Hum has thrived as a fully remote company for over 5 years. We've screened, interviewed, and hired with a 100% remote workflow for all positions – long before it became the pandemic-induced norm. As the world has cycled through remote work enthusiasm, fatigue, and now a more balanced approach, we've refined our hiring philosophies to create both a better experience for applicants and a stronger connection with new team members.
If you're ready to build or expand your remote team, here are the lessons we've learned (sometimes the hard way).
Remote Job Descriptions: Not Just Your Standard Posting With "Remote" Tacked On
Time Zone Requirements for your Remote Staff
At Hum, most of our clients live in the US eastern time zone, UK, or western Europe. With colleagues spread out just as far, we knew adding someone from Pacific time might create scheduling nightmares. We're crystal clear in job postings that roles require regular meetings between 9am-1pm EST to maximize global overlap.
We don't automatically filter out applications from the western time zones—if someone is naturally an early bird or sees benefit in starting their workday at dawn, we wouldn't want to miss out on the perfect candidate just because they're west of the Mississippi. But we make sure they know what they're signing up for before they click "apply."
Pro tip: Before opening roles to international applicants, consult with your finance team about potential tax and legal implications. Our approach at Hum is to hire in the US but give current employees flexibility to travel and live where they need to.
Plan for a Broad Candidate Pool
We’ve learned a few things the hard way. When we opened a Business Analyst position, we received over 500 applications in just 7 days. Without geographic constraints, our posting attracted far more attention than anticipated. It was the digital equivalent of opening a fire hydrant when we just wanted a drink of water.
Lessons learned: When advertising remote positions, create more robust screening questions, develop highly specific job titles, and prepare your review process for higher volumes. The world is literally your talent pool—which means you need a bigger net and better filters.
Offering Competitive Salaries for Remote Teams
When you can hire from anywhere, how do you determine competitive compensation? Should someone from Buffalo be paid the same as someone from San Francisco? You have two main approaches:
- Hub-based pricing: Center salary offers around your main office market. This works if you expect team growth from a local talent pool with occasional office presence.
- Location-agnostic pricing: Use national salary averages regardless of employee location.
At Hum, we take the latter approach. Even though we have a small cluster of people in Charlottesville, Virginia, we anticipate adding team members from diverse locations and want to compensate everyone on the same scale. We include salary figures directly in job postings, so there are no surprises down the line.
Remote Onboarding: Beyond Email Accounts and Zoom Links
Once you’ve got the right person for the job, you must adapt your onboarding experience for a remote environment.
Consider a Technology Stipend
In a physical office, day one includes tours and desk setup. In remote work, the question becomes: how do they get the "stuff" they need to succeed?
Having login credentials ready on day one is now the bare minimum. Consider implementing a technology stipend that allows new hires to purchase the equipment they need. For some, that might mean a powerful laptop; for others, an ergonomic chair to replace the kitchen stool they've been perched on.
It’s up to each employee to choose how they spend that money, but consider laying out expectations and providing examples of the equipment everyone else on the team owns. This stipend is normally paid in full to them as soon as they’re enrolled in the payroll system, and as a result those items are theirs to keep.
This approach might seem radical if you're accustomed to IT departments tracking company-owned equipment or facilities teams maintaining office furniture. But it makes practical sense: you avoid the logistical headache of shipping computers and furniture back when employees leave. Where would you store these items if your office is your living room? This policy also simplifies inventory management for your finance team.
First Impressions: Making Remote Introductions Meaningful
Building an inclusive remote culture faces a critical test during new hire introductions. If day one in person is challenging, it's doubly so in virtual environments where body language and casual interactions are limited.
Consider implementing Personal User Manuals for team members. Despite the slightly mechanical name, these documents help put all cards on the table, establishing clear expectations around work styles and communication preferences from day one. In a physical office, this information might be absorbed organically by sharing space or casual break room chats. For remote teams, we need intentional alternatives.
These manuals don't require deeply personal disclosures (though they can include them if appropriate). They should simply help colleagues understand what makes you tick, how you prefer to receive information and make decisions, and practical details like your working hours and response time expectations.
What's Next: Remote Work Is Not Office Work on a Screen
You've likely discovered that remote work isn't simply office work translated to video calls—and the same applies to remote hiring and onboarding. Treat them as identical processes, and you risk having candidates who shine in interviews but struggle to connect in virtual team environments.
The modern remote job interview must screen not just for role-specific skills but for the aptitude to thrive in digital collaboration and the ability to build relationships through pixels rather than proximity. These were rarely considered essential skills before, but now they're fundamental to remote team success.
If you liked this post and want to explore more remote work best practices, be sure to check out how we foster collaboration across our remote team. Or learn more about what it's like to work for Hum!