Remote Recruitment
Recruiting in a virtual environment has become an efficient and effective alternative to holding in-person meetings and interviews. The following resources and tips offer strategies for team collaboration and interviewing in a virtual environment.
Consider these things when using an alternative to face-to-face interaction for recruitment.
- Over communicating is underestimated in a time of high stress. Take advantage of technological tools and communicate frequently with your search committee regarding expectations and timelines.
- Ensure your committee is on the same page. Create a centralized document/folder where
materials are stored via a shared drive, Microsoft Teams, or another trusted virtual
collaboration platform.
- Create a shared document in the form of a Q&A to assist committee members with the recruitment process.
- Collaborate with the committee and plan a positive candidate experience. A candidate’s decision to accept an offer of employment is heavily influenced by their experience during recruitment.
Interviewing Candidates
- RESOURCES AND INFORMATION
Here are a few reminders to help with conducting interviews by phone or through video chat.
- Test the videoconference platform in advance with the committee members. Check connections, voice and video quality, backdrop is appropriate and not distracting and familiarize everyone on how to use the platform's tools.
- Prepare the interview questions and coordinate speaking rotations with the committee in advance. Have an organized approach to manage the “off script” questions or remarks that come up to minimize disruption during the interview. You can designate committee members as the go to person if a subject is brought up (i.e. culture, benefits, and department).
- Discuss proper video etiquette with the committee members.
- Approach video interviews with the same level of professionalism and personable etiquette as an in-person interview.
- Provide a few reminders to keep eye contact with the computer’s camera or webcam, speak clearly, nod when the candidate responds, and account for time lags when someone is speaking by waiting a few seconds after a response to ensure the speaker is done talking.
- It is proper video etiquette to mute your microphone when you are not the speaker during a videoconference to avoid confusion and noise disruptions.
- Check in with the committee and the candidate the day before the interview to answer any questions.
- On the day of the interview, have the committee log in before inviting the candidate to the video conference. This allows the committee to have a moment to gather before the interview begins.
- The candidate may be new to video interviews, so be thoughtful and forgiving of their disruptions.
- Help the candidate get a sense of the culture. Consider telling a story focused on your department’s role within OSU’s mission. Share your screen with the candidate and show some of the departmental communications (i.e. social media pages, newsletters).
Send a quick note to say thank you to the candidate on behalf of the whole committee for being flexible and request their feedback.
- VIDEO CONFERENCE TOOLS
University Human Resources developed this information for the convenience of OSU employees. It is a brief interpretation of more detailed and complex materials. If further clarification is needed, the actual law and policy should be consulted as the authoritative source. OSU continually monitors benefits, policy, and procedures and reserves the right to change, modify, amend, or terminate programs at any time, with or without notice.