Your team has been desperate to fill that role.
You’ve found your perfect candidate.
You send the candidate the offer and they can’t print it…
Making a hire while everyone is remote is challenging. The great news is that there are simple & affordable tools that can help get your hire over the finish line and onboarded. We’ve compiled a list of our favourites to give candidates a great experience and keep your business moving forward when both of you are remote for interviewing, signing offer documents, and onboarding.
1: Interviewing
Video interviewing is a great medium to conduct an interview with your candidate to see body language and establish strong rapport, even remotely.
Our recruiters are already asking candidates what conferencing software they have access to, in case you would like to pursue this option.
Tips for Seamless Video Interviewing
Video interviews can be an incredibly useful and cost-effective means of growing your team – but there are better ways of doing it.
Here are a few things you can do to increase both the quality and efficiency of virtual interviews, while adding a bit of human touch:
1. Let candidates book their interview slots with you.
Rather than wasting time emailing back and forth with candidates for an interview time, use an interview scheduler like our Interview Assistant. You’ll both get notifications when a time slot is booked, which makes scheduling interviews a breeze.
2. Coordinate with candidates prior to the interview.
Before you interview, send candidates an email with instructions or consider calling them to explain the process ahead of time. Our Interview Assistant makes it easy to ensure candidates know what is expected of them and also who to contact in case they might need assistance.
3. Be prepared for show time.
When doing live virtual interviews, test your camera, microphone, and internet connection ahead of time so things are ready to go live without interruption. Have the candidate’s contact details on hand in case you need to inform them about a delay.
4. Interview in a distraction-free space.
It’s hard to forget the infamous BBC live interview from a few years ago. Make sure the room you’re in has good lighting, is quiet, and has a generic background if possible. Mute any notifications you have on your computer and put your phone on silent so that you can stay focused on the interview.
5. Be mindful and fully present.
Video interviews can be stressful or awkward for some candidates because they are basically talking to a screen. Help them—and yourself—feel more comfortable by maintaining eye contact and showing that they have your full attention. Oh, and don’t forget to smile every now and again!
6. Practice makes perfect.
Especially if you’re planning to share your screen or share a presentation of some kind, it is a good idea to practice beforehand so your interview runs smoothly.
7. Record the interview for easy sharing.
One of the big benefits of video interviewing is that you can record the interview and share it with colleagues who are helping with the hiring process or who are unable to join the interview. Just make sure to let the candidate know ahead of time that you will be recording.
What if your company doesn’t have video interviewing software or a budget for it?
There are two great free platforms you can use:
Skype – one of the most widely used video calling options in the world.
Zoom – one of the most popular video calling options for business with easy options for participants to join by computer or call in through a phone number. A free account limits meetings to 40 minutes. You can buy a one month account for $14.99USD that has no time limits on meetings.
2: Signing Offer Documents
When you send offer letters, W-9s, or any other hiring paperwork, how are you or your candidates going to print off or scan hard copies if you don’t have the right equipment?
Skip the printer or scanner. Use a digital signature tool.
Some digital signature tools like Docusign or Adobe Sign have free trials that you and your candidates can use to get your offer and hiring documents signed. They have intuitive interfaces, allow candidates to sign on desktop or mobile devices, and are legally compliant. No printing or scanning required!
3: Onboarding a new employee
Onboarding is complicated. Making sure your new teammate fills out the right paperwork, learns the ins and outs of your company, and feels welcomed by the team, are all critical to getting them up to speed to be a productive employee. Here are some of the challenges you might face when onboarding remotely:
Remote Challenge 1:
Some of your onboarding information is on documents and some lives in the heads of your team. This works in person, but it’s going to be challenging while you’re 100% remote.
Solution:
Try a tool like Trello to map out your onboarding process for new hires. Trello has a free version to organize all your information into lists, along with a schedule for the new hire’s first month. Here’s an example of a full Trello board set up for onboarding.
Remote Challenge 2:
How do you make your new teammate feel welcome on their first day?
Solution:
You can organize team lunches over Zoom for any new employees where the new hire can get to know their new team. Try a game called “Ask Me Anything” where experienced team members can ask questions of the new team member that they have to answer first. Use this to spread the talking time around to the whole team and to build vulnerability-based trust which is critical for a team’s success.
Remote Challenge 3:
Your onboarding paperwork has too many administrative steps that are pulling you and your team from higher priority work.
Solution:
Maybe this is the time to look at implementing a light weight Human Resources Information System (HRIS), like Bamboo HR to automate your onboarding paperwork.
Remote Challenge 4:
The team manager & HR are too busy working on other mission critical work to make sure your team member gets up to speed.
Solution:
Assign a sponsor from the new team member’s team to guide them through their first few months and be the point of contact to check in every day. Here’s an example of a sponsorship guide that shows sponsors exactly what they need to do and where to find the resources to excel at their role.
