COVID-19 shows no signs of abating anytime soon. Business is ramping back up or surging in some industries and hiring needs to happen. How do you hire safely in a pandemic?
Remotely, that’s how. An unfamiliar process for most companies and candidates, it requires a few adjustments for all.
After all the virtual meetings in the last few months, everyone at your business should be comfortable with that end. For a successful interview, ensure your candidates understand correctly which virtual meeting app you will be using and access to other software required to complete the interview.
Technical interviews are particularly hard remotely. Practice exercises can be given to candidates to complete. A more sophisticated solution when hiring developers is HackerRank or Code Signal. These services provide remote technical assessments of candidates’ abilities.
The other challenging aspect is culture fit, something hard to gauge remotely. Checking references and asking questions to test soft skills is crucial. Sharing your company workspace via pictures or videos gives the candidate an excellent idea of fit for them.
There are upsides to remote hiring. There’s no more scrambling to find a conference room. Candidates are readily available, even if they’re in another state or country.
All this speeds up the hiring process, a wonderful outcome. Watch out for legal pitfalls. If you’re recording interviews, be familiar with your state guidelines on consent, including specific laws.
According to recent guidance, you can screen a candidate for COVID-19 after a conditional offer. Be careful about withdrawing offers if the results are positive.
Author: Kris Keppeler, a writer who finds technology fascinating and loves humor. She writes for Crossing Genres on Medium.com and Does This Happen to You? on Channillo. Award-winning podcast producer who enjoys telling stories. Follow her @KrisKKAria on Twitter or on LinkedIn.
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