Managers Hiring For a Remote Role are Looking for These 5 Subtle Skills on Your Resume

The professional world is leaning more and more towards remote and hybrid work environments. Many leading organizations have already announced plans for their remote work model to continue post-pandemic. 

Even if you are applying for an office role, chances are you will also have the ability to work remotely. As such, you will want to embed a few subtle skills into your resume that indicate your remote work proficiency.

Here are five vital skills hiring managers are looking for on your resume, especially if you're eyeing a career transition into a remote position.  

1. Adaptability.

The world faced (and passed) the test of adaptability when we had to set up remote work within a week. But the test is not over yet. There’s no doubt that there will be more change as we come to terms with the “new normal” in all aspects of professional life. 

The world of technology is another rapidly changing organism. Hiring managers are on the lookout for highly adaptive workers to build resilient teams and organizations. 

A survey conducted by Deloitte found out that “flexibility and adaptability” was the workforce trait CXOs selected as the most important to their organizations’ futures.

2. Remote collaboration.

Collaboration and teamwork are some of the most sought-after skills of all time. However, when it comes to remote work, collaboration takes on a whole new dimension. It’s all about integrating remote collaboration tools in the online workspace. 

For many, this is a brand new skill altogether. Collaborating remotely can require everything from project management software to customer relationship management tools, chat channels, video conferencing, troubleshooting your technology stack and more.

3. Technical skills.

The 2020 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends report found that 48 percent of survey respondents’ main goal is to hire people who already have technical skills. 52 percent said their strategy is to hire great learners, ones who can develop to fit multiple positions and future needs.

This demonstrates that hiring managers want to find people with a unique blend of flexibility and technical skills. They want employees who will successfully adapt to future developments and technological trends. 

Whether the employers are focused on hiring talents with technical skills or talents capable of acquiring new technical skills, having a technical aptitude is necessary.

4. Time management.

Time management is a skill that every professional needs to cultivate for a successful work life. In the age of remote work, time management has become an even more vital skill. 

In May 2019, well before the pandemic, the WHO officially recognized burnout as an occupational phenomenon. As the boundaries between personal and professional life have grown blurrier, remote workers are experiencing more burnout and mental exhaustion than ever. For example, the issue can feel insurmountable for women juggling family responsibilities and work. 

That’s why it’s no surprise that online education platform Udemy encountered a whopping 990% increase in the consumption of time management courses in 2020. If you can subtly indicate time management skills on your resume, it’s a definite plus for office and remote roles alike. 

5. Self-motivation.

A strong sense of self-control is the basis of achieving greatness. You can even say that cultivating all other skills we’ve discussed thus far depends on how self-driven and motivated you are. 

When working a remote job, you are not under any form of direct supervision. This means you are your own supervisor, in a manner of speaking. You determine whether or not you keep yourself on track. 

Hiring managers are aware of this and want employees who will get the job done with minimum supervision. That’s why your resume now needs to reflect your aptitude for motivation and self-direction.

How to subtly, yet effectively, show these skills on your resume.

Of course, you can mention some of these skills directly on your resume. You'll need to be subtler with some of the other skills. Simply stating that you are a self-driven, adaptable tech wizard won’t cut it. 

You can specifically mention some of the skills related to your technology aptitude in your resume’s core skills or technical skills sections, especially if the role is directly related to those skills. 

Most of the time, however, you will need to subtly indicate that you possess these five skills on your resume in your previous job duties, responsibilities and achievements. 

For example, you could mention when your job required you to edit some images and you took it upon yourself to learn Photoshop by watching YouTube videos.

Here’s an example of how to include this:

Mastered the basics of Photoshop to facilitate editing of images while completing a timely company project.

By including this on your resume, you not only demonstrate your core technical and adaptability skills but also indicate that you are self-driven. Now, you just have to create a similar accomplishment to showcase your time management and collaboration skills.

Mastering the subtle inclusion of these five essential remote working skills on your resume will help you stand out in this rapidly changing job market. 

Which one of these five skills do you find the most important and why? Let us know in the comments below!