Applying for a job online requires making a strong case that you have the skills to do the job. Employers are most interested in hard skills, especially for more advanced positions. They also hope for soft skills, but need you to be able to complete the job duties.
Nearly 40% of jobs are amenable to remote work. As an applicant, if you want to get a remote or hybrid position, you need to have verifiable hard skills in order to snag one. Of course, in an environment where your employer cannot offer mentoring experience in person, the technical skills you can offer are crucial.
A recent article by Hire My Mom, an employment service for talented remote workers who have stepped out of the workforce to raise families, service caretakers, or manage their own health issues, lays out four in-demand hard skills.
- Technical proficiency: You may need a degree in a particular field, such as engineering or accounting, or training and experience in specific software or computer systems,
- Time management: As you will be working on your own for much of the time, you must present an established track record in effectively managing your time and completing work on schedule.
- Communication: You must be able to clearly present your ideas in writing and verbally, as much of your contact with other staff will be online.
- Problem-solving: Success in remote work often requires excellent problem-solving skills. Without an immediate supervisor in the next office, remote workers may have to make decisions to keep moving and be delivered on time.
A willingness to learn new skills is admirable and valued by employers, but it won’t replace having an existing package of hard skills. Employers might be interested in working with trainees in some cases, but this will not replace having specific skills. Having what some call a “growth mindset” can be a valuable tool for job growth so long as a candidate has the needed foundation.
Especially if you want a higher level, higher paying job, hard skills are essential.
Spotlighting Your Hard Skills
Listing your hard skills on your resume can help you make it to an interview where you can extrapolate. Given that resumes are quickly scanned by software and then by human eyes, how should you direct attention to your skills? Hire My Mom suggests four ways:
Identify your skills with bullet points.
Certifications, software programs, foreign languages, and project management experience quickly underscore your hard skills.
Be specific about your accomplishments.
The more you can quantify your hard skills, the better. How have you put them to use in previous jobs? If possible, put a number on how much money you saved or how many times you solved a specific problem. How many years did you work with a specific software package? How many people did you manage?
Relevant hard skills might include:
| Adobe software suite | Bilingual or multilingual | Data mining |
| Database management | Marketing campaign management | Mobile development |
| Network security | Programming languages (such as Perl, Python, Java, and Ruby) | SEO/SEM marketing |
| Statistical analysis | Storage systems and management | User interface design |
You might learn some hard skills on the job, but you usually need a base gathered through formal training
Customize your resume.
Sending the same resume with each job application may save time, but tweaking your resume to apply to a particular job can be well worth the effort.
Sprinkle keywords throughout your resume.
While you don’t want to stuff your resume with irrelevant terms, you can strategically use keywords throughout and take both corporate scanning programs and HR personnel by storm. Job site Indeed gives some great examples of how to do this.
Presenting The Whole Package
Employers want well-rounded candidates with the technical qualifications for the job and the soft skills that make them excellent communicators and collaborators.
In the skills section of your resume, you can list the soft skills you offer. Many candidates demonstrate soft skills in the way they handle their interviews. As with hard skills, it makes sense to come up with examples of ways you developed and exhibited soft skills.
| Adaptability | Creativity | Critical thinking |
| Dependability | Effective communication | Empathy |
| Integrity | Open-mindedness | Organization |
| Problem-solving | Teamwork | Willingness to learn |
As with hard skills, you can deepen your soft skills with ongoing interaction on the job or with apprenticeships, online courses, and college programs.
Taking Cues From Job Postings
Job applicants cannot read employers’ minds, but good job descriptions should give you insight into what a company is looking for.
According to Weworkremotely.com (WWR), a job description has five main parts:
- Job title
- Role summary
- List of requirements and qualifications
- How someone in the role finds success
- Who the role reports to (and/or manages)
Job titles for various positions can vary, but the role summary and list of qualifications should clue you as a job applicant into what the job really is.
A title such as “Corporate Manager of Waste Management” can mean you supervise how multiple departments handle waste or that you empty the trash. The following section about job requirements and qualifications should tell you what you need to know! Titles such as “Sultan of Sanitation” are catchy but tell you nothing.
The job title should be straightforward and include industry keywords that can guide you as to what terms you should use in your resume.
How Remote Is Your Job
Remote jobs should be very specific as to where you can work. There are several common options.
- Remote job – This term can mean any job with remote components that allow you to work outside the office – maybe even at home.
- Work remotely – You can work from anywhere your job is not based in a physical location.
- Telecommute – You may have to report to a physical location part of the time.
- Virtual job – Your communication, collaboration, and interaction occur in a virtual space, as the company may have no physical headquarters.
- Home-based job – Your home is expected to be your office.
- Work from home – Your job might be done in an office, but you have the option to work from home.
The distinctions are important as while many people like going into the office, others want or need to be 100% remote. Those working around kids or infirm family members and someone who lives far from the work location cannot easily come into work on certain days every week.
A job posting should list the schedule and any expectations for being in the office. Some companies hold periodic meetings and even cover flights and accommodations, which might be feasible for some mostly remote staff to attend.
No job listening relays every expectation a potential employer may have, but you should get a fairly accurate look at the expectations from the listing. In an interview, you should verify the degree to which the position is remote. Given the recent experience of employees at Amazon, Google, and many other companies, you need to make sure that the job is likely to remain remote.
Remote jobs may have the exact basic requirements as onsite jobs, but as your contact and communication may be virtual and asynchronous, your resume needs to clearly show you can do the job.
