We’ve loved partnering with Acework – a new matching platform connecting vetted talent with remote career opportunities. Hiring remote talent becomes easy, and so does finding the perfect remote job.
We chatted with Angelina Ebeling, Founder & CEO, about “How acework started and how they’re transforming remote hiring.”
Q: How is remote hiring different and what should recruiters be aware of when hiring their first remote employees?
A: First of all, hiring remote employees has obvious benefits. They include tapping into a large global talent pool to find the truly best fit for the position. However, remote companies often face a problem regular recruiters can only dream of: they have too many applicants.
I’ve spoken to a lot of HR professionals hiring remotely, and they all say that it costs them so much time to screen applications, resumés and cover letters to find the few candidates they want to even consider for an interview. Zapier for example only invites 2% of applicants to interview.
In order to avoid irrelevant candidates, recruiters need to pay special attention to drafting job descriptions. On the acework platform, for example, they create a job description that clearly states which time zones or countries candidates have to be located in. In addition, we match candidates on salary range, skills, remote work experience and so on.
By defining important „deal breakers“ early on, companies avoid to even receive applications from unsuited candidates, which cuts down the time screening applications.
We have also found that remote recruiting depends even more on values alignment, or, as some companies call it, “culture fit.” Getting a first impression of a candidate’s personality in their initial application is a key aspect as well. That way, recruiters avoid wasting time on an interview.
With acework, recruiters can set individual screening questions for each open position. Applicants then have to reply either in written format or via a short video recording. This makes it even easier to filter out the candidates they want to move forward in the process.
Candidates love this, by the way, because it lets them move much faster to a final decision. A quick “no“ can also be worth a lot!
All in all, remote recruiting is about finding a needle in a haystack. It’s important to not get overwhelmed, prioritise correctly in the large inflow of candidates, and use tools that support quick hiring processes to ensure a great candidate experience.
