job descriptions are trending.
The right job title helps onlinesearchers find relevant posts morequickly on crowded job boards. Itfunctions as a headline for the position and gives searchers a goodsense of the job. Once the headline has grabbed attention, a jobdescription that focuses on therole’s goals helps clarify the specifics. In addition, a quality jobdescription includes an overviewof responsibilities, desired (butnot necessarily required) hardskills, relevant soft skills and information about how the remotework situation will function, suchas availability expectations.
2. Asking about salary history.While it used to be commonplaceto ask applicants about their sal-ary history, this practice is quicklybeing retired for several reasons.For starters, many job seekersbristle at sharing that informationand find the question off-puttingespecially because the answer tothis question is mostly irrelevant.The company starts the hiringprocess with a pay range in mind,and applicants know what payrange they are seeking for a position. The key is finding a match.
Besides, salary history isn’t a
great gauge of a candidate’s ex-
perience or value. Life and career
goals shift, and pay expectations
vary with those changes. For ex-
ample, a candidate who earned
six figures in a corporate job and
now wants to focus on family may
be an affordable addition to your
team. Likewise, someone shifting
their focus back to their career
may have a lower salary history
but still possess the skills that de-
mand a higher wage.
Finally, according to the Societyof Human Resources Management, it’s now illegal to ask anapplicant about salary history inmany places around the country.It’s easier to have a “no-ask” policy in place than to worry aboutfollowing the right procedure indifferent cities and states.
A Peek at the Future
Employers and job seekers areconnecting in new ways duringthe recruitment and the interviewprocess.
1. New Recruiting Methods
Many business owners are
changing how they recruit new tal-
ent by turning to smaller, niche job
sites that specialize in candidates
with specific backgrounds or pro-
files. (Two good examples include
WeHireHeroes.com, which focus-
es on veterans, and HireMyMom.
com, which connects mothers to
flexible work arrangements.) Us-
ing a niche platform dedicated to
connecting driven professionals
looking for remote work can make
the recruitment process faster and
easier in critical ways.
First, high-quality candidatesand top-notch professionalswho are dedicated to workingfrom home often forgo the bigjob boards searching for like-minded employers in terms ofvirtual work arrangements. As aresult, the talent pool on nichesites tends to be deep and filledwith applicants dedicated to virtual structures that are successfulover the long-term.
Also, niche sites generate a
more manageable pool of candi-
dates specifically looking for re-
mote work so that businesses can
focus on well-suited candidates
quickly. Traditional options like
LinkedIn or job boards such as
Indeed or Monster have a broad
reach and can generate thou-
sands of resumes. This creates a
logistical hurdle for businesses
that aren’t using applicant track-
ing software. It’s easy to over-
look suitable potential matches
when you are overwhelmed by
resumes.
2. Evolving Interview TechniquesThe emergence of pandemic-related regulations has accelerat-ed the trend of moving interviewsfrom in-person affairs to calls andvideo conferences. As interviewsmove out of the conference roomand on to Zoom calls, it’s shiftingthe interview process and re-writ-ing the script.
An interview via Zoom offers
a glimpse of what it will be like
to work with this candidate. It’s a
good proxy to assess how well the
applicant might perform in a vir-
tual work situation. What’s more,
a larger group of people can par-
ticipate in the interview process,
leading to a more robust review of
the candidate.
Questions that focus on softskills are taking center stage, asteams know that communicationskills, teamwork and self-moti-vation are essential componentsfor successful virtual teams. Direct questions about experienceeffectively contributing virtually and managing projects andpeople from a home office isnow a critical line of interviewquestioning.
What’s Next?
As more people work from homeand seek virtual jobs, the process of finding new employeesis sure to continue to evolve. Asbroad job descriptions and generic titles fade away, the recruitment process is likely to get fasterand more efficient. As questionsabout salary leave the interviewprocess, many job seekers willfeel freer to seek a wider variety of roles without the anxietyaround how to best answer thatquestion.
The growing number of professionals dedicated to working remotely will increasingly seek outlike-minded employers in spacesdevoted to finding and maintaining virtual teams. Technologyadvancements will undoubtedlylead to new best practices for interviews. People will soon seekand accept new jobs, do greatwork and build business relationships without actually meeting inperson. n
— lpyle@hiremymom.com
RemoteCONT. FROM PAGE 1
Key Takeaways
Y Experts look at the hiring and recruitingpatterns that are trending and those headed tothe history books.
Y Stop asking about a candidate’s salary historyas it is illegal to do so in many states.
Y Virtual interviews during the pandemicgive hiring managers a better feel for howcandidates handle the remote work world.
‘... a quality job
description includes
an overview of
responsibilities, desired
hard skills, relevant soft
skills and information
about how the remote
work situation will
function, such as
availability expectations.’
‘The growing number of
professionals dedicated
to working remotely will
increasingly seek out
like-minded employers
in spaces devoted to
finding and maintaining
virtual teams.’
