Interviews have changed. In 2019, an interview for a job regularly involved travel, often at your own expense, and if you got the job, that routine would then be your 9-5, five days a week, and that was something we all were completely used to.
Now though, we do the vast majority of our job interviews from home. But doing a remote interview and interviewing for a remote role are two different things. Getting a job that offers hybrid or full remote work is a wishlist item for many these days. While plenty of European workers have the opportunity to work from home some of the time on a hybrid basis, more of them would love to have jobs that offer a full remote option.
That’s despite recent research from Microsoft which discovered that “in the shift to hybrid work, 85% of leaders say they have a hard time knowing for sure that their people are being productive. Yet whether they were working remotely, in person, or a mix of both, 87% of employees say they are productive at work.”
This has led to what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is calling “productivity paranoia”. He says, “Leaders think their employees are not productive, whereas employees think they are being productive, and in many cases even feel burnt out.”
So If you want to get out ahead of the competition in order to both ace an interview for a remote role and make sure you keep that job once you have it, here are the tactics you should use.
- Show that you are reliable
If you’re trying to display that you won’t be a cause of productivity paranoia, then showing that you’re a reliable worker is one of the best ways to do that. Give examples of how you’ve met deadlines on projects, or consistently delivered/over-delivered on what was expected of you.
- Show that you are organised
No one enjoys having to organise someone else’s day. If you can talk through examples of how you have streamlined processes and work schedules or have improved existing ways of working within your team, these will all be great indicators that you’re a good bet for remote work.
- Show that you’re an excellent communicator
Remote work relies on a little more back and forth than in-office – after all, you can’t just walk over to someone’s desk and double-check a detail. How do you get confirmation on tasks and projects? Do you send your current manager end of day or end of week briefing notes and how do you keep your team up-to-speed on projects? Giving full information on how you effectively communicate and keep people in the loop is crucial.
- Show that you’re independent
Everyone needs support at work, that’s a given. But when we work remotely most of the time, we need to be great at managing our own time too. How can you show this to a prospective employer? If there are particular tools or scheduling software you use to manage your time, make sure to explain how you make these work for you. Explain how you efficiently make use of team meetings too, and showcase how you avoid too much “noise” by using dedicated Slack or messaging channels for any queries that may arise during the working day.
Ready to go ahead and apply? We’ve got three remote toles to check out below – and plenty more to discover on the VentureBeat Job Board.
Frontend Developer, Pepper Media Holding GmbH, Berlin/remote
Pepper.com is seeking an experienced and passionate Frontend Developer to join the team in Berlin, or remote. You will play a central role in crafting high quality and elegant code for communities around the world and you will build the frontend systems that power this fast-growing business, and continuously improve engineering practices. Your work will contribute towards creating a more attractive, helpful, and fashionable community for everyone. Get the full job description here.
Business Development Representative – North/South Europe, Pubstack, Paris/full remote
Pubstack’s product is a SaaS platform that helps online publishers make the most out of the content they create, made possible thanks to advanced analytics and automation capabilities. The Business Development Representative will be part of the sales team and will drive maximum value and success with new Pubstack customers. You will strategically prospect into publishers’ monetisation leaders and initiate contact with them through different channels and engage with hot marketing qualified leads to convert them into sales qualified leads. Find out more here.
Software Developer, Onetrail, Amsterdam/full remote
As a Software Developer, you will be responsible for maintaining and improving the trading partner network and our web applications. You will be working on new features that add value to customers, provide third line support, and spend 10% of your time on self-development. You will be part of a full-stack R&D team that consists of five developers with a combination of junior and medium development experience. You’ll need at least three years’ experience as a software engineer or developer/engineer as well as Java EE and SQL abilities, with a drive for learning. Get all the information here.