost of transportation, especially when the prices of Diesel, petrol and even CNG have increased so much.

A Well-Defined Guide to “How To Hire Remote Workers”

Take a look at these steps to get an idea of how you might hire remote workers.

Step 1: Get Deeper Into Knowing The Job

It’s often entrepreneurs or startups who are looking to hire remote workers. They are natural-looking for people to fill newly created positions. It is a problem: It’s very difficult to find the right person if you don’t know what the job requires.

While a generic job posting may get you many applications, only one specific post will get the right applicants.

Before you begin to post your job, be sure you understand the details of the position. Do the job for a while yourself if possible. Perhaps you need customer support. Sit down and answer calls and emails for a few days (or weeks). It will assist you in creating the perfect job offer.

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Step 2: Make Strategies For Posting Your Job

You can start spreading the word after attaining a clear idea of who you’re looking to hire. These are some suggestions on where and how to find great candidates. However, don’t skip the critical step of posting your job on a highly reputed job-posting website.

• Meetups In Your Area:

Does that sound strange? It might. It is a way to expand your network. Look for skill-specific or small work-focused groups, such as Remote Worker Meetup or London Freelancer. It’s a marvelous way to meet potential candidates face-to-face.

• Your Network:

Perhaps you’ve worked with a candidate who is suitable in the past. Perhaps a former student? You might find someone who is interested.

• Remote Workers:

Remote workers can use job boards. They can benefit from the fact that they have access to job boards online. They enjoy working from home and are often well-versed in telecommuting work.

• LinkedIn:

Now, that’s the traditional way. LinkedIn is a great place to search for professionals looking for work. Check their profile to see their skills and experience.

• Facebook Groups:

Facebook groups are a great resource. In the past, I’ve found many clients through Facebook groups and even freelancers in these groups. You have two options: either look around or post your job offer. Make sure to check the rules! You can search for jobs in general groups like Digital Nomads Around the World or for specific job opportunities, such as Virtual Assistant Jobs.

• Social Media:

Social media isn’t the only platform you can use to advertise your job. Tell your followers on Instagram and Twitter that you have a job opening. We’re sure many of them will be interested in working alongside you. They are following you already, so they like what you’re doing.

You can also consider job boards to find potential employees. However, please don’t ignore that even though many people have seen your job posting, they might not be the right candidates. If they are not specifically searching for remote work, they may waste your time if you explain the process.

Step 3: It’s The time to Prepare and Schedule the Interviews.

You can prepare for your interview while potential candidates apply for your job. Consider the questions you would like to be asked and the information you are looking for. You will need to consider your skills and experience in the area you are interested in.

It can also be helpful if the candidate has experience with tools used in your company or is ideal for remote work. You can use this example:

• Communication tools such as Slack and HipChat are available.
• Asana and Trello are great project management tools for the occasion.

These tools don’t require special knowledge; anyone can learn to use them. Sometimes, it may reflect previous remote jobs. You should also ensure that your remote employee has certain characteristics.

These characteristics might not be the same as what you look for in a candidate since not all candidates are good at working remotely.

Find The Best Candidates

Here are the Big Considerations:

• Written communication skills are essential for the candidate. Remote employees communicate via chat or email. Issues can arise if the applicant does not like to send messages or finds it difficult to communicate clearly and politely.
• They must be an exceptional individual worker. He’ll be working in a team, and there are ways to make remote workers more effective, and he will be working on his own most of the time. He must be able to do the work on his own without the help of someone else.
• The person should be results-oriented and have a doer-type personality. Sometimes, getting someone to answer a question might not be feasible. You will need to solve the problem and figure out how to make it work. Don’t hesitate to adopt a proactive approach and not follow a set of rules. Remote jobs require a completely different approach.
• Candidates must be self-motivated. It can be challenging to pinpoint the motivation to work when you are working from home. There are many distractions. You don’t have a colleague to motivate you. Only by being motivated enough to complete the job will you be able to deliver results.
• They must be flexible. Can find remote jobs in relatively new or unusual companies. You must be able to adapt quickly to changing situations and tasks in a fast-moving work environment.

The Balance between Private and Professional Life

Private life is another aspect to consider when hiring remote workers. It shouldn’t be your business, we know. You don’t need to go out every day if you work remotely. Lack of social interaction can make it very lonely for many people.

Your candidate can balance his private and professional life better if he has a family, a hobby, or is involved in a group. It can greatly affect his happiness, motivation, and work performance.

It could affect future performance, but it might not! His work environment. Is he working from home, in a coworking space, or on his bed? This latter option might be fine for a while.

Many people will experience decreased motivation, performance, and back pain if forced to work from home all day. We can say the same for production methods. It truly can be fascinating to cherish the sources of motivation for the candidate to get the work done. Besides that, it’s interesting to know how he stays focused and productive all day.

Step 4: Nailing The Art of Video Call Interview

After creating a plan, you can select the top applications and schedule a call to interview them. Skype is the most used tool for conducting interviews.

One must consider many things when interviewing the actual conversation.

• Are you certain the candidate is familiar with the technologies you recommend? There are various ways to contact them, such as Skype or Google Hangouts?
• Are you flexible about the interview times? It could be that they aren’t able to make the interview last as much time each week in contrast to what he or they should.
• Did the candidate double-check his time zone before you set an interview time? It could indicate that the candidate is familiar with working with different time zones and is also thoughtful.
• Did he make sure to charge his phone and prepare his laptop/phone for the internet? Nothing is worse than a dead laptop halfway through or an unsecured WIFI connection. Before the interview, candidates must ensure that everything works smoothly.
• Is he able to upload a profile photo? Does he have a professional email address? A funky photo in shorts with sunglasses on and an address like bunnysunshinelover1085@gmail.com isn’t a signal that he utilizes these technologies frequently for business matters.

Hire Your Next Candidates

Bonus: 

When applying for freelance jobs, many got great results after sending a follow-up email after the interview. One can write, “Thanks for taking the time to interview me.”

It was a pleasure to have had this interview with you. I’d be esteemed to be considered for the job. Any further questions?

An applicant who sends such a letter after an interview is a sure-fire way to get some brownie points.

Step 5: Arrange Team Meetings for the Sake of Transparency

The job’s nature will determine the importance of this step. You can skip this step if you’re only looking for someone to freelance on a project that he can complete largely by himself. Introducing a potential long-term employee to your team or colleagues can be beneficial if you search for a permanent employee.

You can schedule another video conference and invite your coworkers to join you. Invite remote workers to join you and have a conference call. Let everyone introduce themselves and have a chat. There are many benefits to this:

It raises community spirit. Your team members will realize their value and importance.

• Your colleagues may also be able to share their views about the candidate after the call. They must get along and respect one another if they work together.
• Third, if you hire the candidate, he should already be familiar with the team and people he will be working with. It could be an important criterion in his decision-making process.

This step is nice if you have the time, if your team has some interest and if there is an open job.

Step 6: Here Comes the Probation Period (or Test)

You are likely excited to have found the right person for your job. Do yourself and the applicant a favor by running a trial before signing the contract. Even though they may sound great on paper or during the video conference, reality can be very different.

One case occurred when I hired a developer who could speak English over the phone. He didn’t understand the instructions and could not communicate well after signing the contract.

The person who answered the call differed from the one who did the work. It was probably a scam agency. Trust me; it’s a hassle.

It is one of the drawbacks of remote workers. It is impossible to know who is behind the computer. The perfect method is to give them information about the whole project and then assign smaller tasks.

After attaining satisfaction with their performance, I assign the next milestone to them. This method is not suitable for all jobs or companies. If you are unsure of the authenticity of any contracts, don’t sign them. It is especially important for remote workers.

Are You Ready To Hire New Remote Employees?

You can see that some steps are very similar to those for normal employees who live in the same area. There are some important factors about remote employees. It all starts with where you are looking for new employees.

Most remote job boards are better than traditional job search sites. Many of the best candidates are reachable through social media like Facebook groups.

It is important to ensure that they can telecommute. Candidates must be proficient in working independently and have a positive attitude.

Remote work experience is a plus! Set up a video conference call to interview the candidate. Check to see if the candidate has any experience with online communication software.

It would help if you always started the job with a trial period or probation. You can’t be certain who sits behind the computer or capabilities, especially when hiring remote workers. This guide should certainly give you some ideas for hiring remote workers. Just start by posting your job.

Are there any other ideas or experiences you can share about hiring remote workers? Please leave a comment below embracing your thoughts!

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