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Digital interviewing is no longer a nice-to-have skill for leaders. You might insist on getting someone face-to-face before making a decision to hire, but in the time it takes to set up the meeting and arrange transportation, the candidate probably already received many great offers.
You might think digital interviewing is a handicap on evaluating someone’s skills. How can you possibly make a call if someone is a good fit just by watching a tiny Zoom screen with a virtual background. Compared to getting a read on someone’s body language, how they present themselves in person, and their natural energy, a digital interview seems like a horrible replacement.
But digital interviewing isn’t only a “pure negative”. Especially when a lot of your interactions are going to be digital after you start working, a digital interview gives you an authentic view of what it’s like to interact with someone.
Don’t just try to replicate what you did in the office. Modernize your approach. Improve your format. Update your questions to apply to virtual jobs. Learn how to leverage the strengths of a digital format to create a great interview.
Coupled with the ability to identify strong resumes and cover letters, your interviewing prowess is the gateway to finding a team member that enriches and strengthens your organization. Here’s how to do it.
What are you trying to learn about the candidate in digital interviewing?
Don’t go blindly into interviews with generic questions. You need direction, and you need to identify what you’re trying to learn from each interviewee.
Some ideas that may guide your direction and creation of interview questions include:
- Problem-solving in the modern age (solo hardware and software troubleshooting might work here)
- Remote work experience
- Ability to work alone or unsupervised
- What makes the candidate unique
- Personal work success stories
- Asking about your company’s products, culture, and work environment
The idea is to craft questions that are geared toward remote work or use classic questions and give them a digital spin. By creating a mix of the two, you can cover more ground and get a stronger idea if this person is the right person for the job.
Why digital interviewing provides a unique advantage
Compared to traditional interviews, digital interviewing provides some unique upsides that you can use to your advantage. One of the major advantages is the globalization of the talent pool. In years past, you may have only been able to hire people that lived in your geographic area. But now, you can hire the best candidate, regardless of where they live. While this can admittedly cause scheduling issues, sometimes the best candidate is worth the hassle of living six time zones away.
Another advantage of digital interviewing lies within the psychological aspects of the interview process. If you’re not feeling confident about the interviewing process, how do you think the candidate is feeling?
But unlike the uncomfortable waiting room, candidates can relax and shake off some of the anxiety of the interview from the comfort of their home, and so can you. Without anxiety or doubt rearing their ugly heads, you can get down to the more critical part of the interview: is this person the right fit?
What do you want out of this interview?
A live, synchronous interview can serve many different purposes.
If the role requires mostly chatting, using work management tools, and other asynchronous conversations, a live digital interview is often just a formality to introduce everyone and get a feel on personalities. You should use other methods to evaluate someone’s technical skills and ability to perform the role.
However, if you are hiring for a position that requires a lot of synchronous interactions, then you might need to do more of a skill evaluation.
Does digital interviewing level the playing field?
Digital companies know how important diversity and inclusion is. However, interviews are a notorious bottleneck when it comes to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization. The subconscious bias in interviews plays a role in this, but it’s also how you structure your questions and the answer you subconsciously expect.
In a digital interview, you’re seeing the person for the first time rather than a waiting room full of candidates.
In some of your early interview rounds, consider using mediums that closely mimic what the work experience is like. If you do a lot of chat, host one round in chat with no video or audio. Or, if you are more asynchronous, send questions ahead of time and have them respond within the day. This can also help to eliminate bias and focus on their communication and technical skills.
Other types of digital interviewing options
If you’re not keen or privy to the idea of digital interviewing or you just want to try some alternatives, the virtual workplace opens tons of possibilities. Here are some options if you’re tired of the same old, same old.
Email interviews
While off-the-cuff answers are great for some positions, other candidates may flounder in such an atmosphere. So if your company needs critical thinkers and idea people, email interviews could be the answer.
Unlike regular digital interviewing, email interviewing allows jobseekers to craft well-written, thought-out answers. You can still decide how much time the person has to answer the questions and when to schedule the interview, but by removing the part of the interview that can cause hiccups and anxiety, you may find that diamond in the rough that’s a great candidate but a poor interviewer.
Video interviews
Used by larger digital companies such as HubSpot, video interviews are becoming a popular digital interviewing method. The idea is simple. Record or write down your interview questions, upload them to a video interview site, and let each candidate record their own answers.
Designed to eliminate bias (thanks to the same questions) and save time, video interviews aren’t always a favorite of interviewees, but interviewers are steadily moving over to them. If time is at a premium or you find yourself inadvertently favoriting one candidate over another, this is a great option.
Possible digital interviewing questions
If you want to get the most out of digital interviewing, you have to ask the right questions. While some of them will remain the same as in a traditional face-to-face setting, you may have to tweak some or come up with your own. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- How do you structure your day when you work at home?
- How do you respond when you encounter a road block?
- If you were starting this job immediately after this call, what would be the first thing you’d do?
- How do you handle distractions during the work day?
- What systems have you created to stay organized? Can you demonstrate/share those?
- What do you typically do when you need to get work done, but can’t get in touch with people who are essential to your role?
Digital interviewing is all about fine-tuning
Like other aspects of your virtual business, digital interviewing is all about fine-tuning. But a proactive approach to it doesn’t hurt. The more effort you put into your interviewing process beforehand, the less time you have to waste on candidates that just aren’t right for the job or the rehiring process.
Photo by Keren Levand on Unsplash
Digital interviewing is no longer a nice-to-have skill for leaders. You might insist on getting someone face-to-face before making a decision to hire, but in the time it takes to set up the meeting and arrange transportation, the candidate probably already received many great offers.
You might think digital interviewing is a handicap on evaluating someone’s skills. How can you possibly make a call if someone is a good fit just by watching a tiny Zoom screen with a virtual background. Compared to getting a read on someone’s body language, how they present themselves in person, and their natural energy, a digital interview seems like a horrible replacement.
But digital interviewing isn’t only a “pure negative”. Especially when a lot of your interactions are going to be digital after you start working, a digital interview gives you an authentic view of what it’s like to interact with someone.
Don’t just try to replicate what you did in the office. Modernize your approach. Improve your format. Update your questions to apply to virtual jobs. Learn how to leverage the strengths of a digital format to create a great interview.
Coupled with the ability to identify strong resumes and cover letters, your interviewing prowess is the gateway to finding a team member that enriches and strengthens your organization. Here’s how to do it.
What are you trying to learn about the candidate in digital interviewing?
Don’t go blindly into interviews with generic questions. You need direction, and you need to identify what you’re trying to learn from each interviewee.
Some ideas that may guide your direction and creation of interview questions include:
- Problem-solving in the modern age (solo hardware and software troubleshooting might work here)
- Remote work experience
- Ability to work alone or unsupervised
- What makes the candidate unique
- Personal work success stories
- Asking about your company’s products, culture, and work environment
The idea is to craft questions that are geared toward remote work or use classic questions and give them a digital spin. By creating a mix of the two, you can cover more ground and get a stronger idea if this person is the right person for the job.
Why digital interviewing provides a unique advantage
Compared to traditional interviews, digital interviewing provides some unique upsides that you can use to your advantage. One of the major advantages is the globalization of the talent pool. In years past, you may have only been able to hire people that lived in your geographic area. But now, you can hire the best candidate, regardless of where they live. While this can admittedly cause scheduling issues, sometimes the best candidate is worth the hassle of living six time zones away.
Another advantage of digital interviewing lies within the psychological aspects of the interview process. If you’re not feeling confident about the interviewing process, how do you think the candidate is feeling?
But unlike the uncomfortable waiting room, candidates can relax and shake off some of the anxiety of the interview from the comfort of their home, and so can you. Without anxiety or doubt rearing their ugly heads, you can get down to the more critical part of the interview: is this person the right fit?
What do you want out of this interview?
A live, synchronous interview can serve many different purposes.
If the role requires mostly chatting, using work management tools, and other asynchronous conversations, a live digital interview is often just a formality to introduce everyone and get a feel on personalities. You should use other methods to evaluate someone’s technical skills and ability to perform the role.
However, if you are hiring for a position that requires a lot of synchronous interactions, then you might need to do more of a skill evaluation.
Does digital interviewing level the playing field?
Digital companies know how important diversity and inclusion is. However, interviews are a notorious bottleneck when it comes to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization. The subconscious bias in interviews plays a role in this, but it’s also how you structure your questions and the answer you subconsciously expect.
In a digital interview, you’re seeing the person for the first time rather than a waiting room full of candidates.
In some of your early interview rounds, consider using mediums that closely mimic what the work experience is like. If you do a lot of chat, host one round in chat with no video or audio. Or, if you are more asynchronous, send questions ahead of time and have them respond within the day. This can also help to eliminate bias and focus on their communication and technical skills.
Other types of digital interviewing options
If you’re not keen or privy to the idea of digital interviewing or you just want to try some alternatives, the virtual workplace opens tons of possibilities. Here are some options if you’re tired of the same old, same old.
Email interviews
While off-the-cuff answers are great for some positions, other candidates may flounder in such an atmosphere. So if your company needs critical thinkers and idea people, email interviews could be the answer.
Unlike regular digital interviewing, email interviewing allows jobseekers to craft well-written, thought-out answers. You can still decide how much time the person has to answer the questions and when to schedule the interview, but by removing the part of the interview that can cause hiccups and anxiety, you may find that diamond in the rough that’s a great candidate but a poor interviewer.
Video interviews
Used by larger digital companies such as HubSpot, video interviews are becoming a popular digital interviewing method. The idea is simple. Record or write down your interview questions, upload them to a video interview site, and let each candidate record their own answers.
Designed to eliminate bias (thanks to the same questions) and save time, video interviews aren’t always a favorite of interviewees, but interviewers are steadily moving over to them. If time is at a premium or you find yourself inadvertently favoriting one candidate over another, this is a great option.
Possible digital interviewing questions
If you want to get the most out of digital interviewing, you have to ask the right questions. While some of them will remain the same as in a traditional face-to-face setting, you may have to tweak some or come up with your own. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- How do you structure your day when you work at home?
- How do you respond when you encounter a road block?
- If you were starting this job immediately after this call, what would be the first thing you’d do?
- How do you handle distractions during the work day?
- What systems have you created to stay organized? Can you demonstrate/share those?
- What do you typically do when you need to get work done, but can’t get in touch with people who are essential to your role?
Digital interviewing is all about fine-tuning
Like other aspects of your virtual business, digital interviewing is all about fine-tuning. But a proactive approach to it doesn’t hurt. The more effort you put into your interviewing process beforehand, the less time you have to waste on candidates that just aren’t right for the job or the rehiring process.
Photo by Keren Levand on Unsplash
