If your company plans to hire new employees to work from a remote location, it’s essential to get your remote hiring process in place before placing the first online job post. A consistent process should avoid the appearance of favoritism and include each of the tasks listed below.
- Advertise the open position in a variety of publications and through word-of-mouth
- Screen the top applicants by phone
- Schedule initial interviews via phone or Zoom
- Complete testing with each qualified applicant
- Conduct a background check and speak to references
- Make a job offer to one or more applicants
- Complete new employee onboarding
Once you have a process for a remote hiring established, you’re ready to begin writing an advertisement for the remote job opening.
Writing and Posting an Ad for a Remote Job
The job ad you write should attract only the most qualified people to apply. You may want to partner with your marketing department to create an ad for the open position that aligns with your company’s brand by ensuring that the word choices, tone, and language communicate to prospective employees the same way the company normally speaks to its customers.
Make sure that applicants have enough information to decide that they want to pursue the position without giving them so many details that they feel overwhelmed and skip applying for the remote job. Spell things out without resorting to buzzwords and jargon.
Be sure to consider all options when you post the ad, from free websites to those you need to take money out of the budget to use. Social media and online employment marketplaces are good places to start, as are job boards at local colleges.
Some social media sites, such as LinkedIn and Facebook, allow you to target your ad to highly specific demographics for an extra cost. Don’t be afraid to use those sites and to ask for proof of how well the paid ads work. You also want to consider targeted sectors, such as a website designed for students looking to break into the career your company can offer them.
Resume Screening
This part of hiring new employees can be as time-consuming as creating an online job post and monitoring the responses. Having an applicant tracking system (ATS) in place helps speed up the process. ATS software collects, stores, and ranks resumes based on criteria you enter. You need to program the ATS to scan for specific words and remote work experiences and then rank the resumes based on your chosen criteria.
Virtual Interviews
Scheduling a virtual interview is no different than scheduling an in-person interview. Find out what time works best for your preferred candidates and make sure they have the software available to complete the interview from home. Each candidate should know how many people they will interview with, each person’s name, and their role with the company.
Be sure the interview shows on everyone’s calendars after the candidate accepts a time. If you expect to conduct multiple interviews with the same candidates, give them a timeline of what to expect once you have finished the first interview.
Onboarding Remote Employees
We recommend that you start the onboarding process by creating a checklist of everything the new remote employee needs to succeed in the role, along with objectives for the first 90 days of employment. Be sure to include the following in your onboarding process for new employees:
- Ensure they have the proper equipment to work remotely
- Introduce the new employee to company systems
- Provide an employee handbook and show the new remote employee how to submit HR forms
- Hold an orientation session specific to the team or role
- Make video calls to check on the new hire
- Assign the new hire a mentor
- State expectations clearly and provide the new hire with multiple ways to obtain help when needed
Maybe you feel just as overwhelmed by the remote hiring process as your new employees. The good news is that ASAP Payroll Service is here to help. From providing our own applicant tracking system to conducting background checks, employee onboarding, and more, we make the remote hiring process simpler and more efficient for small businesses in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.
Outsource Your Remote Hiring Functions Today
Please contact us to learn more about each of our hiring, payroll, onboarding, timekeeping, and HR management services. We are happy to provide a free quote for all new clients.
