A specialist in the field of Payments, Technology Sales and Development recruitment, DP Connect has been uniting talent and technology with some of the UK’s leading organisations and specialist professionals for almost three decades.
Our consultants are experts in their fields; with an unrivalled knowledge of business systems, development platforms and emerging cutting-edge technologies, this ensures they are best placed to support you in finding the right hire or matching your skills to the perfect opportunity. Directing our expertise to our specialist sectors allows us to focus on providing a premium bespoke service, uniting the best talent in the market with the role that is right for both them and their future employer.
We offer a comprehensive range of opportunities as we work exclusively with some of the UK’s most prestigious organisations as well as fresh and exciting start-up businesses providing contract, permanent and fixed-term positions. We will consult closely with you to understand your skills and experience, requirements and aspirations and to accurately match them with the right employer.
The way we work has changed over the last 12 months and so has the way employers conduct interviews. With many still working from home, remote interviewing has taken centre stage of the hiring process and while the process isn’t wildly different from a face-to-face interview it’s important that you consider your approach. To ensure that your remote interview process runs smoothly and you get the most from them, we have put together our top 5 remote interviewing techniques for employers. 1. Choose the right technology With so many video call platforms to choose from it can be hard to know which one is best to use. It’s important you choose one that is widely known such as Zoom or Teams and that is user friendly to ensure candidates have access to them and can use them with ease. Once you have decided on which platform to use, test it to make sure it does everything you need it to do and that it works well. 2. Treat them the same as traditional interviews Prepare for a remote interview in the exact same way you would a face-to-face interview. Make sure you have the candidates CV to hand and that you have conducted your candidate research as well as prepared your agenda and questions. It’s important that your remote interview has structure to keep it professional. 3. Think about your body language One of the biggest challenges of conducting remote interviews is processing non-verbal cues such as tone, pitch of voice and body language. Keep your tone calm and be sure to leave time for candidates to respond to avoid talking over them. Focus your attention on the candidate and keep eye contact to demonstrate you are engaged in the conversation. 4. Ensure your candidate has everything they need Make sure you give the candidate all the information they need to prepare for the interview and ensure they understand the process beforehand, such as how many people will be part of the interview, which platform it will take place on and if they will be asked to perform any tasks or presentations, just as you would for a traditional interview. 5. Choose the right location With many of us working from home, it can be more distracting than an office environment. Home schooling and shared workspaces with other members of the household can create a chaotic environment. Ensure that you find a quiet space to hold remote interviews so you can clearly hear each other and can give the interview your undivided attention.
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Since the start of the pandemic, remote working has become the new normal. This change in the way we work has led to an increase in remote interviewing. While remote interviewing follows a similar process to face-to-face interviews, it can be easy to think they are less formal or do not require the same level of professionalism, but it’s imperative that you treat the same as a traditional interview. Let’s take a look at 5 remote interviewing techniques for candidates that can help you prepare for your next remote interview. 1. Test your technology Once it has been determined which platform you will use for the interview, check that it is set up correctly and working. Make sure you test your audio and video to avoid making a bad first impression. 2. Dress appropriately While a remote interview may seem less informal than a face-to-face interview, you should still treat it the same. It can be tempting to dress casually but ensure you dress the same as you would if you were attending an interview in the office. 3. Make eye contact Just as you would in a face-to-face interview, make sure you maintain eye contact with your interviewer throughout the duration of the interview. It can be easier to get distracted on a remote interview, so make sure you chose a quiet place to limit noise and interruptions. Check your phone is on silent, place any pets in another room and tell other members of your household not to disturb you. 4. Keep your CV to hand Print your CV and have it next to you on your desk rather than on your screen. This can help you stay focused and avoid you getting distracted by flicking between different tabs or screens. 5. Do your prep Just as you would for a face-to-face interview, make sure you do your prep. Research the company and the position and prepare and rehearse your key questions and answers to avoid long pauses or awkward silences.
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Bias is a challenging subject; many think they do not have them but there are ways that you’re likely unknowingly contributing to biased hiring in the workforce. Unconscious bias can be found in a variety of ways throughout the hiring process and many are not even aware that they exist, which is why it is important that recruiters review their processes to ensure they are free from bias. Diversity in the workplace is no longer seen as a nice to have and is a priority for the majority of companies. Having a more diverse workforce can offer endless benefits such as increased productivity, wider perspectives and can even improve revenue. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can eliminate bias from your hiring process. Review job descriptions and candidate communication Job descriptions are often the first thing a candidate will see about a vacancy at your company, they should provide prospective candidates with an accurate view of the job duties, requirements and responsibilities, as well as salary expectations and perks. The language that is used in both job descriptions and candidate communication is important as it may contain unconscious biases. To make both inviting to all qualified candidates, avoid using gendered wording. This can be referring to the candidate by gender i.e. he will be responsible for… or masculine and feminine-coded words. Examples of masculine-coded words include active, confident and driven, while their feminine counterparts include interpersonal, honest and support. Ensuring a share fair of both masculine and feminine-coded words is an effective way to ensure that your job descriptions and candidate communications are equal and do not contain biases. Widen your interview panel Consider panel interviews in favour of 1-2-1 interviews to help you gain more diverse perspectives on the candidate. This helps remove bias from your hiring process, but make sure you are well prepared for a panel interview to avoid asking duplicate questions and encourage interviewers to ask one or two questions of their own to get a deeper insight into the candidate. It’s also important to remember to give the candidate the opportunity to ask questions too. Use blind skills challenges CV’s typically contain information that can fuel unconscious bias, such as age, gender and ethnicity. Removing them from your application process can further help you remove bias from your hiring process. Consider including blind tests in your hiring process, where by applications are asked to complete a bespoke test or activity that replicates the challenges of the vacancy they are applying for without including any applicant details that can create bias. The scores of the test are then reviewed and used to choose the best applicant.
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