When I worked in-office, I was on a perpetual mission to find a way to eat lunch alone, without offending anyone or arousing concern. I had wonderful co-workers, but my idea of a perfect lunch is sitting alone in a park, listening to a podcast. If you work for a fully-distributed company, this isn’t a problem, since everyone’s on their own laptop. And many companies are moving to a model where all meeting participants join on their own computer, even those in the same room together. This ensures a level playing field, and makes it much easier for remote participants to participate.
- If you haven’t, you’ll need to come at it based on what you would do.
- It will also highlight how the applicant can inform team members about a project.
- And they’ll likely be asking you questions aimed at teasing these traits out.
- And with remote workers (like Sondra and Jeremy Orozco on the oDesk blog) adopting titles like “digital nomad,” it’s clear that remote work doesn’t just mean clocking in from your home office.
- If you and your coworkers were located in vastly different time zones, explain how you tackled the challenges and what systems you put in place to keep everything on track.
- Whatever you choose, be prepared to lead with a specific example.
In fact, remote work saves you time because you won’t need to commute to your workplace. This leaves you more personal time with your family in the mornings and evenings. This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with tech, which is so important for a remote worker because you simply have to use tech to work remotely. And it also shows some of your personality and outside interests, which is one way a company can gauge how you’ll fit into a team. In your remote job interview, be ready to share at least one factor that motivates you in this particular industry or job, apart from the money.
Will You Be Able To Maintain a Work-Life Balance In a Remote Setting?
You’ll also want to make sure your internet connection is reliable to avoid technical glitches. If something unavoidable happens during the online interview — whether the sound cuts out on the interviewer’s end or the screen freezes — don’t panic. Try to communicate the technical difficulties as quickly as possible (send an email or give them a call if you have to) so you don’t miss part of the job interview. Brought to you by writers with over a decade of experience as remote workers, digital nomads, distributed leaders and worldwide recruiters. In order to be a good remote worker, you should be able to learn new technology faster. To answer this question, you can go ahead with giving previous examples of how you learned new apps or tools quickly to accomplish some task.
Whether your interview is taking place over Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, or another platform, it’s important to make sure you feel comfortable using it. If you need, have your spouse, friend, or family member call you for a test run. You can also provide a specific example of a work from home experience time you’ve had success working from home. I don’t know whether you’re better than others or not, but you must know that you’re better than you think you are. Sign up for a free Dice profile, add your resume, discover great career insights and set your tech career in motion.
What types of remote or distributed team tools and software have you used and how did you leverage them?
No matter the answers you give, don’t appear “needy” for physical presence. That’s the one thing that will showcase that you’re not comfortable without the physical presence of people around you when it comes to work. For those who have worked only in a traditional office setting, there are no more coffee breaks with colleagues in a remote setting. When asked this question, you can talk about how https://remotemode.net/ you’ll take advantage of technology to have virtual meetings with your colleagues. Whether it’s a project or just a break, tools like Skype, Zoom, and Slack can help you host video calls and chat channels with your colleagues. Whatever your secret remote weapon, working style, office set-up, or ideal daily schedule is, you’ll need to really think it through before your remote job interview.
And with remote workers (like Sondra and Jeremy Orozco on the oDesk blog) adopting titles like “digital nomad,” it’s clear that remote work doesn’t just mean clocking in from your home office. Remote workers travel the world, set their own hours, and rarely feel tied to a cubicle. Working remotely requires employees to be trustworthy, organized, and competent, and employers typically grill candidates with tough questions.
