Hiring remote workers

I use a lot of staff from abroad. Not only is it (often) cheaper, but it’s also easier to manage.

But hiring is tricky.

In fact, over the years, I’ve probably lost a lot of money on bad hires.

Now I’ve learnt from those mistakes and I’ve got much much better at it. In fact, I have a process that I follow.

The single most important thing is the interview. We do this in Slack or over Skype. Text only, no need for voice, as I don’t want accents to cloud my judgement (but being fluent in English is important).

And I have a speech that we always start with. I explain who I am, my background, a bit about my family and where I live. Then a bit about the company, what our goals and aims are. And how we work. Finally, I talk about what I’m looking for in a software developer.

Then I ask the applicant some questions, some technical, some personal. And I see if the applicant has any questions for me.

This normally takes around half an hour - by the end of which, I know if it’s a “NO” or a “MAYBE”. It’s only a MAYBE if I’ve enjoyed our conversation - because what is important is that we can communicate well.

Take Action: Next time you’re hiring, decide on what type of person you’re looking for, personality-wise. And write it down. Skills can be taught, but personality is where success is found.