Six Questions You Should Ask When Interviewing for a Remote Job

Six Questions You Should Ask When Interviewing for a Remote Job

Written by Deepak Bhagat, In Business, Published On
April 1, 2021
, 666 Views

Decades ago, remote jobs weren’t an option for many working people. With the advancement in technology and the perilous times, we’re faced with remote jobs sprouting each day. The countless jobs present on the internet demand the employee to know more about the work atmosphere and job criteria. The foremost priority of any remote work-seeker should be to know more about the culture of the company you’re working in. While remote jobs provide freedom from commute, environment as per your choice, it is also important to know and create an amicable work atmosphere amongst your colleague and your manager. This information will help you flourish and advance in your career.

Fortunately, you can take advantage of the interview process and make yourself stand out. Here are six questions you can ask while interviewing and discover if the organization will help you flourish in your career.

What is a remote job?

what is remote job

A remote job is a job done outside the office in a remote setting. The remote setting could be anywhere, it could be your bedroom, your home office, or even your favorite café in town. Your work can also be completely travel-related, such as a salesperson.

1.Will you be working during traditional office hours? If not, what are the hours you’ll be working?

Knowing your teams’ expectations and putting forth yours will help you understand the job better. Contrary to what people assume, remote workers don’t get to pick and choose their professional hours. Rather they must work outside of office hours as well. Your regular office hours depend on the team’s schedule as well. In some cases, if your team is working remotely completely, it is a great idea to ask how they communicate between different time zones, this will help analyze if you’ve to work outside of your office hours or not.

2. Is this a fully distributed team? What part of the team is remote?

Asking such questions to your hiring manager or HR helps you determine if the organization accepts and normalizes remote work culture. You can gauge whether it’s completely normalized or if they haven’t introduced remote work culture in their organization. Remote workers constitute a small percentage of the organization, given the sudden burst due to the wake of the pandemic, remote work is remotely new in any organization. Try and understand if they proactively think about remote workers like regular workers, it helps you understand if the organization will help develop and flourish your future.

3. How do you give feedback to your remote employees?

With regular employees, feedback is given informally. The higher officials will pop by and appreciate your work or let you know about the expectations concerning the new project. In remote work, sometimes feedback is overlooked easily. Feedback is also essential for remote workers, to help them grow, flourish better.

An interesting way to find if the prospective organization gives feedback is to ask them about it. If your hiring manager has no plan, suggest one and gauge their reaction. If they squirm and brush it off, then it might be a sign they aren’t invested in you as you’re expecting them to be.

4. What kind of social event does the department have?

Socializing is a lot more difficult for a remote worker. The kind of social meet-up or get-together speaks about the inclusive nature of the organization. If you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy socializing much, you’d probably want to skip this part. But if you’re a social bee and want to socialize at your new workplace, asking about their social events is great to gauge if the company is invested in incorporating remote workers as well. For instance, if they organize lunches, a remote worker won’t be able to attend these events. Whereas if they organize events such as virtual coffee meet up or virtual trivia, even if it’s still in the nascent stage, the organization is heavily invested in remote workers as well.

5. How does the organization overcome challenges faced with remote work?

No company can create a flawless work atmosphere instantaneously. But you can expect your colleagues, managers, and other staff to work towards creating an inclusive work environment. You can expect them to recognize and acknowledge the challenges posed and the subsequent steps they have taken to avoid situations like these. If the interviewer talks openly about the challenges they faced and how they overcame the challenges, it’s a good sign that the company considers remote workers as well.

6. What growth opportunities exist for this role?

growth oppertunities

Growth in any profession is important, otherwise, your work becomes monotonous and lethargic. This question also helps determine if the company is invested in your growth as per your expectations. It also gives you any red flags that you weren’t visible before. Ask questions such as, if you can take larger projects and still work off-site? Can you become a leader while working remotely? If you’re expecting growth while working remotely and your interviewer has not answered your question, then it’s a major consideration.

With more and more remote work sprouting it depends on you whether you want the job or not. Use the interview process to determine if the company suits your requirements before finalizing your work. Also, know what means of communication they use, understand their remote infrastructure.

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