Author: Scott Asai

Helping people develop their leadership skills to advance in their career

Employee or Firm Owner: The Big Choice For Law Graduates

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When you reach the stage of finally being able to say that you’re a lawyer, called to the bar and able to practice, then it can feel like the end of a long road. This is the result of years of work, effort, and sacrifice– and your legal career can now begin in earnest.

You will quickly discover that your years as an early associate will make your student experience seem like halcyon days. New lawyers work hard; law firms in all areas of law push and test new employees to see if they’re made of the “right stuff”.

Or at least, that’s how it used to be.

Outside of the occasional midlife career changer, the majority of new lawyers are millennials– a generation that values a good work/life balance. While it may once have been standard to work yourself into the ground in the early years of your career, that might not feel acceptable to you personally– and you’re not alone. Millennials are a generation of entrepreneurs, with a “why not try it?” attitude; for new lawyers, now more than ever, that means they may be tempted to run their own firm as a sole practitioner.

This might be an idea you have considered, too. After all, why should you dedicate your life to making money for other people? You’re not afraid of hard work, but you want to be able to enjoy the rewards of that hard work… so do new lawyers really need to join a firm at all?

YES: New lawyers are inexperienced; you need the guiding hand of a reputable firm. You’re still learning the law, never mind learning how to run a profitable small business as well.

NO: There’s no more guarantee of success working for a firm compared to starting your own. You’ve qualified, so you’re clearly capable, and any advice you need can be obtained from the legal community, friends, and even mentors.

YES: You may be a qualified lawyer, but that doesn’t mean you know what goes into running a law firm. Do you know how to find clients? How to choose between cloud computing solutions for businesses of your size? How will you obtain offices? How will you fund your startup? Knowing how to practice the law is one thing; running a business is something entirely different.

NO: Everyone has to learn sometime. If you’re business minded, then why not jump right in and do it for yourself? There’s plenty of advice available for new businesses, and there’s almost certainly a venture capitalist out there who will see the potential of a young lawyer trying to make a mark on the world.

YES: New lawyers have always joined established firms. They may want to branch off into their own practice in the future, but that’s just not the way things are done.

NO: Why not break the mold and branch out from day one?

Ultimately, the choice is all yours. However, it’s important to remember that you do have a choice, and you don’t have to just do what everyone has always done. The way we work is changing, and while the idea of going it alone might seem outlandish now, it might be the new-normal in the future. Why not be at the head of the curve?

5 Skills You Need to Succeed at Med School

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There is no doubt that becoming a doctor is one of the most challenging career paths you can go down. But before you get there, you have to get through medical school in the first place, a feat that many people don’t manage.

In this article, we are going to be talking about some of the traits that you need to succeed, so you can see if you match them well. Of course, you will need the right grades and mcat scores, but we are going to be looking in more general terms here. So, here they are.

Discipline

Right at the top of the list, you need to have a high degree of self-discipline. This comes from inside yourself, so if you have been driven into this path by teachers or family members, you may not have the genuine passion that you need to succeed. Going into a career in medicine means a lifelong dedication to the pursuit of knowledge and the improvement of your skills throughout your life. If you are prepared for this, you are in a strong position to begin with.

Humility

Of course, there are plenty of doctors out there with huge egos, but that doesn’t mean that you have to be one of them. Being a team player is important as a doctor, and you need to be ready to listen to the opinion of others. Obviously, you also need to be willing to make your own decisions, but a level of humility can help you to make more informed ones each and every time.

Empathy

As a doctor, you will be dealing with people of the most vulnerable kind. Therefore, you need a high level of empathy in order to get an impression of what they are going through. Bedside manner is something that is sadly missing from the skillset of many doctors. But if you have never been that good at talking to people, that doesn’t mean that you can’t improve and develop over time.

Enthusiasm

As well as being stressful, being a doctor is also exciting, so an enthusiasm for the job is an essential to make it through medical school. You should approach each task with a degree of passion, even if it is something you are not particularly interested in. Over time, you will start to specialise and discover where your main areas of interest lie. But until you discover this, you should be enthusiastic all-round.

Confidence

We have talked about being a team player, but you also need to have a high degree of conviction in your decisions. This is also very important for reassuring your patients that you are 100 percent confident in your abilities and the treatment you have laid out for them. Of course, confidence is something that you will develop during your time in medical school.

If you have read through these five skills and think you fit the bill perfectly, a career in medicine may be awaiting for you.

Outsourcing 101: Everything You Need to Know

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An increasing number of businesses are choosing to outsource today. As businesses grow, owners delegate certain tasks to external professionals to help them get ahead. If you are at this stage at your business, you may be searching for a bit more information about the outsourcing process and what to outsource. This post reveals everything you need to know.

What is outsourcing?

Outsourcing is a rather broad term. In general, it means assigning a task that would typically be performed in-house to a firm or individual outside your own office. Outsourcing can take many different forms, including the following:

  • Using online services for one-off tasks
  • Using work-from-home contractors and virtual assistants
  • Working with an agency to help you locate the best outsource contractors
  • Contracting with outsourcing firms that provide a wide selection of services
  • Hiring speciality independent contractors to perform tasks that your current staff do not cover

There are no restrictions regarding the tasks that can be outsourced. Everything from social media marketing and technical support to human resources (HR) and accounting can be outsourced.

What are the benefits of outsourcing?

There are many benefits associated with outsourcing, so long as you go about it in the correct manner. This includes the following:

  • Cost savings – One of the main reasons why a lot of business owners outsource is to save money. This is because you pay for what you need when outsourcing, which can sometimes be cheaper than the cost of taking on new staff or training your existing employees.
  • A specialist service – You can take advantage of expert knowledge to ensure a task is carried out to the highest standard. If you run a pet store, for example, it makes sense to outsource your marketing to a firm or individual that has the specialist skills to give your pet store greater visibility and attract more customers.
  • Develop internal staff – Rather than your staff focusing on tasks that do not fall within their specialism, they can focus on skills that will benefit your business and your bottom line.
  • Risk management – Inconsistency and uncertainty can occur when there are periods of high employee turnover. Outsourcing can help to bring a level of continuity to your business while reducing the risk that would occur due to a substandard level of operation.
  • Staffing flexibility – You can easily adapt to cyclical or seasonal demands thanks to outsourcing, as you can bring in added resources as and when you need them.
  • Focus on core activities – Focus on what your business does best! By outsourcing important business activities that are not your main area of specialism, your team can re-focus without sacrificing service or quality in the back-office.

How do you decide what to outsource?

The key question… should you outsource that or is it better to continue handling it in-house? There are a number of key questions you can ask yourself to determine whether you should outsource something.

  • Will you save money by outsourcing? The first thing you need to do is spend a bit of time working out your finances. You need to determine what is the most cost-efficient route to go down. It is important to consider costs as a whole; don’t merely look at the startup costs. Outsourcing can often be a bit more costly to begin with, yet it is usually cheaper in the long run. This is why it is a good idea to calculate the costs over a period of a year when comparing the two so that you can get a good understanding of the true cost of both options.
  • Is it distracting your employees? Are your employees spending more time on the task in question that they should be? If you find that your core activities are suffering because your employees’ attention is elsewhere, it is time to start thinking about outsourcing. This will enable your staff to focus on doing what they do best.
  • Do you need a one-off service or will it be on going? This is one of the important questions you need to ask yourself. Does this part of your business require constant attention? Is it a one-off task? Or will you only require people during certain months of the year? This will help you to determine whether outsourcing is right for you. If it is a one-off task you are dealing with, outsourcing is often best. For example, if you require legal services for a case that has been made against your business, this isn’t something that happens every day, and so it is certainly better to enlist the help of professionals. This site explains more about seeking outside expertise for such incidents. On the other hand, if this is an on-going task, for example, bookkeeping or accounting, you may want to consider keeping it in-house. This is so long as it is not distracting your employees, as per the former point.
  • Does the task demand specialist skills? You need to discover whether specialist skills are required for the task. For instance, if you are going to start a marketing campaign, and your team does not have any training or experience in this area, you may want to consider outsourcing. After all, the success of your service or product will heavily rely on how it is marketed, and so it is important to get it right. You don’t want to risk your product being a flop because of an amateur marketing campaign.

Before you get started…

Before you get started, make sure you carry out the following steps…

  • Make sure you put together thorough mock-ups – People are going to be fives times more likely to respond to you if you are clear about your requirements. Of course, your requirements may change over time, and this is completely fine. However, you do need to be clear about what is necessary so that you and the professionals you are conversing with are on the same page.
  • Know your budget – The next thing you need to do is determine how much you can afford. You will be able to narrow down your search more effectively if you know your budget.
  • When do you want to start – In most cases, the answer to this question will be ‘yesterday!’ However, it is important to have a good think about when you do really need to start the project. Service providers will often pitch to you depending on the availability of talent within their teams.
  • Deadline – It is also important to determine when the tasks need to be completed by. Do not enforce a strict deadline for the sake of it, as you could end up alienating some of the best candidates. However, if you do have a strict deadline and you cannot budge, make sure you are upfront from the very beginning.
  • Your necessities – You should make a list of any of the necessities you have, i.e. those qualities that you simply won’t budge on. For instance, you may require specific experience or you may want a service provider that is local.
  • Understand your priorities – Last but not least, you need to understand your priorities. Figure out what is important to you, be it scalability, security, budget, timeline or something else.

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding regarding the process that is entailed when outsourcing, as well as how to decide what areas of your business to outsource. You can now start looking for the best service providers for the tasks you have ready to be completed.

Give Yourself A Confidence Boost With Clients

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Walking into a meeting room or a conference environment of any size can feel daunting; even to the most experienced of business people. So, whether you’re an intern, or are just starting out on your journey in your new career; it’s worth developing your presentation and public speaking skills so that you’ll sound like a natural. People will always take note of a confident communicator, so it will not only benefit you to brush up on your talents but whoever you’re working for will appreciate the effort also.

Unfortunately, you can’t buy a bottle of confidence (if only). However, by taking the time and making an effort to improve your skills and abilities in an environment where you have to describe, explain, and sell to current or potential clients will allow you to grow in courage and self-belief. The following are some tips and ideas for those who need a boost when it comes to impressing those who matter in a business setting; no matter how big or intimate it might be.

Practice And Plan

The first step to feeling confident in your meeting presentation or conference is a thorough plan and knowledge about what and when you’re going to speak about things. There’s no use in scribbling down a few notes the night before and filling in the gaps as you speak; you’ll only end up stuttering over your words and could forget some crucial points due to nerves and laziness. Therefore, the sooner you write or type a plan out, the sooner you can begin going through it step by step.

Ask colleagues and loved ones at home to listen to you; you’ll be able to gauge a reaction to certain things, and they’ll give you feedback that could improve the experience for everyone on the day. Repeat and practice as much as you’re able; you’ll end up feeling self-assured, and won’t be stuck for your words, which will ensure all your points are put across eloquently.

Make An Impact

Be as creative and insightful as possible when it comes to presenting your ideas, knowledge and thoughts. You might not be a whizz on PowerPoint; however, you can still utilize things like google slides themes so that your templates and images look their best when on a big screen. Think about using music, film, and humor in your presentation; you want to ensure that people leave and remember what you’ve been talking about. Therefore, the use of various media and an impactful slideshow will make sure your key points are planted firmly in the minds of those to whom you’re speaking.

Question Time

As previously stated; the more you plan your presentation, the better the outcome will be. If you have a deep understanding and knowledge of your chosen topic of conversation; you’ll be able to answer client questions with confidence, and they’ll be more likely to trust your response. Encouraging questions after your presentation is another way to reiterate points and ensuring that people remember what you’ve told them, so make a point of getting your audience to speak up!

The Easiest Methods For Launching Yourself Into Business

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Are you one of those people who would love to get involved with the business world but doesn’t know where to start? Then you need to pay attention to some of the tips and advice from this article. Lots of ladies think they need to come up with a useful concept, develop a pitch for investment, and spend months working towards their goal of starting a company. However, there are some fast-track methods and strategies you might like to try if you don’t have any previous experience. The ideas below will assist you in getting things off the ground much faster than you would have done walking a traditional path.

Think about a franchise

Firstly, if you have some money to spend, you might think about investing in a franchise opportunity. Many websites list available offers, and so you just need to conduct some research. Maybe you’re an active person, and you might enjoy a fitness centers franchise or something similar? Perhaps you have a background in kitchen work, and you’d like to start a restaurant with a recognizable brand name? Play your cards right, and you could achieve either of those goals with ease. The best things about that idea include:

  • Using an established brand name
  • Getting a business plan that works
  • Getting support every step of the way

Start an online service company

If you want to launch a business but you want to keep things small, you might consider starting an online company. In most situations, you can do that from the comfort of your home while following your heart and without breaking the bank. Popular niches that you might want to think about at the moment include:

  • Freelance writing
  • Graphic design
  • Digital marketing
  • Web development
  • App development

You don’t need to understand how to do those things to make a profit. You just need to become an excellent middleman (or middle-woman as it were,) and link your clients with the right talent.

Create automated income streams

There are lots of ways in which it’s possible for anyone to create automated or passive income streams without working too hard. Some of the most widely-used ideas include:

  • Affiliate marketing
  • High-traffic website advertising
  • Ad revenue from viral videos
  • And lots more

The idea is to come up with income streams that don’t require too much maintenance or attention. That way, you can relax with your family, spend time with the kids, and go to bed in the evening while still making a profit.

Those three suggestions should help all readers to take a step in the right direction if they want to become involved in the business world. Of course, sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and dive in head first. However, there is always a lot of risks involved if you launch a new brand from scratch. So, weigh all the pros and cons before rushing into anything, and make sure you only use the money you can afford to lose. 50% of new firms fail within the first twelve months, and you need to avoid that at all costs. Good luck!

Five Steps To Improve Your Work Life Balance Today

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For young people wanting to get a career started and to work their way up in a business, or even start a business of their own, then it can be pretty full on. Even if you never intended it to be that way; the work and life balance can be pretty elusive and hard to master. So if you feel like work seems to take over your life, then here are some ways to make sure that it doesn’t. Even if you like your job, having some time out can be just what you need to refresh and to be able to do your job better.

Schedule In Downtime

Being an entrepreneur can mean that you live, sleep, and breathe your business. So as silly as it sounds, you do need to schedule in downtime. Time to just do something that you enjoy, other than your business, so that you can relax a little. It doesn’t mean that your business is suddenly going to stop running because you decide to take a day off. But what it does mean is that you are going to be refreshed and ready to start again when you’re back to work.

Outsource Work

There are going to be some tasks that are necessary to be done. But the thing is, they don’t need to be done by you. Repetitive tasks like admin, emails, and payroll could all be outsourced to other people. Have you got an assistant or a virtual assistant that could do those kinds of thing for you? These tasks can sap your energy and will always be on the to-do list, so give them to someone else to do.

Create a Safe Work Environment

Nothing says ‘time off’ like having an accident at work. So in order to make sure that you’re not having to take off any unnecessary days off work, creating a safe and healthy place to work is important. From a well-ventilated space, to having the right equipment like PPE or even ladder safety gates are all part and parcel of keeping you safe at work. Your business and work life balance can get completely thrown out as the result of an injury or major illness.

Keep Yourself Healthy

Along the same lines, it is important to keep yourself healthy and looked after. If you feel stressed or weak, you’re much more likely to get ill and need time off. And it’s not even the good kind of time off when you’re sick in bed. So exercise, eat well, and keep hydrated. Make sure you’re getting the vitamins and minerals that you need to help you stay healthy and well.

Make Working Time More Productive

If you have two hours to get a task at work done, then you need to make sure that you’re making those two hours as productive as you can. Otherwise it will eat into your personal time. So focus. Turn off distractions like TV or cell phones. Being more productive in the time you have will make your work life balance much better.

Practical Tips for How to Use Surplus Money

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Guest post by Grace Frenson

Most people tend to be irresponsible when they have surplus money by buying things they don’t really need, believing that the money is never-ending. While some people are born into fortune, a lot of people are not.

Proper money management is one of the surest ways to secure one’s future and save for rainy days or anything unexpected. There are several things to do with extra cash–the list is unlimited.

Though you may feel the need to spend your money on whatever you want, it is important to have your priorities sorted out. If you consider some essential things you need in life, you can determine the best plan of action to take. Here is how you can use extra money:

Invest in a Business

Businessmen are often preoccupied with the best way to use surplus money to make more money. Investing in one or more business could be the best way to achieve this.

People who are fainthearted in taking business risks would prefer to leave the money in their savings account, but the money would seldom grow when left there.

Investments do not always ensure the safety of the money, but if it succeeds it will bring a greater return than when left in a savings account. If it is really surplus money, it may be worthwhile to take a risk on it.

Use a 10 Year Saving Strategy

You have been working to secure your future, and now you have extra money. it is time to put some mechanisms into place to keep you from overspending.

One way to keep tabs on future events is by creating a 10 year saving strategy. This allows you to save for predictable expenses for the next 10 years.

Such expenses could include predictable costs such as a house, a wedding, kids, and so forth. If you have enough surplus money, you could even set up separate accounts for each of the items.

Stash the Money in an Emergency Fund

Money is not an inexhaustible commodity–unless you are a multibillionaire, you may exhaust the “excess” money in just a few months. If you haven’t already, you need to consider stashing the money in an emergency fund to take care of emergency situations only.

The amount of money you chose to put in it is up to you. However, emergency funds may come in handy in situations such as unexpected and costly health care bills, home repairs, auto repairs, unanticipated travel, and so forth, so you want to save wisely. Besides helping you to deal with an emergency situation, emergency funds could help protect your credit record.

Job loss is one of the common reasons people end up needing an emergency fund. Say you get injured or sick and have to go on disability, you want to have those supplemental savings in place in case your career or livelihood is threatened.

Increase Your Health Insurance

This may seem obvious, you need to invest in as much insurance coverage as you can afford. If you really have a surplus cash, health insurance is paramount. Health is wealth, and wealth becomes irrelevant and meaningless if the health cannot be secured.

Opting for health insurance is one of the wisest investment decisions you can ever make. This is even much more critical with how high medical bills are today. Medical debt is the single biggest reason people end up bankrupt or in a huge amount of debt.

Putting the money toward health insurance is synonymous to saving it for rainy days.

Obviously, nobody plans on having a critical health condition, but it does happen and you don’t want to be unprepared when it does. Thankfully, you have the cash, and you could make a difference to be prepared for the unexpected.

Create a Budget

You may really be misconstruing the cash as being excess if you have not created a budget and mapped out all of your upcoming payments. A budget will help you keep tabs on your income and expenditures.

It helps you to manage the financial flows and see where your money goes or would potentially go. Creating a budget will help you to make a detailed plan on important necessities like insurance, utilities, food, and housing, as well as miscellaneous activities.

Even extremely frugal people would be tempted to spend money on unnecessary stuff when they have excess money. By making a list of preference and value would help you to know what to spend money on and what to avoid.

A list of preference and value simply shows you items that are worth spending your money on. Of course, the preference and value may differ from person to person but the bottom-line is that it details your highest level of priority and utility.

The highest scale of your value and preferences is the right place to begin spending your surplus money. However, if some items don’t really make it to your list but they are simply critical for life–you need to reconsider your budget and adjust it accordingly.

Be Careful When Spending

When having an abundance of money, it is easy to spend it all quickly. Be careful to not go down this path, and spend your money on what is prevalent in your life.

If you are in a bit of credit card debt, consider paying that off, or paying off your child’s student loans. You want to be sure you don’t spend the money and then not even know what you spent it on once it’s all gone.

Think long and hard about how you want to spend–or not spend the extra cash. You don’t want to regret the decision you make in the long run.

Lucrative Law Areas To Practice

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If you have recently obtained a qualification in law, you are very aware that the life of a lawyer isn’t all fast cars, luxury vacations, and having money to burn. But, if you are looking for lucrative law practice areas, there are some that are very popular right now. So let’s go through the main ones, and and how each one works.

Litigation

This is an area where many practitioners can command very lucrative salaries. There are so many lawyers that make a fantastic living from this, such as Benedict Morelli, and it consists of various legal and factual issues. Litigation attorneys need to be incredibly skilled at managing a team of attorneys, who need to go over high amounts of electronic documents, which can consist of millions of emails, and analyse draft and laws as well as the skill of arguing motions on a never-ending basis in court. Litigation cases tend to last years, even decades.

Intellectual Property

Lots of businesses needs advice securing patents, especially with new technology and also trademarks for brands. So for various companies that are starting out, as well as businesses that are well established, this means they need lawyers who are able to implement the appropriate lawsuits. Between the years of 2013 and 2015, the federal courts saw the highest number of patents filed. It is a very hot area right now. In addition to this intellectual property litigation is another area that is worth investigating. It is similar to litigation cases, but involves the rights to technology or medicines. The outcomes of these cases can result in over hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, and can bring a company down.

Healthcare

Again, with so many issues relating to healthcare, especially in the United States, and with more people having health insurance and getting involved in disputes with their care providers, this means that the demand for healthcare representatives has shot up in recent years. Also, there are new laws and regulations that are continually coming into effect, especially in the digital areas of healthcare. This includes things like data privacy, as well as the digital records of patients’ healthcare information, and how this is protected.

Corporate Law

Generally, this describes different areas of work on behalf of companies. It can encompass lots of different aspects, making it a varied and interesting career as a lawyer. You could assist clients in merging with other companies, drafting agreements or bylaws, or helping businesses to secure adequate capital. There are also capital market attorneys, especially in the growing economy, there is more of a demand for these. This consists of helping companies to issue stock, structuring private placement financings, and issuing equity within the capital market. As the area practice is so diverse, this is quite a complex subject, so you need to know, in addition to federal and state laws, securities and disclosure law, as well as contracts.

Law is definitely a lucrative career prospect, if you know where to look. Have a look at these four areas, and see if these are areas you would like to practice.

The Ultimate Work Productivity Hack

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There’s no substitute for hard work, but what if I told you there’s a hack to it?

Similar to athletes you and I want to “get in the zone” at work, but believe it’s not controllable.

It is.

Productivity is traced back to mental capacity and energy, but there’s a biological trigger for that: exercise.

Specifically: morning workouts.

Before complaining you’re not a morning person, listen to this: moderate to high workouts release endorphins which not only make you feel good, but boost your mood and energy for up to 12 hours after.

That’s why you’re in a better mood after it’s over and why working out at night before sleeping is counterintuitive (unless you want to stay up late).

Working out first thing in the morning (before breakfast) not only gets your body, but your mind right. Unless you slept less than 5 hours, worked out for the past 3 days in a row or are recovering from an injury disregard how unmotivated you feel. Get up and go to the gym (focus on how you’ll feel after).

Once you’ve completed it, take a shower and eat breakfast. Now your window for optimal work is open.

Take for instance my weekly workout schedule:

Morning workouts: Sunday, Monday and Thursday 7:30 – 8:30 AM

Basketball: Tuesday and Friday 6:30 – 7:30 AM

Rest days: Wednesday and Saturday

This gets me showered, eaten breakfast and working by 9 AM.

What morning workouts also unlock is your optimal working hours: when you’re the most alert and productive.

Since early morning exercise triggers it mine is: 9 AM – 3 PM.

Take it a step further: I do my best (alone) work 9 AM – 12 PM, so 12 – 3 PM is normally reserved for meetings, phone calls, video chats, etc.

I can get stuff done before 9 AM if I run ahead of schedule, but normally after 3 PM my focus drops considerably (use this time after for less-brainpower tasks such as: checking emails, planning your next day, etc).

Factor in I want to go home to see my family, but still this was true ever since sticking to a consistent workout schedule. The actual times will vary based on your lifestyle, yet the important point is to recognize the catalyst: morning workouts.

You and I tend to separate physical, emotional and mental states, but they are deeply connected. If you have time, read Harvard Business Reviews’s The Making of a Corporate Athlete. It completely changed my outlook on work.

Finding your optimal work productivity is simple: workout first thing in the morning and reap the benefits immediately after.

3 Interview Questions For Hiring Remote Workers

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Hiring onsite employees is tough enough, but when it comes to hiring remote workers don’t overcomplicate it.

Before considering to hire remotely, trust is monumental. Without it you’ll fail.

Managing people virtually shouldn’t be much different than in-person since what works face-to-face tends to work over video/phone.

Keep in mind retaining workers is costly when the wrong person is hired, so use the following three questions as a guide to weed out the amateurs and hire the best:

1. Why?

Start with a candidate’s character. Why questions get to the motivation behind an answer. You won’t be physically present to witness how someone spends their time during work, so figure out how driven, self-aware and organized they are ahead of time. Why questions hit at the core of who someone is. Asking past behavior scenarios tend to be the most popular during interviews, but past success doesn’t always translate smoothly to new endeavors. If you need more context watch this Simon Sinek video on why.

2. How?

You can have the most knowledgable person working for you, but if they don’t fit your culture you’ve made a bad hire. Without downplaying competence, style questions are a must when it comes to hiring the right people. If you’re unsure how to define your culture, stop and figure it out before hiring anyone. How questions really come down to identifying personal strengths. The best leaders in any industry are self-aware. That means generic answers on an interview just don’t cut it. As an employer you want to know how they prioritize, interact with others and communicate orally/written just to name a few. Most of a manager’s time is spent dealing with interpersonal issues, so if you’re seeing red flags when it comes to personality quirks don’t proceed. Another helpful exercise is hiring based on your company’s core values. They can be even more powerful than mission or vision statements because they are measurable in behaviors. Zappos is a good example if you need a place to start.

3. What? 

Typical interviews start here. Tell me about your last job. Describe a time you failed a task and what was your response. What is your biggest weakness? Candidates can rehearse these answers and interviewers can critique every detail. The truth is what questions don’t reveal nearly as much as “why” or “how” questions. When asking “what” questions find out: experience, industry knowledge and their decision making process. Interviews are just a preliminary phase to understanding on-the-job performance. Even the best questions can’t possibly cover future mistakes by workers. A judgment call must be made here: do you want to hire for experience (less training, higher salary) or potential (more training, lower salary)? The answer to this question comes back to your core values.

Consider this: treat all your future interviews as potentially remote hires. Not only is that the way our economy is headed, but if you can trust someone working virtually you definitely can in the office.

Hire the best. Don’t settle for less.