Top 10 Pre-Screening Questions for Remote Roles
Why Pre-Screening Questions Matter
Pre-screening questions are the first filter in your hiring funnel. The right questions help you quickly identify candidates who meet your baseline requirements — before investing time in a full interview.
For remote roles, these questions are especially important. You need to assess not just skills and experience, but also self-motivation, communication ability, and remote work readiness.
The Top 10 Questions
1. Tell us about your experience working remotely
This opens the door for candidates to share their remote work history, tools they've used, and how they stay productive outside an office.
2. How do you structure your workday?
Look for candidates who demonstrate intentional time management and the ability to set boundaries between work and personal life.
3. Describe a project you completed independently
Remote work requires self-direction. This question reveals whether a candidate can take ownership without constant supervision.
4. What tools do you use for communication and collaboration?
Familiarity with tools like Slack, Zoom, Notion, or Asana signals that a candidate is ready to hit the ground running.
5. How do you handle distractions when working from home?
Everyone faces distractions. Strong candidates will have specific strategies rather than vague answers.
6. Walk us through how you'd approach [role-specific task]
Replace the bracket with a real task from the role. This tests practical skills and gives you a preview of how the candidate thinks.
7. What's your availability and preferred working hours?
Critical for teams that span time zones. Make sure expectations align before moving forward.
8. How do you prefer to receive feedback?
Remote feedback loops are different from in-office ones. This question checks for adaptability and communication preferences.
9. Why are you interested in this role?
A classic — but it still works. Look for genuine enthusiasm and alignment with your company's mission.
10. Is there anything else you'd like us to know?
This gives candidates a chance to highlight strengths that your questions might not have covered.
How to Use These Questions
Instead of asking all 10 on a phone screen, use an asynchronous video screening tool like Hirevire to collect responses:
- Select 3–5 questions per role
- Set a time limit per response (60–90 seconds works well)
- Allow candidates to re-record if needed
- Share responses with your hiring panel for collaborative review
This approach saves hours of scheduling while giving you richer, more comparable data than a phone screen ever could.