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It is based on the concept that work does not need to be done in a specific place to be executed successfully. A concern many folks have about remote work is that inevitably, no matter how much Slack is stressed, two employees will bump into each other in the office and share information or make decisions. Folks in other timezones and countries will miss out on that information, and sometimes this can make it harder to be effective at your job. I’m subletting it from a local Montreal company, located in Old Montreal. It’s not really a coworking space; it feels less like a trendy startup incubator and more like a traditional small business. It grants me the perfect level of in-person social interaction; there are always people around I can talk about hockey or the weather with.
One of my favorite things to do with a resume is add a touch of personality. This can be accomplished through pops of color, the addition of hobbies, community involvement, or charitable efforts. You never know how how to list remote work on resume you will connect with a reader, interviewer, or potential employer. Including your personal interests and a hit of color may spark enough curiosity for a potential employer to continue to review your resume.
That makes it easy for recruiters to learn everything about you and remember your profile. Many companies reported that their employees were able to maintain high levels of productivity thanks to their home environments. COVID-19 made this even more possible by forcing us to practice social distancing. And technology companies such as Zoom and Trello had the timing just right to allow us to work remotely. If you’ve read this far there’s a good chance that you’re looking to find a remote job.
Your cover letter is also a great place to re-emphasize your WFH-relevant experience. Resumes typically include the city and state you live in to give the potential employer context about whether they’ll need to fly you in for an interview or offer you a relocation stipend. This is obviously not important to a prospective employer if you’ll be working from home.
To help your resume rise to the top of the pile, make sure you identify and incorporate keywords. Keywords are the “key” words the employer uses in the job posting. They’re easy to identify and important to sprinkle throughout your resume. Again, it’s subtle, but it could be the edge you need to land that remote job. The past couple of years have seen a fundamental shift in how businesses operate, particularly when it comes to remote work.
Remote work requires some specific skills and competencies that employers are looking for, such as communication, collaboration, time management, self-motivation, problem-solving, and adaptability. You want to demonstrate that you have these skills and that you can use them effectively in a remote setting. You can do this by including keywords and phrases related to remote work in your resume, such as “remote”, “virtual”, “online”, “telecommute”, “work from home”, or “distributed team”. Others rely on coworking spaces to be the spots where they can get the job done.
The prospect of no commuting, increased free time, and the freedom to work from anywhere in the world has many US employees yearning to leave the traditional office environment behind. The final step to formatting a remote work resume is to proofread and optimize it for accuracy, clarity, and consistency. You want to avoid any spelling, grammar, punctuation, or formatting errors that could undermine your professionalism and credibility. You can use tools like Grammarly, Hemingway, or Word to check your resume for errors and suggestions. You can also ask someone else to review your resume and give you feedback. You also want to optimize your resume for applicant tracking systems (ATS), which are software programs that scan resumes for keywords and criteria to filter out candidates.
“Remote work—whether temporary or permanent—requires a different skill set and type of experience than in-office jobs,” says Neal Taparia, founder of Unscrambled Words, a startup with a primarily distributed team. So while the remote jobs you’re pursuing may be very similar to in-office roles you’ve had in the past, working from home requires a different work style. Did you have extensive history of teleworking but held different positions?
Employees value working remotely because it gives them the freedom to make their own schedule – not because it allows their schedule to be 24/7. Employers don’t want remote employees to work nonstop either, for fear that they’ll burn out and lose their passion for their position. It’s important in the beginning of a remote work agreement to work out which hours an employee should expect to be available and which times of day are more open for flexibility.
Sometimes companies will list their headquarters as the location and note that remote work is allowed. In other instances, companies might not mention remote work at all but will consider it as an option if you’re qualified for the role. If you’re applying for a permanently remote position — especially if it involves supervising others — consider using your resume summary to highlight your experience working or managing a team remotely.
For instance, you can write “Created articles for email newsletter and corporate blog while working from a home office”. If you had plenty of freelance projects or jobs with the same job title and similar responsibilities, you can group them under the same title, i.e. “Marketing copywriter – Freelance”. After the job title, list the names of organizations you worked for and your responsibilities. Another obvious option is to incorporate the type of employment in the job title.
If the position you’re applying for is location-independent, then they’ll be looking for someone with a particular skillset. They’ll be interested in candidates who describe themselves as being independent, experienced using remote work tools, strong communicators, self-disciplined, and excellent at time management. List these in your skillset to highlight your value as a remote worker. Underneath your job title and summary, you’ll probably have a list of skills that you want to highlight. Being a remote worker is a skill in itself so add it to the list.