How To Successfully Recruit Remotely

Working from home has been high on most company agendas for a number of years. Now, in response to the global health crisis, many have been forced to adjust to life at the ‘home office’.

In addition to working from home companies are recruiting from home - something very few considered possible before the outbreak of Covid-19. The ability to execute a virtual recruitment process is essential in this current climate but it’ll continue to be an advantage for recruitment initiatives beyond the epidemic.

By adapting their recruitment process to successfully hire online, employers will maximise their engagement with the most elusive candidates; those who are already gainfully employed and struggle to attend interviews unless its first thing in the morning or late at night. Those who are in the process of relocating, those who have family commitments outside of working hours, those who have multiple interviews and limited diary space, the list goes on. You can interview these candidates, online, today, from the comfort of your home office.  

Not to mention the greater benefits of operating a slick recruitment process. Starting with reduced candidate fall-out due to a tighter and quicker process. And, according to Glassdoor, a powerful onboarding process translates to the retention of talent down the road, improving retention by 82%.

In this article you’ll find 3 essential pillars to recruiting online. In addition, we’ve put together an all-encompassing guide on ‘How to Successfully Recruit Remotely’ which explains how to manage the entire recruitment cycle from interview stage to onboarding and recommends the best tools to support the process throughout.

For a full copy of the "How To Successfully Recruit Remotely" guide please contact Natalie Watsham on 0118 469 3089 or natalie@watshamconsulting.com.

1. Virtual interviews

There are various applications and tools which allow you to interview candidates online.

For initial screening we recommend a one-way interview which allows the candidate to answer a series of predefined questions and video record their response. This is a quick and efficient way to assess their communication skills while ticking off essential criteria.

For what you’d effectively class as the ‘second stage interview’, we recommend a two-way virtual interview using tools such as/similar to Skype. Allowing you to engage and converse with candidates, treating it exactly as you would a normal interview.

2. Online Assessments

For technical roles which require certain skillsets and experience, we encourage online testing.

We facilitate online assessments which allow candidates to tangibly demonstrate their suitability by answering a selection of questions.

These assessments can be tailored to your specific requirement or we have verified universal formats too.

 

3. Remote Onboarding

Onboarding a candidate remotely requires regular two-way communication. It’s important to identify one key point of contact for the new starter – we recommend the hiring manager however an HR contact is viable too.

It’s essential to create a clear work schedule for both the candidate and organisation to work to, with plenty of opportunities for the candidate to ask questions throughout.

Introducing the candidate to the wider workforce as soon as possible is crucial to make sure they feel engaged and involved.

We recommend various onboarding tools which can be tailored to your existing processes and needs. We’ll also advise best practise to ensure your new starter has everything they need to succeed and for the business to see the best possible return on investment.

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For more information or to request the full “How to Successfully Recruit Remotely” guide, contact Natalie Watsham on 0118 469 3089 or natalie@watshamconsulting.com

Natalie Watsham