What do you say when you hear the question, “Why do you want to work remote?” This can be a tricky question to navigate, and unfortunately, if you answer it the wrong way, you may not get to a 2nd round interview. On one hand, you want to share all of the personal reasons that are important to you ranging from being at home with your dog or family to saving time and money by not having to pay for daily commuting costs. The problem with these answers is that while it is important to you, it does not address what is important to your future employer.
Hiring Managers ask this question because they are trying to figure out if you can be as productive working from home as you would be if you were in the office. They want to be assured that you have a distraction-free workspace and that you can work independently without the need for regular supervision. The key to answering the question is to focus on your adaptability, self-management skills, and your time management skills.
Here’s 3 interview tips:
- Emphasize your ability to work with focus and efficiency in a quiet and personalized environment tailored to your needs. Present concrete examples of your achievements during previous remote work experiences to demonstrate your ability to deliver exceptional results while working remotely.
- Highlight your ability to meet deadlines, collaborate virtually, and effectively communicate across different time zones and cultures. Emphasize your proficiency in leveraging technology and digital tools to stay organized. Emphasize your follow up skills and the ability to work with a sense of urgency.
- Describe your home office space including your internet upload/download speed. Your goal is to assure the employer that you have a professional, ergonomic, distraction-free dedicated office space capable of handling any office tasks that you would normally do in an office.
Having strong examples of your past remote work achievements will assure the hiring manager that you are fully capable of working independently from your home and that you will deliver timely accurate work, maintain a regular work schedule, and keep distractions to a bare minimum.
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