5 Big-Name Companies Share What They Look for in a Remote Job Candidate

A remote job candidate needs to have a special set of skills to effectively work from home. Without a boss or coworkers the next cubicle or office over, how will you stay on task, communicate, and keep motivated?

Remote.co has a whole Q&A section that features questions and answers from leading remote companies. If you want some insight into how remote companies operate and hire, the Q&A section can provide a wealth of information.

One such question from the Q&A is: “What traits do you look for in candidates for a remote job?” Below, we’re featuring the answers of five companies that shared their thoughts on this topic. Be sure to check out the answers from other companies, as well, for more insight into what skills a remote job candidate should have to be hired.

5 Big-Name Companies Share What Traits They Look for in a Remote Job Candidate:

GitHub

“…There are definitely a few things that stand out to me as being key for anyone to be effective as a remote employee:

• Written communication. The importance of this cannot be overstated. When you’re remote, a majority of the way you interface with the world will be through written word, so it’s critical that you can articulate complex concepts and subtleties. Giant walls of text aren’t fun either, so it’s important to keep things concise.
• Discipline. Some people work best with lots of structure and external pressure, but working well autonomously is a big part of our culture at GitHub. We need people to be self-motivated enough to stay productive without someone looking over their shoulder and checking up on them all the time.
• Decisiveness. Time zones are tricky, and it’s often necessary for remote employees to make decisions with imperfect information, even if the right person isn’t around in the moment to make the decision themselves. Most decisions are temporary, especially in a growing company with a rapidly evolving product, so what’s important is that a reasonably sound decision gets made so that work can move forward.
• Interests outside work. If someone is going to be working from home, then it’s really important that they have hobbies, friendships, and things to do outside of work. Without something else to help them switch off and decompress, it’s much easier to end up burning out.”

TaxJar

“One of the biggest is a candidate has to have worked remotely before, preferably for at least two years. Bonus points for working previously for a completely remote team. If someone has thrived in that environment before, that’s a good sign they can join TaxJar and contribute right away. Also, a majority of our team members have operated their own successful businesses before. That proves they can be self-motivated and get things done.”

Lullabot

“The fact that we’re fully distributed means we highly value strong communicators, both verbally and in written form, so that’s one of the first things we look at no matter what skill set or discipline we’re hiring for.”

Appen

“People who have worked remotely before are ideal candidates. We also look for people who have a strong work ethic, exhibit the ability to work independently, and possess strong communication skills over all platforms.”

InVisionApp

“When we hire, we look for people who see remote work as an upgrade—an improvement to their lives. They’re driven individuals who have the self-awareness to know how they work best. Some people function better in a physical office environment, or might be at the outset of their careers and want that sort of structure. Our team sees remote work as a big benefit, even if it has its own set of challenges.”

Looking for a remote job? Check out our list of remote jobs hiring now! 

Photo Credit: bigstockphoto.com

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By Rachel Jay | Categories: Work Remotely

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