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How To Assess Company Culture During A Remote Interview

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When you interview in person, it’s easy to get a vibe of the office. You can observe how people interact, listen for the chatter around the water cooler, and maybe even interview with additional team members. Remote interviews make it challenging to assess company culture, although not impossible! Here’s your comprehensive guide to evaluating company culture during a remote interview.

Decide what’s most important

Company culture is a pretty broad, over-arching term. So, as you’re evaluating companies, it’s essential to start with what is most important to you. Which company values are non-negotiable for you? Are there cultural aspects that you can’t sacrifice? Consider common company culture facets such as work-life balance, collaboration, communication, career development, dress codes, and diversity hiring. We recommend nailing down three pieces of company culture that are most important to you before diving into your job search.

Be a web sleuth

Now that you’ve narrowed down what’s most important, you know what to look for! Now it’s time to do some digging. Of course, start with their website. Most companies will detail their mission and values there. Then, head to social media to see if you can find proof of those in their postings and photos. Next, check out their reviews on social and sites such as Glassdoor and Indeed. Remember to take reviews with a grain of salt, but look for indications of company culture. Additionally, you should seek out how the company responds to reviews – both positive and negative. These responses can reveal a lot about what they prioritize and how they handle controversy.

Ask specific questions

When it comes to the actual interview, you need to ask behavioral questions, but in reverse. So, instead of “what is the company culture like?”, get specific with what you identified as important earlier. For example, “diversity initiatives are very important to me. How has your company reacted to recent shifts in equality and calls for a more diverse workforce?” When you ask specific questions, you can get direct answers about what is most important to you.

Remember, it is possible to unveil a company’s culture during a remote interview. Not only that, but it’s also necessary to determine if it will be the right fit for your values and career goals. Looking for more interview and job search advice? Explore our candidate resources here!

How To Assess An Employer During A Remote Hiring Process

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During a traditional hiring process, one where you interview with a prospective employer in person, it is pretty easy to get a feel for the company. You get to see how co-workers interact with each other, what the office environment is like, and get a general feeling for the company. However, with most interviewing processes becoming remote, it can be challenging to understand these things and evaluate if this company is a good fit. If you are trying to determine if a company you are interviewing with is a good match, here is how to assess an employer during a remote hiring process.

Do your due diligence

Before you even apply for a job, take some time to do your due diligence for the company. Check out their website and read their mission, vision, and any information you can find about their culture. You can typically find this information on “about us” or “career” pages. See if they have a blog or social media to find some behind-the-scenes posts about their team. You may even get some great examples of how their team interacts or bonds with one another while working remotely. 

If you want some examples of the company’s culture from the horse’s mouth, take a look at company reviews. You can find reviews from current and past employees on sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, and Google. Take a few minutes to read some reviews and see what employees are commenting about their culture.

Ask specific questions during your interview

One of the best ways to get a feel for a company during a remote hiring process is to ask specific questions. You will likely have some questions you want to ask the hiring manager or recruiter after doing your research. Write these down and prepare yourself to ask them during your interview (if they don’t already come up naturally). These questions must be specific to be effective. If you ask cookie-cutter questions like “what is your company culture like?”, you will get generic answers. Ask questions about the things that matter to you – the aspects of an employer that will impact your decision to work there or not.

Here are a few good example questions you can ask:

  • What was the most significant obstacle your company had to overcome after the pandemic hit?
  • How does your team remain close, even when working remotely?
  • How has your company culture changed with parts of the team working remotely?
  • What does the team do for fun with the lack of in-person activities?

Pay attention to what you can

With a remote hiring process, it is more challenging to pick up on red flags or cues. However, as you navigate through the process, you have to pay close attention to what you can. Observe body language during virtual interviews to gauge the excitement of the team and hiring manager. Are they excited to meet with you and have positive energy? Or does everyone seem disengaged and act as they’d rather be anywhere else? Interviews are serious interactions, but that doesn’t mean you can’t determine if the team gets along well with each other and has fun.

Looking for more job search tips?

These are three ways you can assess an employer during a remote hiring process. If you are looking for more job-search advice, take a moment to review our candidate resources! We have hundreds of useful tips to help you excel through your job search. Or, if you are ready to find a new opportunity that’s right for you, take a look at our job board.

The Perfect Thank You Note For A Virtual Interview

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The thank you note is a tradition as old as time. However, things have changed recently. As more and more companies are doing virtual interviews, your entire job search process may be online. So, as you navigate a remote interview, you still need to send a thoughtful thank you note. Keep reading for a few important tips and an example template to get you started!

Things To Keep In Mind

Be Timely

It is most effective to send your thank you note within 24 hours of your interview. Preferably, the same day. Hiring managers want to get people in as quickly as possible, and they are making decisions fast. You don’t want to miss the opportunity to make a lasting impression through your thank you note.

Keep It Short

Hiring managers have full plates. They are juggling tons of different tasks, and on top of that, they are trying to fill a critical position on their team. Thus, it’s essential to keep your thank you note short and sweet.

Refer Back To Specific Points

Whatever you do, don’t send a generic thank you email. It’s okay to have a template, but you must customize it for each interview. The easiest way to do this is by referring back to specific points that were brought up during an interview. Pick out a few moments that stood out to you.

Focus On The Future

Towards the end, mention the next steps. Show your enthusiasm for the position, and don’t be afraid to say how excited you are. Your interviewer wants to know that you actually want the job!

Customize Each Note

If you had the pleasure of interviewing with multiple people, send individual thank you notes. Customize each thank you note with a personalized reference. Try to remember a specific question that the interviewer asked or something that they described.

Virtual Interview Thank You Note Example

“Hi {Interviewer Name,}

Thank you so much for taking the time to virtually meet with me today. I am incredibly interested in the (Job Title) role, and I loved getting to hear more about (Company) and your team. I’m excited about the opportunity to (how you would add value in this role – be sure to list specific things you talked about during your interview!)

Please let me know if there’s any additional information I can provide. Thank you again for the opportunity; I look forward to hearing from you about the next steps!”

No matter what, don’t fall into the 76% of interviewees that don’t send a thank you note. This one small detail could be the thing that sets you apart from the rest!

Interested in more interview tips? Explore the rest of our candidate blogs here.