Conducting remote interviews isn’t new, many large companies have been doing it for years, but it has become the norm in recent months. If your company did not previously conduct interviews virtually, you may want to think about your hiring processes and how to transition your hiring standards to being entirely or predominately virtual.
The first steps in remote recruiting usually involve some kind of initial screening. If you are using pre-employment assessments, those are virtual and can be sent to candidates to have them complete to narrow down the number of interviews and phone screens that you have to conduct. They can be a helpful and unbiased way to narrow down your applicant pool to the candidates that are going to be the best fit. Phone screens can still be conducted with audio-only, as they were prior. If you want to transition to having phone-screening be done through video, be consistent throughout the company on your approach and be sure to give the candidates clear notice that the phone screen will be done using video conferencing.
Video interviews may now be the first visual impression that a candidate has of your business, and you want to have their experience be positive and consistent with your company’s culture. Let hiring managers know the expectations that you have of them during remote interviews, it may be helpful to put together a guide that you can share with all hiring managers to keep the advice consistent and clear. If you expect a candidate to have their video on, make sure the hiring manager has their video on as well. Ask hiring managers to dress appropriately for conducting interviews and give suggestions on what constitutes dressing appropriately, as each business may have different standards. Hiring managers shouldn’t be multitasking during video interviews, they should be fully present and focused on the candidate. If more than one person is conducting the video interview, they should meet beforehand to get on the same page as to the questions they want to ask and who will be responsible for taking notes. Do not record your video interviews, it can be a legal issue in addition to making candidates feel very uncomfortable.
If you do want to continue having interviews or final interviews in person and in the office, set-up precautions to ensure that your candidates and current employees are safe. Share all of the precautions with the candidates prior to them coming on-site so they are aware and prepared. One precaution that many workplaces are using is the taking of temperatures upon entrance to the building. You should also have your staff and the candidate wear a face mask covering their nose and mouth. Do not permit handshaking, let your employees know that for everyone’s safety they don’t need to do that during greetings at this time and they can inform candidates that they do not need to shake hands. Let your hiring managers know that they should limit the number of people conducting the interview to one or two people, it isn’t wise or necessary to have a large group conducting the interview. Select a conference room instead of an office for the remote interview, this will allow you to be able to socially distance within the room.
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