How to craft a stellar remote interview process.

With the onset of recent self isolation many organizations are conducting remote interviews for the first time, and the swift shift to digital practices caught some organizations off guard and without clear processes. On the other hand, others who were forced to make the switch to virtual interviews have seen an opportunity to make a permanent change for the better. 

Even before the sudden shift to remote practices, many organization's methods for interviews and gathering feedback across interviewers was unstructured, inconsistent and time consuming.

How can you ensure that the same issues do not arise after the shift to remote hiring practices?  

Here are some tips you can use to maintain a fair and thorough remote interview process that elicits the data you need to make informed hiring decisions. 

Maintain consistent processes-  It’s important to create a structured interview process using standardized questions for your candidates so you can analyze feedback based on the same or similar data points. This helps reduce bias and create an apples-to-apples comparison of each candidate. It’s worth the invested time spent, to create standardized interview questions prior to scheduling your phone screening or video interview. The same can be said for interview debriefs, if you have a consistent and confidential debrief process you can more objectively evaluate interview panel feedback. Give your team the tools and resources they need to maintain this consistent framework. 

Implement the right technology - It is important to have the right hiring suite in place to support your remote practices. With the whole team using the same tools and processes, you can also help enforce consistency across your organization. 

• An essential aspect of any remote interview is a platform to conduct the interview on. Options such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, Skype, or other video platforms allow for live remote interviews in lieu of an in person meeting. 
• Similarly, candidates can be asked to pre-record video interviews. This allows the candidates to complete the process at their own convenience and pace, without scheduling a time to speak with a recruiter.
• Interview debrief surveys, like Checkster's Interview Insights, can efficiently capture and consolidate feedback digitally from your interview panel after a remote interview, without the need for a face to face meeting. This not only maintains social distancing, but it also saves time and allows for a more objective interpretation of the interviewee’s perceived qualities. 
  
  

Allow for a diverse perspective to avoid unconscious bias’-  Social cues and other unconscious bias’ are often inadvertently more influential in the decision making process than we might like to admit. In fact, it is a popular adage that most communication is non-verbal. With the shift to remote interview practices, this bias can be even further exacerbated as departments are more disconnected, with one outspoken interviewer often taking the lead in hiring decisions. One method for eliminating potential bias is keeping interview debriefs confidential. This allows you to remove the potential influence of any single outspoken interviewer, by leveraging the collective intelligence of diverse interviewers across teams.

The shift to remote hiring practices has allowed organizations to develop new and improved virtual processes. With the right processes in place, and with the right tools like Checkster’s Interview Insights, proactive organizations now have the data they need to make effective and informed hiring decisions.