How to Prepare Your Resume for Remote Work

As 2022 begins, most job openings will be for remote positions. After all, over 56% of managers are offering remote arrangements worldwide. If you haven't updated your resume for remote jobs yet, it's time to think about it.

Here is a short guide to help beginners prepare their resume for remote work and attract future employers worldwide.

How to put Remote Work on your Resume

From a resume perspective, remote work is exactly the same as any other job. You don't need to worry about displaying remote jobs in a different format to any other role. In fact, you don't really need to list the location of any of your work experience, it's irrelevant. What is relevant is: are you able to do the job?

So instead of worrying about how to list remote work, instead focus on tailoring a resume for the specific job role you are applying to.

Can You Prepare Your Resume For Remote Jobs If You Don't Have Experience?

Even if you don't have remote work experience, it doesn't mean that you don't have valuable skills to offer to a remote company.

For example, if your previous jobs were mostly in retail and customer service areas when applying for a remote position you can highlight your communication skills, ability to relate with different clients and requests, and problem-solving capabilities. Working remotely will be initially a challenge and an opportunity to translate these skills into a new work setting.

The point is to imagine how your strengths will benefit your future employers whilst explaining how these skills will adapt in a virtual setting.

Finally, you can focus on why you want to apply for a remote position. Most companies provide remote training, and sometimes a candidate's motivations are more attractive than an exact skill match.

So, even if you don't have remote work experience, you can get hired with the right resume. Once you’ve worked out how to put remote work on your resume, all you’ll need to do is follow these steps!

Steps to Prepare Your Resume for Remote Work in 2022

1. Highlight Your Remote Working Experience

You should first consider why employers care about remote work experience. After the pandemic, most managers know that teams are likely to interact with clients, departments, and customers remotely - even in hybrid companies.

So, employers care about remote work on resumes because it's like a skill. Even if you didn't work in a virtual office, you need to show how you can be proficient using remote technologies. Preparing your resume for remote work means targeting your experience for future virtual collaborations and tasks.

2. Personal Description

When you write your personal description, highlight how your skillset can contribute to a virtual setting. Most importantly, explain why you want to work remotely and professionally grow in a virtual team. The aim is to communicate that your motivations to find a remote job are personal, and you aren't just looking for any position.

3. How To List Work From Home Skills on Resume

Now, it's time to list your skills on your resume for remote work. Even when you add soft skills, remember to list what your future employer wants. In remote teams, you still deal with clients and co-workers.

Do not underestimate communication and interactive skills. Or, if you will deal with different operating systems as a developer, highlight your adaptability, problem-solving, and flexibility.

Here is how to indicate remote work on your resume through your skillset:

Soft Skills

• Time management
• Collaboration Skills
• Strong work ethic
• Adaptability
• Organization
• Self-starter
• Proactive
• Flexibility
• Independent problem solver
• Reliable

Remote Work Skills

In this case, it's better to create a separate section listing specific remote work skill sets on the resume. For example, instead of 'technology skills,' you can list your skills indicating areas and tools:

• Remote collaboration tools: Zoom, Slack, Meets, Google Chat, Hangouts, GoToMeeting, SharePoint, GoToWebinar, Dropbox.
• Management tools: Basecamp, Trello, Asana.
• Document Software: Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.)

Based on your field, here, you can add specific tools. For example, as a content writer, you can mention WordPress for publishing; ProWritingAid and Grammarly for editing; Scrivener, Hemingway, and Ulysses for organizing.

The key is to show that you know how and when to use these digital tools in a virtual setting on your resume for remote work.

4. Update Your Work Experience

When you list your previous experience, be very specific in describing each role. It doesn't really matter how many years of experience you have here. Instead, it's crucial how you describe your past roles and tasks.

For example, if you're applying for a Social Media Manager position, and the job description focuses on campaigns and improving editorial plans to present new products, it's crucial that you list your past positions and highlight how you helped companies with past campaigns. Or, if you are applying for a recruitment position and come from sales, you can highlight your top performance to show your ability to convince people.

Make sure the description of past roles matches the requirements of the remote position you are applying for.

5. Add the Location Section

How you write and organize your resume for remote work increases your chances of being selected for an interview. Most recruiters use software and AI tools to select candidates. So, it's imperative to use the right keywords for the whole resume, not only describing previous roles. For example, adding 'remote work' as your location increases your chances of matching requirements for the algorithm.

6. Add Your Qualifications

Finally, add your qualifications. First, make sure to include language and IT certificates as well as any financial certifications you might have. For roles in the health field, for example, it’s worth including things like First Aid Certificates if you have one. After that, you can add your education.

Sometimes, we find ourselves applying for jobs that don't fit at all with our studies or passions. That's ok. It's a way to show your future employer that you can handle different things and that you are willing to work independently and hard as long as you can keep doing what you love. So, even if the education you have 'isn't helpful' for the specific job position, find a way to highlight transferable skills that make you a valuable asset for the job.

7. Make It Pretty

Finally, it's time to make your resume for remote work pretty. But what does it mean? In the era of AI and software vetting candidates, pretty means precise and concise. If you think that adding long and complex sentences shows your proficiency, you are on the wrong track.

Just consider that recruiters take an average of 6 seconds to screen CVs. So, when you prepare your remote work resume, keep the structure clean and straightforward. Make sure to separate different sections:

• Personal description
• Skillset
• Previous experience
• Qualification and certificate

Here are 3 more Pro Tips to make your resume for remote jobs catchy and functional:

• Stylised Resumes: To find the best layout for your resume, there are many tools which you can use to create an eye-catching resume design. For example, Canva and Resume Star are two popular platforms with great ideas to personalize your CV.
• Keywords: As we mentioned, most companies use AI software to screen candidates. So, the keywords you use are crucial to catch the algorithm's attention. Write your skills and description based on their job position, and use their terms in the previous job descriptions.
• Proofread: Last but not least, ALWAYS proofread your resume. We all make mistakes writing a resume, even when listing simple skills. And if we miss them, your future manager won't. So, always leave yourself a day to double-check grammar and spelling!
• Use an AI resume writing tool: there are now a ton of tools which use AI to help you write your resume. They drastically reduce the amount of time it takes whilst also making your resume more ATS friendly

Conclusion

Even if you don't have experience, you can target your resume for remote work. Just remember to think about what your future employer is looking for, and transform your resume highlighting your best skills. There are thousands of promising opportunities out there. Pick the right keywords and take them!

This is a guest post by ThinkRemote, media news outlet on remote culture. The post was written by Costanza Tagliaferri, a Writer and Content Marketer at DistantJob. She has covered a wide range of topics. Now, she is focussing on technology, traveling, and remote work.