Three interview approaches for remote onboarding

As an international company, we know what it's like to hire employees without being personally on site. This requires good preparation, but is easily possible thanks to digitization.

We will tell you how you can successfully hire employees remotely or from your home office and how you can optimally organize the induction phase.

1. 15/20-minute phone call with the HR department

This first short conversation is about checking the qualifications of the applicant, introducing the company and discussing the general conditions of the job. If both the applicant and the HR contact person are satisfied after this interview, the second interview is planned. 

2. 30/45-minute video interview with the specialist decision maker

The video interview is the most important conversation in the application process. It is used to discuss the applicant's CV in detail and to ask competence-based questions. This enables you to find out how the applicant reacts in certain work situations, how he deals with difficulties and what relevant work experience he can show. The specialist decision-maker and future supervisors also get a feeling here whether the applicant fits into the team and whether the chemistry between him and the applicant is right. After all, they should work together successfully in the future. You should only schedule conversation No. 3 if these requirements are met.

3. Skype presentation on a business case for the managing director

Give the applicant 3 to 4 days to prepare a presentation on a business case in his / her department. Send the presentation the day before the Skype interview to your managing director and possibly other decision-makers in the company who will take part in the appointment. This gives them all enough time to prepare detailed questions for the applicant. This should make it possible to make a final decision for or against the applicant after this third interview.

The successful familiarization

Have you hired the new employee and are you now facing the challenge of incorporating him? With the following steps, the familiarization runs successfully, the new employee quickly stands on his own feet and can actively contribute to the success of the team.

• Plan a video conference with all members of the team, at which you introduce the new employee and explain his new areas of responsibility so that your team knows which tasks the new employee is responsible for and which are not.
• In this conversation, the new team member should also briefly introduce themselves in order to build up a first bond with the team. 
• Draw up a detailed induction plan for a period of 2 weeks. This includes, for example, internal online training and webinars, initial tasks, online meetings with important contacts in the company. In this way, the new employee gets to know them and can discuss future collaboration with them. 
• Schedule daily meetings with the new employee to keep track of work progress and be available for questions

The top priorities in the application process and familiarization are open, regular communication, clear expectations on both sides and, above all, flexibility in everyday work in order to quickly find good solutions and create a basis for joint success.