Interview Questions for Remote Tech Workers

Interview Questions for Remote Tech Workers

The remote work industry has skyrocketed over the past decade, with over 22 million Americans employed virtually in 2024. Studies by remote giant Upwork predict that more than 1 in 5 people will work remotely by 2025, so your decision to hire a remote tech worker is on track with the trends.

The key to choosing the best candidate for the job is asking strategic questions.

Here are some of our favorite interview questions for remote tech workers.

Assess the Candidate’s Career-Minded Thinking

At its foundation, the position you’re trying to fill needs someone who knows the core concepts, so a few simple tech questions can break the ice and reduce the typical interview jitters.

Depending on where you sourced this candidate, you may be confident they know the tech side of the job.

For example, if your connection with Obsidi® landed your listing on our Job Board, you have the peace of mind that your applicants have the necessary skills and training.

Our Black tech-focused Obsidi® Academy provides its students with best-in-class training and high-quality professional development. This unique educational experience is tailored to the needs of partners like you.

But the idea here isn’t to dissect their knowledge — that will likely come in the second or third interview when someone on the tech team joins in.

However, you can use this space to get a clearer picture of how self-motivated the candidate is in their field.

Interview Questions About Career-Mindedness

These five questions will help you find out if your interviewee is truly driven in their area of expertise:

  • How do you ensure your tech skills are up-to-date? There are various “right” answers to this question, but you are looking for any legitimate way the candidate continues to work on expanding their knowledge and gaining certifications. Tech workers often choose to take online courses and workshops, attend industry conferences, follow innovative tech bloggers or podcasts, and work on personal projects. This reply can also open the door for you to share your company’s professional development policies.
  • What resources do you use to do each job? The focus of this question is to see how confident the candidate is with learning new programs. The general tech worker uses typical websites like Codecademy and Stack Exchange. However, those who reach out to more specific resources within the tech community are usually problem solvers who want to learn the best ways to solve a challenge. They’re adaptable, flexible, and excited to gain knowledge.
  • How would you explain (choose a tech topic related to the job) to someone without tech skills? Communication is vital to working as a team and interacting with clients. Listen to the answer and evaluate the candidate’s ability to use clear, concise words without tech jargon. Can they integrate real-world analogies and examples to get their point across? Is their answer respectful of those with diverse backgrounds?
  • What’s your experience using AI tools in (related sector)? In the tech field, AI is integral to growth. This question allows you to see the candidate’s stance on this controversial subject, how they use AI to solve problems, and their comfort level with AI frameworks.
  • What do you believe a (person in the tech position) must have as a strength to do the job well? With this reply, candidates provide the opportunity to “sell” their strong skills, letting you know what they bring to the job and what they consider important. Many people focus on hard skills, such as certifications. Others believe that the true talent in any worker lies in their ability to problem solve, communicate, or be dependable under deadlines and pressure.

Reading between the lines of the replies you receive, the answers will give you a strong idea of the type of person the candidate is on the job. If you’re satisfied with the interview’s progress, the ice is now broken enough to dive into behavioral questions.

You may also like: 9 Ways to Reduce Interview Bias

Get Into the Personal Behavioral Questions Next

Hard skills are vital, but if that’s all the candidate brings to the table, they may not be an asset to your company.

How does the person respond to constructive criticism and workplace challenges? What are their work habits? Do they work well as part of a team?

That’s the following line of questioning to integrate into the interview.

Questions for Gauging a Candidate’s Personality and Work Habits

Company culture is built through the hiring managers’ careful screening of candidates, even when some or all workers are remote.

If your goal is to create a team of diverse, forward-focused individuals who don’t require micromanaging, these personal behavioral questions can lead you to the right person.

  • What skills do you have that make you an effective and collaborative remote worker? You’ll find that many people choose remote work, thinking that it will be easy to work alone. But in tech work, diverse teamwork is what helps you rise above your competitors. One study by McKinsey & Company highlights how businesses with gender and ethnic diversity financially outperform others in their industry. For this to happen, each member must feel comfortable sharing their ideas and collaborating with the distributed team.
  • How do you handle deadlines and working with a tight time constraint? Tech projects must be completed thoroughly, but each phase is also time-sensitive. How does the candidate handle working under this pressure?
  • What does your work-life balance look like? Burnout is a problem in the IT industry. Team members with hobbies and a focus on family are a positive asset as long as they know how to balance work with their personal lives.
  • What’s your preferred communication process when your supervisor needs to address a concern? Not everyone is comfortable with constructive criticism. When you know your team member’s preferred style — phone, video call, app messaging, or emails — you can soften the impact of the point you need to get across.
  • What are your career goals, and how are you ensuring you move forward on them? According to research by PubMed, goal-oriented people are strong additions to any business. Innovative employees tend to provide the evolving work environment with the skills necessary to adapt, produce, and grow—essential parts of the tech sector.

Forward-minded, inclusive individuals are vital in enhancing a competitive yet well-balanced company culture. Those with these soft skills likely know the importance of working for employers who value them, which shows up in your interactions, reviews from other workers, and benefits packages.

Consider the Experience That Prepares a Candidate For the Role

In the answers you received throughout the previous two areas, you’ll hear information that gives you some idea about the person’s experience.

However, a few strategic questions will unveil the details you need to know if they can handle the work you need to be completed.

Interview Questions Related to Skills and Work Experience

You’ll see both school- and self-educated candidates within the tech industry.

Unless you absolutely need someone with a degree for a specific reason, self-taught people are often just as experienced as those with traditional schooling.

The questions you ask will help you determine the best candidate.

  • What drew you to the tech field? Team members who are passionate about their work are more likely to stay loyal to the job and avoid burnout. Those who chose the field for the high-dollar paycheck may be a red flag.
  • How did you pick up your skills? Self-taught, highly knowledgeable people are just as impressive as those who attended school for their certificate. Both avenues require motivation, determination, and discipline. However, knowing the person’s background gives you a better idea of their training.
  • How did your education prepare you for this job? Give the interviewee a chance to apply their knowledge to the position they’re applying for. This reply shows whether they understand the work you need to do.
  • What tech certifications do you have? While certifications aren’t always necessary, having this information can help if you’re unsure about multiple candidates. It’s also valuable to those sitting in on the next round of the interview process.
  • Are you in the process of obtaining more? This question does double duty. You’re aware of the skills that the candidate can bring to the team, and you’ll see their goal-oriented focus in real-time action.

Finding team members with the hard and soft skills necessary to do the job and collaborate with others is often challenging, so it’s exciting when you come across a person who seems to have it all. The next concern is whether this potential “unicorn” can handle working remotely.

Address the Challenges of Remote Work

The previous three sections apply to any tech job interview, but yours is special — it’s a remote position.

Interview Questions Related to Remote Work

Include time to discuss the challenges of virtual work. Listen to each candidate’s responses regarding how they have handled them in the past and how they plan to address them in the future.

You’ll get the answers you need to know whether this person is up to the task with these remote job interview questions.

  • What is your experience as a remote employee? If the candidate has no remote work experience, that doesn’t necessarily disqualify them. However, it lets you know that you’ll need to tread carefully through the person’s first months until you’re confident they have the time management and discipline to handle the unique challenges of a virtual tech position.
  • What has worked well with your previous remote jobs? What challenges have you faced, and how did you handle them? This question is applicable if they have worked remotely in the past. Look for answers that discuss how the candidate has dealt with and overcome the demands of remote project management.
  • What kind of remote work environment do you see yourself thriving in, and how does your home office reflect this? Answers will vary, but overall, they should show you how the candidate plans for a typical remote workday outside of the traditional office setting. How do they do their best work? Do they have a stable, secure internet connection and a dedicated workspace?
  • What practical communication skills do you have that help you work with remote team members in different time zones? Again, answers will vary here. However, you want to see a candidate who’s well-rounded and has communication tools like Zoom, Slack, Asana, and any other platforms your company uses. Some people are more comfortable with virtual communication over face-to-face, in-office settings, while others work better with physical check-ins and discussions. If the company is in a different time zone, how does your candidate plan to address that concern?
  • What are your questions or concerns about our remote work policy and company culture? Ensuring your company’s values — from team-building to project outcomes — align with each team member is vital, even in a remote office environment. While you can include some of these requirements in the job posting, you’ll better understand the interviewee’s mindset with the answers to this question.

Remote work is the way of the future, but onboarding and adapting the right work style for this type of position has many challenges. Through this line of questioning, you’ll better understand whether the candidate can handle working for a remote company.

Conclusion

While you conduct your video interviews to find the ideal candidate for the job, your questions can weed out people who don’t fit the description and attract those who do to your company.

Remote hiring in the tech industry is a surefire way to open your doors to a broader array of top talent from all over the world.

Partnering with Obsidi® Recruit simplifies this process. 

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