How to Ace an Out-of-Town Interview

Local recruiters offer advice on phone and video interviews.

Constantly on the hunt for corporate candidates, executive recruiters seek out talent locally and, increasingly, nationally and internationally. It’s a tall order: find the best and brightest candidates for their clients, regardless of geography. Naturally, an interview is the best tool for assessing a candidate’s potential, but how do you interview somebody who lives halfway around the world? For advice on remote interviewing, we spoke to the experts: Julie Clark, senior recruiter at Corporate Recruiters Ltd.; Derrick Chow, principal at Odgers Berndtson Canada/Vancouver Inc.; and Henry Goldbeck, president and senior recruiter at Goldbeck Recruiting Inc.

Phone it in

“We recruit from all over North America and occasionally from Europe,” says Clark. “We’ve had to become pretty good at assessing people over the phone.” In one conversation, she says, a good recruiter can ascertain a candidate’s skills and expertise, discover their background and get a sense of their fit for the position. Phone interviews easily separate a serious candidate from an individual who may not be a candidate at all. It will take two or three phone conversations before the recruiter feels confident enough to forward a candidate on to their company client.

Skype’s the limit

Now accepted as a standard business practice, video interviews are an effective alternative to a phone call. “Technology has been very useful,” says Chow. “We’re using Skype more and more as a tool, especially when we’re dealing with candidates in more rural settings, or difficult-to-get-to settings.” Using online tools, such as Skype, both recruiter and candidate can enjoy a visual connection and establish mutual interest immediately. Often used midway through a hiring process, Skype interviews can offer a tremendous cost savings by reducing the need to fly in short-listed candidates who can continue to be evaluated remotely.

Face-to-face

Phone and video interviews, however, are no substitute for a face-to-face meeting. The final stage of a senior executive interview process always includes in-person meetings with company executives. The candidate will either be flown in for the day, or an executive will travel to the candidate. During a face-to-face interview, the potential employer finally gets a sense of the candidate as a person. If the executive feels assured after the meeting, then the candidate is as good as hired. “It’s not rocket science,” says Goldbeck. “You want to get the person talking, and if you ask open-ended questions and listen, they’re going to tell you a lot about themselves and their character.”

The fit is it

Most importantly, no matter where the candidate lives, how strong their references are or their level of expertise, it is essential that the candidate be well-suited both to the company, and the role. Even from three time zones away, solid recruiting interview practices via phone, Skype and face-to-face will ensure candidate and company are a perfect fit.