The new rules of remote recruiting: how to prepare for an online interview
(Source: Pixabay)
Covid-19的防疫封鎖令已完全重塑了公司的運營方式-即使放鬆限制，許多人仍希望能保留遠距工作。那麼，如何打動潛在的新老闆呢？
The Covid-19 lockdown has completely reshaped the way companies operate – even once restrictions are eased, many expect remote working to stay. So how can you impress a potential new boss from home?
穿著居家服的面試者，到處跑的狗和孩子，在身後看電視的伴侶或在廚房桌上堆積如山的待洗衣物– 在招聘部門擁有25年經驗的David Stone，早已聽過這類災難性的一切線上面試。
Candidates in their dressing gowns, dogs and children running about, partners in the background watching TV, or piles of dirty washing up on the kitchen counter – with 25 years in the recruitment sector, David Stone has heard it all when it comes to disastrous video interviews.
MRL招募諮詢集團的創始人Stone說：“當人們在家中工作是因為這是您的私人空間時，很多面試者完全忽略了這仍是一次正式的會議。” “你看到他們身後的東西真是太神奇了。”
“When people are working at home because it’s your personal space, a lot of candidates completely overlook the fact that it’s still a formal first meeting,” Stone, the founder of MRL Consulting Group, says. “It’s amazing what you see going on in the background.”
通過電話或視訊進行遠距面試並不是一個新概念，特別是對於已經建立了遠距國際團隊的公司而言。近年來，也沒有在招募過程中使用技術，而是湧入了人工智能工具，這些工具可用來尋找和篩選投放於市場的面試者。
Holding interviews remotely – whether by phone or video – isn’t a new concept, particularly for companies that have built remote, international teams. Nor is the use of technology in the recruitment process, with an influx of artificial intelligence tools that source and screen candidates hitting the market in recent years.
有一些演算法可以在視訊中評估和分析面試者的語氣，面部表情和說話模式，並根據該職位的理想情況對其進行評分。
There are algorithms that can analyze candidates’ tone of voice, facial expressions, and speech patterns during video pre-assessments, scoring them against an ideal profile for that role.
據報導，畢業生已經花費了數千英鎊來學習如何面對這些線上系統。
Graduates have reportedly spent thousands of pounds learning how to beat these systems.
但是對於許多仍在全球Covid-19封鎖期間進行招募的公司而言，將面試流程於線上進行可能是一個艱鉅的願景。 Stone建議所有相關人員-招募人員和面試者-都盡可能將遠距面試視為傳統面試來進行。
But for many companies, still recruiting during the global Covid-19 lockdown, moving the process online can be a daunting prospect. Stone recommends all involved – recruiter and candidate – treat a remote interview like a traditional, face-to-face meeting as much as possible.
Stone說：“起床，洗澡，穿西裝。” “考慮一下在你身後的那台相機上可以看到的東西。確保您有一個小時的和平與寧靜。”他補充說，有些透過視訊面試的面試者可能比面對面進行面試更為緊張。 “你必須嘗試克服這一點。建立融洽的關係，讓他們放心，讓他們談論他們能舒適談論的主題，以便他們放鬆。”
“Get up, get showered, put a suit on,” he says. “Pay consideration to what can be seen on that camera behind you. Make sure you’ve got an hour’s worth of peace and quiet.” Some candidates may be more nervous appearing on video than they would be in person, he adds. “You’ve got to try and get past that. Build rapport, put them at their ease, get them talking about subjects they’re comfortable talking about so they relax.”
自6年前推出虛擬助理服務以來，Virtalent的聯合創始人兼運營總監Ellie Wilson進行了數百次遠距面試。她發現，線上招募過程效率更高。
Ellie Wilson, the co-founder and operations director of Virtalent, has run hundreds of remote interviews since launching her virtual assistant service six years ago. She’s found the recruitment process much more efficient when it’s all online.
她說：“我們可以從提交面試評估的人到進行最終面試，並在48小時內進行背景調查，”
“We can go from someone submitting an assessment to having the final interview and running background checks almost within 48 hours,” she says.
“我當然不認為你會因為無法與面試官握手而失去任何東西。如果面試候選人正坐在我面前，我會問同樣的問題。對我來說，什麼都沒有改變–我會嘗試得到資訊，以確保面試者是這個職位的合適人選：我可以了解這個人是否可與我們一起工作，與客戶一起工作嗎？或者他會給我信心嗎？”
“I certainly don’t think you lose anything just because you can’t shake that person’s hand. I ask the same questions to a candidate that I would if they were sitting right in front of me. For me, nothing changes – I try to extract the information that I need to be assured that this is the right person for the job: can I see this person working with us, working with our clients? Do they give me confidence?”
招募人員可能更喜歡通過電話進行第一輪遠距面試，Wilson說，在此過程的某個階段與你交談的人很重要。
While recruiters may prefer to do the first round of remote interviews over the phone, Wilson says it is important to see the person you’re speaking to at some stage in the process.
不必通過專門的HR平台-Zoom，Skype和Microsoft Teams等視訊會議工具也可以正常工作。她補充說：“如果他們要在遠距工作，還需要確保他們在家中有正確的工作前置設備。” “我檢查他們是否有專用的辦公桌區域，是否有合適的座位，並且看上去沒有乾擾。”
That doesn’t have to be via a bespoke HR platform – video conference tools such as Zoom, Skype, and Microsoft Teams work just as well. “If they’re going to be working remotely, you also need to be reassured they have the right set-up at home,” she adds. “I check that they have a dedicated desk area, they have an appropriate seat, and it looks free from distraction.”
工作顧問和執行教練Marilyn Devonish說，面試者和面試官都應提前15分鐘開啟所有設備，考慮照明和攝像機角度正確，測試麥克風，並將電話和任何通知都關成靜音。
Candidates and interviewers alike should switch on all equipment 15 minutes beforehand, think about getting the lighting and camera angle right, test microphones, and put phones and any push notifications on silent says flexible working consultant and executive coach Marilyn Devonish.
她補充道：“說話時，直接注視著鏡頭，讓對方感覺就像你在看著他們。”而不是被螢幕上自己的圖像分散了注意力（Zoom提供了“隱藏自己”選項可以幫助面試者）。她建議面試者與朋友或家人一起進行練習：“請考慮確保自己的個性能凸顯出來。因此，如果你要從事需要一個保持積極進取性格的工作，那就是你在鏡頭前必須要做的。”
“When speaking, look directly into the camera so the other person feels like you’re looking at them,” she adds, rather than getting distracted by your own image on the screen (Zoom has a “hide myself” option, which can help). She recommends interviewees also do a practice run-through with friends or family: “Think about making sure your personality comes out. So if you’re going for a job that needs a motivated self-starter, that’s what you’ve got to be when you’re on camera.”
通過視訊面試的面試者還可以在面試官不知情的情況下使用關於職務說明和任何其他參考資料的筆記。
Candidates interviewed by video also have the luxury of being able to use printouts of the job description and any other reference notes without the interviewer’s knowledge.
招募人員應注意他們提供的視覺和語言提示要比他們面對面面試時要多，以表示他們正在聆聽面試者所說的話。
Recruiters should be mindful of including more visual and linguistic cues than they might use in person to show they’re following what the candidate is saying.
Devonish補充說：“比如說'好的'，'了解'，'很好'之類的話語。 “如果聲音漸弱了，這不是應該害怕或顯得太客氣的時候-說：'對不起，我錯過了剛剛那句。”雙方都需要確保他們能清楚地聽到對方的聲音。”
“Things like saying ‘right’, ‘OK’, ‘great’,” Devonish adds. “If the sound drops, this is not the time to be scared or too polite – say: ‘I’m sorry, I missed that.’ Both sides need to make sure they can hear each other clearly.”
還應及時提供清晰的解釋，說明該過程將如何進行，包括必要的密碼和面試連結。始終制定一個計劃B。“讓他們擁有一個電話號碼，這樣，如果線上面試系統出問題，他們可以給你打電話。如果事情確實出了問題，請觀察面試者的反應-如果他們完全昏了頭，這事實上告訴你有關他們在壓力下的應對方式。”
A clear explanation for how the process will work should also be provided in good time, including the necessary passwords and access links. And always have a plan B. “Let them have a telephone number so that if the technology fails, they can call you. And if something does go wrong, watch how the candidate reacts – if they completely lose their head, that actually tells you a little bit about how they operate under pressure.”
Stone認為，Covid-19的防疫封鎖令可能代表著公司運營方式的重大轉變。他說：“事實證明，當發生這種情況時，你不必完全停下來。” “我們有一些客戶正在進行遠距面試，然後通過視訊來招募新人，只是將筆電搬到了家裡。他們正在招募一生中從未見過的高技能人才。”
Stone believes the Covid-19 lockdown could mark a seismic shift in the way companies operate going forward. “This episode has proven that you don’t have to stop in your entirety when something like this does occur,” he says. “We’ve got some clients who are interviewing remotely and then onboarding new recruits by video too, just having a laptop delivered to their house. They’re hiring highly skilled people having never met them in their lives.”
來源：英國衛報
Source: The Guardian
