According to studies, remote workers can be more than 70% more productive than their in-office counterparts, can help you save up to $11,000 per employee, and lower your organization’s turnover rate by 25%.
In this article, we'll explore seven ways to identify great remote talent. We'll reveal different sources, so you know how to find remote talent and seek out the best resumes.
With these insights, you can develop a robust hiring strategy to evaluate candidates and hire online talent that will grow your business to the next level.
Why Do You Need Great Remote Talent?
Finding remote talent is easy. Finding great remote talent is harder. It requires a more rigorous process in searching, screening, and selecting remote workers with the right skills, experience, and work ethic. Exceptional remote talent is also more scarce, so the competition to secure their services is tighter.
However, hiring talented remote employees is a winning and rewarding strategy for any business. The most sought-after talent is usually fully equipped with in-demand skills. They have: an outstanding portfolio of clients and expertise, developed emotional intelligence, exceptional communication skills, rich industry know-how, higher project completion rates, and fresh and innovative ideas.
A highly skilled remote team equipped with the needed expertise will play a crucial role in your organization's growth and success, reducing the need to hire more employees.
Your ideal remote hire depends on the specific needs of the company. So, before starting your search, define a set of standards, skills, and competencies that candidates must possess to ensure you attract the right talent—and filter out unsuitable job candidates.
How Do You Source Great Remote Talent?
Sourcing great remote talent requires a strategic and systematic approach. Here's how you can do it effectively:
1. Look through online platforms
Remote job boards
Job boards such as Indeed, FlexJobs, and Glassdoor can be good sources to hire remote talent or be reached out to by remote job seekers.
Most of these job boards offer various tools to filter and screen candidates, as well as post remote jobs with the specifics you’re looking for. However, the downside of using job boards is the sheer volume of applicants, which can make it a challenging process to filter through.
Social networks
Platforms like LinkedIn can connect companies to a vast network of professionals and offers a wide range of tools for job search, including job postings, candidate identification, and paid advertising. However, the competition for tech talent on social networks is high, and it can be challenging to stand out from other recruiters.
Niche professional communities
Online niche networks give companies access to candidates who are passionate about their work and are actively engaged in their industry. Here are some of the most popular niche communities:
- Dribble — a community of digital designers and creatives who showcase their creative work. Companies can review their portfolios or contact them for freelance or full-time work.
- GitHub — a platform where software developers share and collaborate on open-source projects. Companies review their contributions and how they interact with their peers and can contact them for job opportunities.
- Kaggle — a community of data scientists, machine learning experts, and AI researchers who work together to solve complex data problems and develop new solutions.
Since these communities are relatively small, finding available remote candidates to take on new projects or change their jobs may be difficult.
Posting jobs online can sometimes lead to a flood of low-quality resumes, many of which may not be in English. Partnering with a company like Near, which already has a systemized platform for pre-vetting candidates, can help with this. We have over 20k+ candidates from Latin America (LatAm), who are pre-vetted through a rigorous process of reviewing soft skills and English level.
2. Referrals from your personal network
Referrals from trusted peers and colleagues who have already pre-vetted candidates can help companies hire top-notch remote talent who fit their specific requirements.
3. Hire a strong recruiter
Generally, the best talent out there will likely be already employed. In this case, a recruiter can help attract those people and convince them to apply to the required positions.
An ideal recruiter should possess strong communication skills and a sales background to connect with candidates. They must be able to pitch the remote roles effectively and make them sound attractive.
If a company is considering hiring international talent from Latin America, partnering with a company like Near can be beneficial. Our team of on-the-ground recruiters knows the market and can effectively source top-tier talent and pre-vet potential candidates.
How To Find Remote Talent?
We outline some key strategies for finding remote talent with outstanding skills below.
4. Look for great resumes
A candidate's resume can provide valuable insight into their professional background, skills, education, and experience.
To identify high-quality candidates, decide what exactly you're looking for regarding the individual's professional and educational background. Depending on the country you're hiring from, research what universities produce the best professionals in your industry. Some of them have a reputation for producing exceptional professionals in certain fields, and candidates with degrees from these institutions may be more likely to possess the skills and expertise necessary for the job.
Evaluate the quality of their professional track record. Look into their job history, responsibilities, length of employment, and notable quantitative data that showcases their achievements to determine the unique value they can bring to the table.
Lastly, check if they previously worked with companies in the same industry. This can indicate that they have a deep understanding of the industry's unique challenges and opportunities.
5. Look for professional english skills
An impeccable English proficiency will ensure smooth and efficient communication between team members and customers and prevent misunderstandings.
Here are several ways to review your remote employee's English levels:
- Pay attention to what they declare on their resumes or professional social profiles such as LinkedIn.
- Check if they have any valid English proficiency certifications. Some of the most popular ones that are recognized internationally are TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System), PTE (Pearson Test of English), and TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication).
- Conduct pre-interviews or video-based applications to evaluate their language skills more thoroughly.
6. Consider workplace personality and aptitude tests
Implementing personality and aptitude tests in the hiring process will help decide whether the new hire fits in your company culture. They will also provide valuable details about their personalities, leadership qualities, behaviors, communication style, and how they engage with other team members.
Consider these three top workplace personality and aptitude tests when hiring remote workers:
- Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) — evaluates a candidate's personality based on four dichotomies: extraversion vs. introversion, sensing vs. intuition, thinking vs. feeling, and judging vs. perceiving and categorizes them into one of 16 personality types. This test provides a constructive framework for how an individual communicates, makes decisions, and approaches problem-solving.
- DiSC Assessment — measures an individual's behavior across four domains: dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness, which can help companies understand how a person interacts with others, approaches tasks, and manages emotions.
- Big Five Personality Test — assesses individuals based on five broad dimensions of personality: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Companies can gain insights into how a person communicates, handles stress, and approaches work tasks via this test.
7. Ask the right interview questions
The right interview questions can provide deeper insight into the candidate's understanding of the role and their experience with the tools and processes required to succeed at it. Here are the types of questions you can ask during a remote video interview process:
Remote work culture questions
These questions gain insight into their work habits and work ethic. Ask them how they stay motivated, how they manage their time, and how they prioritize tasks.
Challenge-related questions
Have them explain some challenges they have experienced and overcome while working remotely to assess the candidate's problem-solving skills, critical thinking ability, resilience, and ability to adapt to a remote working environment.
These could be questions about how they handled a project that didn't go as planned, communication issues and how they solved them, and even how they maintain a healthy work-life balance when working remotely.
Interest-gauging questions
Attracting the right talent is only half the battle; retaining them is another challenge. Consider asking additional questions that gauge the candidate's interest in the company and its values. These could be about what caught their attention about this remote position, what they think about the company's values, or what they would do if they were selected.
Bonus resource: Want more recommendations for interview questions? Check our article about the Remote Hiring Process.
Final Thoughts
Finding and building great remote teams requires a strategic and systematic approach that is different from traditional recruitment methods. But it's worth the effort and is rewarding. You widen the talent pool and attract some of the best remote employees. In fact, the biggest draw for top remote talent is the possibility of working remotely. According to Owl Labs, 59% of remote talent would choose an employer that offers remote work.
If you want to hire great remote talent but don't want to spend countless hours trying to understand the international landscape, Near can handle the process and identify top remote talent for you.
We specialize in hiring remote employees from LatAm and know the market and the intricacies of all the English and personality or aptitude tests. The strategies listed in this article are already part of Near's process to ensure our clients get the best remote talent available.
Fill out this form, and we will help you find and hire the top pre-vetted remote talent in under three weeks.
