10 Revealing Interview Questions to Help You Select The Best Virtual Workers, Pt. 2

Virtual teams are no longer a differentiator. If you want to build a company that can outpace the competition, then virtual teams are now a necessity.

If you are new to the virtual workforce game, you have some catching up to do. To help you get up to speed, I outlined five screening questions you can use to find top-tier virtual workers for your team. Today, I’d like to offer five more interview questions that will help you find the best of the best in your quest for high-performing virtual workers:

6. Describe how you collaborate and communicate during a typical project.

Research shows that virtual teams tend to collaborate less than face-to-face teams do – unless the company steps in and takes proactive steps to build a collaborative culture for its virtual workers. Your culture of collaboration is far more likely to take root if it is laid on a foundation of workers who are already effective collaborators in their own right.

What employers should be looking for in an answer to this question is evidence that the candidate keeps their colleagues in mind and involves them in projects appropriately. The candidate should also be able to demonstrate high levels of responsiveness and an ability to adapt to and use a range of communication channels to suit the project and their team members.

7. Describe to us the biggest virtual project you have collaborated on so far. What was the project? What was your role? What was your contribution? Was the project successful? 

Once again, what you are looking for here is evidence of the candidate’s ability to collaborate, as well as evidence that the candidate is an effective worker who can finish work on time and keep everyone in the loop, as necessary. The right candidate will be able to talk about how they met the requirements of the project and resolved any problems that arose. Most importantly, the ideal candidate should be able to demonstrate how they contributed to the overall success of the project.

8. Pick any virtual project you have worked on and tell us how you ensured that the right people were kept up-to-date on the progress of the project.

The right candidate needs to be clear on who clients and key stakeholders are during any given project. The candidate should also be clear on how they kept those people updated and how they satisfied all the stakeholders.

9. Can you describe a situation that best illustrates your resourcefulness in the face of adversity?

Problem solving and resourcefulness are key skills for virtual workers. Sooner or later, a situation is going to go south, and virtual workers won’t necessarily have people on hand to help like they would in an office. They’ll need to resolve the situation themselves.

You’ll be looking for candidates who can stay positive and keep their wits about them in the face of a crisis.

10. What makes you the perfect virtual worker for this job?

This question gives the candidate the opportunity to offer a concrete summary of their suitability. It also gives them the opportunity to step off the beaten path and surprise you with qualities or skills that you hadn’t even considered. This question can be very eye-opening, so make sure you ask it of every candidate you come across!

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Interviewing a virtual worker can be tricky. Sure, you’ll need to assess the candidates’ hard skills and technical competencies as you would in a face-to-face interview, but you’ll also need to focus specifically on the candidates’ abilities to work effectively in a virtual capacity.

If you want to build a great virtual team, you need to make sure you’re hiring the right people – so ask the right questions!