The interviewer is trying to gauge if you’re a good cultural fit for the company. Even though you’re applying for a remote job, there will be other people in your team and organization that you’ll interact with on a daily basis. Knowing your interests helps the interviewer understand if you’ll gel well with other employees in the company or not.
So my advice when answering this question, or any question about the remote nature of a job, is to be honest if it excites you, and be honest if it’s part of the reason you applied. Any time a job is fully-remote, you can expect the interviewer early in the conversation to ask your thoughts on working remotely. An interviewer asking this question may be as interested, or even more interested, in your personal attitude towards the challenges that this year has presented. Focus on the positive and show that you can make lemonade out of those lemons.
Conclusion: Common Interview Questions for Remote Jobs
Even with a great team behind you, you have to take care of your physical and mental health as a remote worker more than you would in a regular office gig. Like I said, it’s not easy for work from home experience coworkers or bosses to notice the outward symptoms of problems. They don’t see you sitting at your computer until all hours or notice you dragging when you used to be full of energy.
And you should definitely tell the boss what special life circumstances are keeping you out of the office. But you’ll really wow the hiring manager if you can tell not JUST why remote work is going to improve your life, but why you do your best work remotely. In other words, explain how working remotely makes you shine and makes you a smarter, more effective, and more efficient employee.
How Good Are You At Time Management and How Do You Organize Your Work?
(Be sure to check out additional tips for interviewing success, such as the STAR Method). Companies that offer remote jobs know that everyone has times when it is a challenge to stay focused when working at home. Talk about some specific things that can occur—a friend calls for a chat, the sink is full of dishes, or the kids are home from school—and discuss your specific strategies to limit distractions and stay focused. This is one of those work-from-home interview questions that you will probably get asked.
No one wants to see your unmade bed or your wine stash in the background. Brought to you by writers with over a decade of experience as remote workers, digital nomads, distributed leaders and worldwide recruiters. In order to be a good remote worker, you should be able to learn new technology faster.