Best practices for your remote recruitment strategy

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses to adopt a remote work structure, at least for the time being. That also affects the hiring process. Businesses are increasingly turning to remote recruiting as a result.

If your business needs to hire new employees, adopting a remote recruitment process can allow you to continue expanding and growing — even though your physical offices may be closed for now.

The following best practices can help you hire new employees efficiently and effectively, even when they’re in a different state or country.

Build your hiring process

Your remote recruitment and hiring process will look a little different than your standard process. Before posting a job ad, outline your remote hiring process so that all involved staff are aware of and understand the changes and how everything will work.

This is the time to identify your requirements for remote workers, what platforms you’ll use when advertising jobs and conducting video interviews, and a target timeline for the hiring process.

As you develop this process, communicate with your hiring team and make sure that everyone is aware of their role. Your process should highlight who is responsible for identifying candidates, performing each interview, making hiring decisions, and ultimately onboarding new employees.

Develop job descriptions and describe your ideal candidate

A highly detailed job description can help reduce the amount of candidate screening you’ll have to do. It also creates an opportunity for job seekers to screen themselves by giving them a sense of whether the position and your workplace could be a good fit.

As you develop your job description, consider the following elements:

• Whether the job is full time or part time and what that schedule looks like
• Whether the position will be entirely remote or whether the new hire will be required to come into the workplace once it reopens
• The desired time zone for remote candidates
• Any requirements for a work-from-home environment — such as access to reliable and fast internet and a quiet space to work without interruptions
• Examples of candidate experience that you’re looking for, including past work and specific skills
• A detailed description of the position, its responsibilities, and who the applicant will be working with

Even if you’re hiring for a remote position, it’s still important to consider how remote workers will fit into the company culture. If you haven’t done so already, develop a clear description of your workplace culture and include this in the job description for potential candidates. It can also be helpful to develop some interview questions that will address workplace culture.

Once you’ve created your job post, share it widely to connect with the best candidates. Publish your job ads on platforms like social media, job boards, LinkedIn, and industry-specific talent acquisition websites or publications.

Invest in the right software

The right software can make your remote recruitment process easier and smoother. Consider using software like Jotform to integrate the forms you’ll need into your website. With Jotform, you can develop and customize a job application form, an interview questionnaire, an interview schedule form, and more.

Using these forms can help eliminate some of the back-and-forth communication that you might otherwise have with applicants. Plus, since you’ll receive the completed forms electronically, your staff will save time on data input and recordkeeping.

Carefully research any platforms you’ll use for scheduling, candidate assessment tests, and video interviews. Candidate assessment tests can make it easier to quickly identify top talent, and applicant tracking systems can help ensure that qualified candidates progress through the recruiting process.

Many of these platforms also offer video interviewing capabilities, so you can manage the entire recruiting process through one or two platforms. Tools like VidCruiter and Spark Hire offer a suite of services that are ideal for remote recruiting.

Communicate frequently with applicants

The remote recruitment and interview process can feel unusual for candidates, especially if they haven’t interviewed remotely for positions before. Try to keep candidates updated and informed through each stage of the process. This includes following up with applicants who won’t be moving forward to the next stage.

Consider incorporating communication tasks into your hiring process so that candidates receive these important updates and aren’t left in the dark.

Embracing remote recruitment

Exploring remote recruitment may feel strange at first, especially if you haven’t previously conducted video interviews or worked with remote candidates. Keep in mind that remote recruitment offers your business multiple benefits, both now and in the future. If you decide to hire entirely remote employees, you’ll increase the pool of applicants you’re able to choose from. This is ideal when seeking someone with a set of specialized skills.

Remote recruitment is sure to become more widespread in the future, and there’s no better time to embrace it than now. By developing your new recruitment approach, you’ll be prepared for whatever situations the coming months might bring.