Preparing for the Work from Home Interview
Remote work options are quickly becoming a benefit that many companies, new and traditional, are willing to offer in order to recruit and retain the best employees. This is GREAT news for spouses who want to PCS their careers and move toward their professional goals. Far more work from home options exist across industries, providing military spouses with more opportunities to build their careers. If you are thinking about pursuing work from home opportunities, you’ll need to prepare for a few telecommuting-related interview questions.
Previous Remote Experiences: Employers will want to know if you have a track record of working successfully from a remote location. It’s okay if you don’t have that experience, but you’ll want to discuss instances where you worked well independently. Because companies can’t check in on you at home, they need to know that you are the type of person who can stay on task and work with minimal oversight.
Communication Type: Communication can be difficult when you are sitting face to face in a room with a co-worker. Communicating remotely brings with it a host of issues from overcommunicating to undercommunicating, communicating problems too late or not at all, and so on. A potential employer will want to know about your communication style as well as how you communicate progress and problems. You should understand whether you are an active or passive communicator, how you digest information you hear or read and what techniques you use to ensure your written (email or other) and verbal (phone calls or other) communications are clear to colleagues. Most employers want employees who can communicate effectively and clearly; remote employers have to have employees who are effective communicators.
Project Management Abilities: How this question is presented will depend on the type of work you do. A future employer, because they will be depending on you to work without constant oversight, will want to know how you move your
By: Jamie Boyle