“Tell Me About Your Work Experience” Sample Answer

Give examples of times you faced communication challenges in the office and explain how you dealt with them. If you’ve never worked remotely before, talk about how you’ve tackled distractions while working in the office. In-person offices can have just as many—if not more—distractions, and explaining how you handled them can give the interviewer insight into how you’ll deal with distractions while working at home. A hiring manager wants some reassurance that the environment you would be working in is comfortable, allows you to be productive, and is reasonably free from distractions.

Now, I work primarily from my home office (second bedroom) and from a standing desk. When I become too much of a hermit, I’ll vary my environment by working from cafes and coworking spaces. I spent a lot of time over Christmas break re-designing my office this year. I added a new couch, photos from sailing trips, and some old reclaimed wood shelves. I also installed some recessed lighting to compliment the natural light from outside.

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On the day of the interview, ensure you are ready ahead of time. Have copies of your resume, application and any notes at hand. You need to consider the sound, the lighting, and how professional the background looks. If you do not have the luxury of a dedicated home office, you can stage your setup so that the interviewers will see little more than the wall behind you. Like most people, I don’t particularly like interviews either.

It’s helpful to understand if asynchronous work is something your candidate is used to and experienced in. Because most communication is done via Slack or video when working remotely, knowing how well candidates communicate virtually is important. If your candidate is new to remote work life, get them thinking about how they’ll https://remotemode.net/ handle working remotely. You might uncover that they’re an extrovert who craves social time during the workday, or they might be seeking mentorship in a remote work environment. Whatever their answer is, this question will help you understand if they’re a forward thinker and how they might solve those remote work hurdles.

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How they are recruited, managed and motivated will differ greatly. A lot of those attributes will need to come from within the WFH employee. That means WFH employees https://remotemode.net/blog/how-to-describe-your-experience-working-remotely/ have to be extra disciplined and organized, manage working hours, and be relentlessly determined to make it work best for their employer and themselves.

Many of them are centered around working from home and staying connected to the office while working remotely. And while lots of “alone time” is a big part of remote work, anyone searching for a remote job shouldn’t assume that a remote role means never interacting with colleagues. For starters, let the interviewer know that you are very familiar with the benefits of working from home. On the flip side of the question, it’s great to show that you are aware of the drawbacks as well. Just make sure to spin that answer with how you will compensate. If you talk about missing the social interaction with coworkers, follow it up by describing how the time you save not having to commute means you can meet up with friends for dinner once a week.

Closing the Home Working Interview

Obviously, when you work from home, you’re not around as many people in contrast to working in an office setting. Whatever your answer, be sure it reminds the interviewer you are a great job candidate. Some people thrive when telecommuting (or working remotely, as it’s also called), while others don’t. If you thrive in this kind of work environment then you need to get that message across. Many remote Agile teams find that story points are better at measuring the difficulty, risk and uncertainty of a task, resulting in far more accurate estimates than using time or hours. To avoid immediate rejection, never say that you or your team decided to “wing it” because you were unable to get what you needed from the product owner, Moise advised.

This is an opportunity to find out what your candidate might have struggled with in the past, how they problem solve and how you can help them if and when they join your team. In my prior job, I was tasked with drafting a legal agreement that no-one believed could get approved. “I would identify the cause of the problem and discuss the matter with my manager as quickly as possible. Depending on the type and cause of the problem, it may be possible to get the project back on track by allocating further resources to it.

How do you ensure projects are a success when working remotely?

It’s easy to feel intimidated by this question but the best thing you can do is focus on your past successes and how they relate to the company and job you’re applying for. Answering this question is much easier if you’ve done your research on the company and the role, so be sure to thoroughly read the job description and company website. Remember to demonstrate that you understand how caustic conflict can be in a remote environment. You should also ask the hiring manager to explain how their team works.

• The work from home experience survey template helps you understand the challenges employees face as they transition into the new work mode.
• I did some research at first, and then with my experience working from home over the years I have to say, you have to be prepared for everything that follows.
• Leslie Stevens-Huffman is a business and careers writer based in Southern California.
• You can’t meet the person face to face but you have your virtual communication tools to interact and talk it out.
• Is remote work a bonus for your candidate or is it the number one reason why they’re interested in a job at your company?