Answers to Common Interview Questions for Telecommuters
Since the interview is just as important as having a killer resume/cover letter; you will want to make sure it goes as well as possible. One way to do that is to be prepared to answer some of the questions they will throw at you. Each employer is looking for something different that meets their own company’s needs, but there are some questions that most tend to ask in the interview. Here are some answers to common interview questions that you might be asked during a telecommuting interview.
Do you have a home office set up?
Don’t just give them a yes/no answer. Tell them what you have as far as a computer, printer etc. Also, if it’s a position that you would be required to have a noise-free environment for; make sure they know that as well. This will show them that you’re on the ball and ready to go if they decide to hire you.
Why do you want to work from home?
In a lot of cases, people want to work from home because they want to be with their children. That’s a perfectly understandable reason, but not to an employer. Give them reasons that show you’re serious about the job and don’t see the telecommuting part as the main benefit of their employment. Better answers would be that you can achieve a much better work performance without the distractions of the office environment.
Do you follow directions well?
Don’t give a simple yes/no answer to this. The reason most telecommuting employers ask this is because they don’t get the benefit of daily face to face contacts where they can keep tabs on how the work is coming. They want to know that you can do your work and do it properly, so they don’t have to ‘watch over your shoulder’ to make sure it’s done right.
Are you familiar with (certain) computer programs?
The programs they will ask about will depend on the job requirements. They usually ask if you are familiar with email programs, so they know that the completed work will be emailed properly to them by the designated deadline. The other programs, they may ask about, are so they know that they don’t have to teach you how to run them. (Like MS Word or Excel)
Do you have any other skills?
There will be certain skills and qualifications they are expecting the person they hire to already have. What they want to know here is what else can you do that they might benefit from? For example, you may be interviewing for a customer service type position, but you also have accounting skills that they may want to use in the future.
The rest of the questions they’ll probably ask will be more specific to the type of position you’re interviewing for. Make sure to answer them honestly and to the best of your knowledge. Lying about your skills and qualifications will only come back to haunt you later, so be honest right up front.
Next: Phone Interviews Part 1
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