Superpower AI
Hiring remote developers from Latin America requires more than ticking off technical skills. At Get on Board, we see that soft skills like communication and problem-solving carry equal weight in remote success. Whether you're in HR, recruiting, or leading a distributed team, your screening process needs to dig deeper—avoiding costly surprises down the road.
This guide highlights three critical questions to help you cut through candidate résumés and uncover genuine readiness for remote work. We’ve paired each question with clear, practical scripting you can use immediately in interviews.
💬 How candidates handle communication hiccups remotely
Remote work can make communication a minefield. Your first question should spotlight how a candidate manages breakdowns—because those moments reveal problem-solving and emotional intelligence in action.
- Question: "Can you describe a time you faced a communication breakdown while working remotely? What steps did you take to fix it?"
- Why it matters: This probes emotional intelligence and proactive communication—keys to smooth remote collaboration.
- Pro tip: Encourage candidates to share specific actions, tools, and lessons learned.
A strong answer might mention setting up regular check-ins, leveraging project management platforms, or adjusting communication styles—echoing what we explain in our article on key remote team skills. These are the moves that keep LATAM teams aligned and performing.
🔄 Why adaptability weighs as much as technical skill
Technical chops open doors, but adaptability and resilience determine if a candidate thrives remotely. Your second question should probe how they manage fast changes or uncertainty.
- Question: "Tell me about a time when a project or team situation changed suddenly while you were working remotely. How did you adjust?"
- Why it matters: This uncovers flexibility, a growth mindset, and comfort with ambiguity—traits remote roles demand.
- Pro tip: Ask how they sought feedback, learned, or leaned on support systems.
Look for stories of shifting development priorities or adapting workflows after onboarding new teammates across time zones. This approach taps into inclusive interviewing tips from our technical recruitment training, which focuses on problem-solving and interpersonal dynamics.
Screening remote developers means looking beyond code; you’re hiring a communicator, a collaborator, and a self-starter who thrives despite distance.
🤝 Assessing collaboration and accountability in remote teams
Strong remote teams don’t happen by accident. Your final question should probe how candidates collaborate across functions, manage transparency, and uphold accountability.
- Question: "Describe a remote project where you collaborated closely with cross-functional teams. How did you ensure alignment and accountability?"
- Why it matters: It reveals how candidates maintain transparency, document work, and take initiative across geographies.
- Pro tip: Look for mentions of daily stand-ups, asynchronous updates, platforms like Jira or Confluence, and handling obstacles or delays.
Such details shine a light on real-world collaboration skills that make or break remote projects. These insights are essential to building cohesive teams that deliver, no matter the miles between them.
At Get on Board, we believe effective remote interviews balance evaluating soft skills and technical expertise alike. These targeted questions create space for candidates to share richer stories—and for you to discern who’s ready for remote challenges.
If you want to streamline your interviews and track candidate insights all in one place, try Get on Board’s recruitment platform. Our ATS offers structured interview guides and workflow tools designed for remote hiring—so you can focus on the conversation, not the chaos.
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