One of the reasons why job seekers are unsuccessful when applying for a remote job is that they do not include these must-have skills on their resume. The skills included in this guide are vital when working from home.

Of course, you must have these skills to include them in your resume. If you lack experience in the areas covered, spend time learning these skills and increase your chances of securing a remote job.

What are the must-have skills to put on your resume for a remote job?

1. Excellent communication skills

Many problems that can often occur within a remote company are due to poor communication. It would help if you were an over-communicator to ensure that your entire team knows what you are doing on projects.

Leave milestone updates on Slack, so everyone knows your progress.

Communication is vital because you will likely work with a team across many different time zones. Rather than saying you’re an excellent communicator, give an example that the hirer can relate to when identifying your achievements in previous employment.

2. Remote tools skills

An employer will want to see you include tools and software you will use as an employee working for a remote company in your resume. Being proficient in using Slack, Zoom, Jira, Github, Asana, and related tools and including that on your resume will help your application.

Make sure you check the job listing and look for tools and software in which they want people to have experience.

If there are any that you’ve not used, try and sign up for a free trial and spend an hour becoming familiar with them.

The role will also have specific software, so customer support might require you to be experienced in using Zendesk, Freshdesk, and Live Agent. A project manager might need experience in Teamwork or Notion.

Make sure you include remote work tools on your resume.

3, Able to work on your initiative

A pretty apparent must-have skill is being able to work on your own initiative since you will be working from home.

There’s nothing more annoying than a colleague continuously messaging you on Slack, asking for help. Of course, it happens, but you should be able to get work done with limited assistance.

The same could be said, though, that you need to be a team player and can collaborate with colleagues and make sure deadlines are met.

4. Well organized

Companies are going to want to hire people who have excellent organizational skills. Being a remote worker who can organize their work based on priorities is a sought-after skill that will help you stand out amongst other candidates.

What processes do you use to stay organized and get work done? How do your organizational skills help others you work with to ensure that you can collaborate and achieve company goals as a team?

No company wants someone on their team that is disorganized and underprepared to the point that deadlines are not met.

There are many distractions when working from home, so having a transparent process and plan to get work done is vital.

How have you used these skills?

It’s easy to say you have these skills, so in the achievements section of your resume, try to develop scenarios where these skills have helped you succeed in those roles. Also, in an interview, ensure you get these skills across and again impress by showcasing them.

Hopefully, this mini-guide will help you identify the must-have skills to put on your resume for your next remote job application. Good luck.