Remote Interview Techniques

When hiring, send the interview questions ahead of time to all candidates. Surprised by this recommendation? If we think about the goal of the interview being to understand each candidate’s capabilities and fit for the role, then there’s no real need to “hide” the interview questions. This open approach is particularly beneficial for disabled candidates but ultimately helps everyone. Here are some reasons to share interview questions ahead of time: 1. Supports the performance of neurodivergent candidates. For neurodivergent candidates, such as those who are autistic or have ADHD, unexpected questions can create significant anxiety and impact their performance. Many neurodivergent candidates can benefit from having more time to process information, among other benefits. Knowing the questions in advance allows them to prepare thoughtful responses and demonstrate their true potential. 2. Supports D/deaf and hard of hearing candidates in doing their best. D/deaf and hard of hearing candidates may feel nervous about understanding the interview questions in real time. They may not all disclose their disabilities in the interview process and have often experienced past inaccessible interviews without captions or ASL interpreters. Providing the questions ahead of time ensures that they can fully understand and respond in the moment without pressure or anxiety, leading to clearer communication and a more equitable interview process. 3. Helps those who need more processing time. Many candidates may benefit from additional time to process information. Having questions beforehand allows them to reflect and organize their thoughts, resulting in more comprehensive and representative answers. 4. Creating accessibility benefits all candidates. Providing interview questions beforehand isn’t just beneficial for disabled candidates—it helps everyone! All candidates can benefit from reduced stress and better preparation, leading to a more relaxed and productive interview. For example, how many times have you been asked for an example from your past work experiences and you struggled to find a good one right in the moment? It’s hard to do! Sharing interview questions ahead of time promotes transparency and fairness, allowing interviewers to assess candidates based on their true capacities and fit for the role. What are your thoughts on this? Are you already doing this? #JobInterviews #Hiring #DisabilityInclusion

Biggest pet peeve in recruiting? Debriefs that go on and on without making a decision. Biggest culprit? Sometimes a lack of signal. More often though, a lack of experience and best practices for the person leading the debrief and across the hiring team. Caroline Stevenson‎ taught me some great best practices in the early days of Gem that I’ve found really helpful as we scaled:  ✅ Before the debrief: make sure everyone’s written up their feedback & submitted their ratings before it starts.  ✅ Schedule debriefs at least a few hours after the last interview to give everyone time to write up their feedback.  ✅ Make sure interviewers know NOT to talk to each other about the candidate before submitting written feedback.    ✅ If there are folks who haven’t submitted written feedback, start with them first.    ✅ Consider having more junior folks share their feedback first — sometimes they feel less comfortable sharing opinions that conflict with more senior team members.    ✅ If you’re having trouble understanding how an interviewer landed on their rating, ask why? e.g., ‘what would it take for your “weak yes” to be a “yes” or a “yes” to be a “strong yes”?’    ✅ Try your best to get to a decision (move to offer, reference checks, or rejecting), but if you can’t, suggest a next step.    ✅ A totally fine next step is to find a creative way to gather more signal on an area that was mixed (e.g., a follow-up interview, a call with the hiring manager, back-channel reference, etc.)    What am I missing?

Here’s something I’ve never shied away from: Asking tough questions. I’m in talks with executives all the time, but I’ve never let their stature intimidate me. My selection process goes beyond the resume resumes and references. It's about understanding the deeper layers of a candidate, and learning about their motivations, values, and the experiences that shaped them. I grew up with the Oprah show on daily. I’ve admired how she masterfully uncovers the true face of her guests through tough, yet thoughtful questions. I aspire to use similar techniques to get to the heart of a candidate’s story during interviews. Here’s the thing, asking tough questions isn't about grilling someone, it's about creating a space where honesty, authenticity, and vulnerability can come through. Now, no two interviews are the same. Which is why it’s important to dive deeper into the story to uncover various aspects. Here’s how you can frame these tough questions as per each candidate: 1/ Ask About Their Vulnerabilities Asking questions that allows candidates to reflect on their struggles, resilience, and growth is an integral part of the process. An example: What’s the biggest failure that you’ve experienced, and how did it shape your approach moving forward? 2/ Discover Their ‘Why’ Understanding why someone does what they do helps reveal the candidate’s core values and motivations, and gives insights that can help in determining if their personal goals align with your company’s mission. An example: Can you mention a transformative personal story, and how it influenced your professional decisions in the past? 3/ Encourage Honest Self-Reflection There must be questions that allow the candidate to introspect about their career, as the answers highlight how they handle self-reflection, growth, and change—key traits in today’s rapidly evolving business environment. An example: How do you assess your own growth and progress in your career? 4/ Get Personal Within Reason Without crossing professional boundaries, asking personal questions can give you a window into how candidates think and prioritise in life. This approach can shed light on the values they bring into the workplace and how they lead others. An example: Are there any life experiences that you believe have prepared you for this leadership role? Can you elaborate on one? Trust me, these questions will save you a lot of headache in the future. Thank me later! #Interview #Hiring #HeadHunting

Insights on how to hire amazing people from Pedro Arnt, CEO of dLocal (1,000 employees) and ex-CFO of Mercado Libre (58,000 employees). Pedro has hired a lot of people over the last three decades. What has he learned? Structured Interviews Aren’t Enough. Work Samples & Reference Checks Are Key. Relying solely on structured interviews is a poor way to evaluate talent. While structured interviews are a step up from unstructured ones, they still feel like a crapshoot and leave too much uncertainty about a candidate’s potential. Pedro’s research showed that work samples are more predictive of future performance than interviews. However, the single best thing you can do before hiring someone is getting insights from people who’ve worked closely with the candidate. What colleagues and former managers say about a person over a long working relationship is the most reliable predictor of success. Redefining Reference Checks. Reference checks can often be regarded as a formality, with referees being hesitant to provide critical feedback. To change that, one has to create an environment where referees feel comfortable giving honest, candid evaluations. This involves setting the right tone early in the reference call, ensuring confidentiality, and asking structured questions about both strengths and weaknesses of the candidate. Full Fintech Leaders episode ⤵⤵⤵ Substack: https://bit.ly/3YnBopc Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3Yr711r Apple: https://apple.co/4f4VoTb Youtube: https://bit.ly/3U8V8dH

Recruiting isn't about closing fast. It's about staying close. But here's the challenge: How do you follow up long-term without annoying the candidate? How do you stay on their radar… without feeling like a telemarketer? You ask for permission, and you earn the right to stay in the conversation. Here's a simple 3-part framework I teach leaders to use: 1. Acknowledge the timing "I totally get that now may not be the right time to make a move." When you acknowledge their current reality, you build trust. 2. Ask for alignment "Would it be okay if I stayed in touch over the next few months, just to keep the conversation open?" This shifts follow-up from "nagging" to agreed-upon access. 3. Set the tone for future value "I'll make sure anything I send your way is relevant to where you're headed, not just where you are today." Now you're not a recruiter. You're a future-focused partner. Bonus tip: Keep it human and low-pressure. Text updates. Quick voice notes. A win your team just had. A leadership thought that made you think of them. The goal isn't to sell. It's to stay worth replying to. Because the best candidates aren't always ready on the first call. But they do remember who stayed connected the right way. Play the long game, with permission, not persistence.

Want to know one of the easiest and most impactful shifts you can make to your hiring process to better include many neurodivergent and disabled individuals? Send interview questions ahead of time. Unless you’re hiring for someone who will be doing on-camera media interviews, you don’t need to be assessing someone’s ability to answer questions on the spot under pressure. Getting the questions ahead of time means that everyone gets an equal opportunity to prepare and present their best selves. For many neurodivergent and disabled individuals, having time to process information and formulate responses can significantly reduce anxiety, processing time, and/or cognitive overload and to ensure they are able to give thoughtful responses. It means that you are assessing experience, approach, and expertise; instead of interviewing skills. It’s super easy to implement and you’ll be surprised by the increase in well rated candidates and positive candidate feedback. Some frequently asked questions and concerns I get in response to this recommendation: 〰 What if the role requires quick decision-making and problem-solving under pressure? When it's important to assess these skills, a combined approach can be used. Provide some questions ahead of time to ensure inclusivity and fairness, and include a few spontaneous questions during the interview to gauge on-the-spot thinking. 〰 Won't candidates over-prepare and give rehearsed answers? Preparation allows candidates to present their best selves, which can be more reflective of their true abilities. Interviewers can still ask follow-up questions to probe deeper and ensure authenticity. 〰 Doesn't this give an unfair advantage to those with more preparation time? Providing questions in advance helps level the playing field for neurodivergent and disabled individuals who may need more time to process information. It’s about creating an equitable process that considers diverse needs. You can also let candidates know that this is part of your process so that folks who may need additional time can request it as an accommodation. 〰 How do I do this logistically? Establish a process to send interview questions to all candidates, ensuring each candidate receives them the same amount of time before their interview. Use email scheduling to manage this efficiently. Make the shift. See the difference. It's that simple!

Let’s talk about hiring and how we treat people in the process. There’s a lot going on in the world right now. For many, the job search only adds more stress and uncertainty. I’ve been thinking about how we can show up for our communities, and in my own work, that means prioritizing how we support candidates. In the progressive movement, we talk a lot about liberation, equity, and justice. But those values don’t always show up where they should (in our hiring practices). Whether we’re building campaigns, nonprofits, or foundations, *how* we hire is just as important as *who* we hire. The process is wicked important. It’s a window into how we operate, how we value people, and how seriously we take our commitments to equity. Here’s what it looks like to treat candidates well in the hiring process, especially in movement-aligned spaces: 1. Transparency & Respect ➡️ Post the salary every time. It’s not radical anymore, it’s baseline. ➡️ Share your timeline and stick to it. If things shift, update candidates about that shift. ➡️ Respond to everyone who applies or interviews. Even if it’s a no, it matters. ➡️ Share interview questions with your candidates ahead of time. This helps them prep and show up as their best selves to the call. 2. Remove Barriers ➡️ Ditch the cover letter and use clear application questions. Or, just ask for a resume and send a short written questionnaire as the first step in the process. ➡️ Again, be upfront about salary and benefits. It saves everyone time and builds trust. ➡️ Be mindful of time. Many strong candidates simply can’t afford to spend 10+ hours on interviews. Keep the process streamlined, focused, and as efficient as possible. ➡️ Compensate finalists for exercises. It shows you value people’s time and helps dismantle unpaid labor culture. 3. Consistent Process & Reduced Bias ➡️ Standardize your interviews. Same questions, same format = less bias, more fairness. ➡️ Use blind grading when appropriate. I like doing this especially for written exercises. A clear rubric helps us focus on key competencies.  ➡️ Make it collaborative. Final stages should include buy-in from both leadership and peers or direct reports the hire will work closely with. 4. The Candidate Experience Is Movement Work ➡️ Share your mission, values, and team vibe throughout the process. Candidates want to know what they’re stepping into. ➡️ For interviews, give candidates a heads-up on who they’ll meet and what to expect. When we treat candidates with dignity and transparency, we build stronger teams and stronger movements. We’re not perfect, and we don’t expect anyone else to be either, but we love partnering with clients who are willing to do the work to get better together. 🔍🔍 What would you add? What have you seen that works (or doesn’t) in progressive hiring? Drop your thoughts below. #EquityInHiring #NonprofitJobs #DEI #WorkplaceCulture #CandidateExperience #HiringEquity #PayTransparency 

After interviewing over 25,000 people in my career, here’s what I’ve learned about candidates... And it’s probably not what you think. 🎯 You’re often hiring the best interviewer, not the best candidate— Polished answers can mask performance gaps (not always, but dig deeper). That’s why we also structure interviews around behavioral assessments and use validated tools to see beyond charm and into actual capability. 💡 People tell you who they are, if you know how to listen— It's the follow-up. The pause. The way they describe other people. The questions they ask you. Want to see someone’s EQ? Ask who their biggest influence was—and watch how they talk about that person. Plus, we can also administer our EQ assessments. :) 🧠 True high-performers rarely credit themselves— They talk about the team, the mission, or what they learned along the way. Humility + ownership is a signal. So is curiosity. I listen closely for both. 🚩 When someone overuses vague language— "Collaborative,” "change agent," "servant leader," —it often means they’re repeating job board jargon, not reflecting their own experience. Okay.. So, describe 'servant leadership' please... And then they're frozen. Red flag. Ask for specifics. “Tell me what that looked like on Tuesday at 10 a.m.” That one prompt has changed entire hiring decisions. 🕵️♀️ If you want honest answers, you have to earn them— Candidates mirror your tone. If you open up and show some vulnerability, you’ll get real stories—not rehearsed ones. The best interviews don’t feel like interviews. My slogan is: I would never sponsor a candidate I wouldn't want to work with, and I would never represent a company I wouldn't want to work for! #RecruitingInsights #ExecutiveHiring #SmartHire #TalentAcquisition #WTS #InterviewWisdom #25KInterviewsLater

True story: A candidate followed up with me 4 times in less than 24 hours. Their burning question? "Did you receive my message?" As a recruiter, I appreciate persistence, but... Here's what actually happens: 1. I sort emails by urgency (offers, interview cancellations, etc.) 2. Then work through oldest to newest 3. Excessive follow-ups push you to the back of the line Result? The candidate who thought they were being proactive actually delayed their own process. And solicited a heavy sigh from yours truly.. 😉 The counterproductive approach: → Send multiple "checking in" emails → Follow up within hours → Assume no response means no interest Reasons NOT to follow up: • "Just checking in" on your application status • You're feeling anxious and want reassurance • Making sure they got your message The effective approach: → Wait at least 4 business days before following up → Have a compelling reason to reach out → Use tools like email trackers for peace of mind Reasons TO follow up: • You have a competing offer with a deadline • You're advancing quickly with a competitor, but X company is your first choice • There's new information relevant to your application • You've achieved a significant milestone since applying Remember: Following up is an art, not a hammer. It's about adding value, not creating noise. The key is to be persistent but respectful, proactive but patient, and memorable for the right reasons. Your next role isn't just about how often you reach out, but how effectively you communicate when you do.

I've hired and led hundreds of people in my career. Feedback is not hard. What is hard? → Feeling qualified but left in the dark. → Replaying the interview with no closure. → Never hearing why you didn’t make the cut. → Not getting the job you knew you were perfect for. Recruiters: One line of feedback post-interview takes seconds of your time but lasts a career for the candidate. Here's how to do it: → Take notes during each interview as normal → Carry major themes to a separate section → In your master-candidate list, note major theme → With your decline, send a note of feedback. This could look like: "Next time, I suggest preparing questions to show that you've researched the role and to display curiosity and critical thinking skills." "You interrupted me a few times during questions. Just a note to keep this in mind next time while interviewing." "I'd suggest working on 'telling your story' more succinctly and in just a couple of minutes." Feedback is KIND. And often, it's just one *small thing* that sets a candidate apart. Recruiters: send just a line of feedback. It takes seconds and lasts a career. #recruiting #hiring #interviewing ♻ Share to help spread the message. 👋 Follow Maggie Olson for more leadership content.