Content
Sharing project updates is much more efficient using project management software. There’s no scientifically proven optimal length for answering this or any interview question. Some coaches and recruiters will tell you to keep it to 30 seconds or less, while others will say you should aim for a minute, or talk for no more than two minutes. “Everyone has a different approach,” says Dea, who’s had candidates speak for one minute or go on for five.
So I’d recommend grabbing a piece of paper and writing down the key points you want to talk about in your answer. Then, use your smartphone’s voice recorder app to record a few practice answers and see how you sound. The idea is to try to remember what you want to talk about without reading off the paper.
Do you have experience working remotely or from home?
This is a common question during any interview process, whether remote or not. But being able to adapt to change is foundational to working in a remote team, particularly if the company you are joining is a distributed team spread across time zones and geographies. When you don’t have the benefit of working at the same time as your colleagues, you need to learn to be communicate async.
We recommend using a structured approach to responding to interview questions by discussing the situation, task, action, and result (STAR). This is another excellent example of a situational interview question and the perfect opportunity to use the STAR method. Leech advises including a detailed example of how you’ve resolved a conflict in the past.
Tailor your answer.
I find that I am much more productive when I am in control of my schedule and can create ways to do my work more efficiently. I didn’t find that I missed social interactions with coworkers at all. On the day of the interview, ensure you are ready ahead of time. Have copies of your resume, application and any notes at hand.
This signals initiative.” Finding ways to demonstrate these traits throughout the interview process “will make you a significantly stronger candidate,” Leech says. So spend some time reflecting on how you’d like to answer these questions, then ask a friend to join you on a video chat to practice your responses. “Even better if you can explain that you’re willing first to seek answers…on work from home experience your own before asking others,” he says. Including an example of a real project you’ve worked on remotely in the past (if relevant) may also help to strengthen your answer. “What I enjoy most is being able to organize my work according to my needs. Starting work early allows me to gain a lot of uninterrupted time to power through the most important tasks of the day.
