How to Conduct a Technical Interview Remotely: A Comprehensive Guide

An in-person interview is a formal meeting with one or more interviewers who ask questions to a candidate where the candidate needs to be present on site. On the other hand, a remote interview is also a type of in-person interview but can be done through video calling applications such as Skype, Google Meet, Zoom, and InterviewStream.

There are 2 major ways to interview candidates virtually - via a phone call or video calling software like Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, etc. Here are a few tips to help you conduct a seamless virtual interview: dress professionally, irrespective of where you’re conducting the virtual interview from, whether it’s in your home or any other remote location. Conduct the virtual interview in the same way how you would conduct an in-person interview, and ask questions you’ve prepared (a pro tip here is to prepare a list of questions beforehand, so that you don’t miss anything important).

You must also give your interviewee enough time to answer your questions. Towards the final stages, you can talk about your organization’s values and culture and provide ample information on what the interviewee can expect from the role and going forward.

To start a technical interview start with a round of introduction of the candidate that should include the personal introduction and professional experience/achievements and then move to the technical stuff.

A virtual technical interview is like any other technical interview, the major difference being that the former occurs remotely via technology. The interviewer and interviewee don’t meet in-person, but attend the interview from their respective locations via a phone call or video conferencing software like Zoom, Skype, or Google Meet.

A usual technical interview lasts 45 to 60 minutes and starts with one or two quick behavioral questions.

Conducting Zoom interviews are quite easy. Here is the step-by-step process: open Zoom, click on Schedule, and use the Topic text to set a topic for your interview (for e.g., Zoom Interview: Front-End Developer, Turing.com, USA). Next, use the Duration tab to select your interview duration. Set the Video option to on or off, depending on if you want the candidate to have their cameras on by default when they join.

Following these, tap the Schedule button, and you will receive a calendar invitation on your calendar/mail application. You can even simplify the meeting text to just include the Zoom meeting link and ID. Finally, send your meeting invite to the respective candidate.