How to Answer Interview Questions About Working From Home

by on November 26, 2020

You don’t want to risk becoming distracted or having someone walk in during the virtual interviews. If you have kids, send them to a friend’s house or hire a babysitter for a few hours. If you have pets, make sure they’ll be quiet and well-behaved, or move them to another part of the house — unless you want your cat to walk across your computer. If you have a spouse or other family members, send them out for some errands. Whatever you do, you’ll want to eliminate any distractions for a few hours so you can prepare for and complete the online interview. You’ll want to be honest about your experience (or lack thereof), but answer the question in a way that shows you’ve researched and understood what it takes to be a successful remote employee.

describe your experience working remotely

“Managers want to be confident that you will be able to find the right people and information to engage with for a deliverable without having them right in front of you,” Jones says. This might feel like a conversational ice breaker question, but it’s one you need to answer thoughtfully. The hiring manager work from home experience is trying to gauge your level of interest in and comfort with taking on a fully remote role. Another option is to separate virtual jobs into their own “Remote Work Experience” section. Directly seeing a list of other companies that have trusted you to telecommute builds a hiring manager’s confidence.

Tell Me About a Time When You Had to Adapt to Change.

And you should definitely tell the boss what special life circumstances are keeping you out of the office. But you’ll really wow the hiring manager if you can tell not JUST why remote work is going to improve your life, but why you do your best work remotely. In other words, explain how working remotely makes you shine and makes you a smarter, more effective, and more efficient employee. For example, an effective member of a distributed team needs advanced skills in communication, self-discipline, time management, organization, remote agile development and more.

In any job interview, an employer or hiring manager wants to make sure you’re the right fit for the job and the company. However, in a remote job interview, an employer will want to make sure you’re the right fit for the job, the company, and the remote role. That means you can expect any number of questions about your remote work experience and your ability to work outside of an office. As someone who has been working remotely for some time now, I can tell you that if you’re thinking of applying for remote jobs right now, go for it. I was skeptical before I took the plunge, not because of the move to remote work but because I had no idea what I’d be asked in my interview. I didn’t know how to answer work from home interview questions because I had zero work from home experience.

Remote Job Interview Questions to Prepare For

There are many perks to working in a remote environment, but one possible risk is that you’re not receiving encouragement and motivation from sitting in an office with your peers. Don’t go into your job interview without reasons for wanting to hold this exact role. Aim to show that you’ll mesh with the current team and that you have professional habits to make you a great remote worker. Before your interview, research the company and review the job posting to understand their environment. I don’t recommend sharing a challenge from your personal life unless you have an exceptionally good story that you can relate back to the job you’re discussing.

You might also draw on experiences similar to working remotely, like freelancing, completing online coursework or certifications, or even working away from the office due to illness or travel. Before you interview for a remote job, it’s important to do your research and make sure you’re cut out for a remote role. You don’t have to worry if you have no prior experience with working from home listed on your resume. If you’ve worked remotely before, talk about that beyond details on your resume.

Remote Work Interview Questions

But the files need to be named and organized clearly so you’re not spreading “digital clutter” or losing track of data. When bosses can’t see their employees, they have to be doubly aware of how they’re getting on. It’s easy to see if your employee https://remotemode.net/ is uncomfortable or ill if you can watch them hobble from their chair to the copier, but, if you’re communicating digitally, it’s not so simple. Sara shows she is covered when it comes to taking care of both her physical and mental health.

And you’ll be using all kinds of tools to communicate – email, online chat, video hangouts, project management software, etc. Although it may not be specifically stated in the job description, many employers are looking for previous flexible work experience, particularly if they’re trying to fill a remote job position. Here’s how to make the most of your resume real estate by demonstrating previous remote work experience on a resume.

What Employers Want to Know About Your Remote Work Experience

We offer members exclusive access to our jobs database, which is updated every day with new postings in more than 50 career categories. Take the tour to learn more about all of the ways a FlexJobs membership can empower your job search and career. How do you manage communications with clients and coworkers when there’s a three-hour time difference? Do you have to coordinate live meetings across multiple time zones? How do you collaborate on projects and manage a crisis when everyone is scattered around the globe? Talk about your success in these areas and make sure to highlight how you accomplished your goals or solved the problems.

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