Are you looking for a remote job? You’re not the only one. As the world of work moves towards a digital dimension, going to the office seems irrelevant to many. According to Upwork, 36.2 million workers will work remotely by 2025. There will be more offers for remote work vacancies, but not because of this it means you’ll easily get a job. What will make you stand out from the crowd? You probably guessed it by now, but your secret weapon to land a remote job is writing the perfect work-from-home resume.
How Do You Write The Perfect Resume for Landing a Remote Job?
A white 3-page boring resume won’t get you your dream WFH job. As most HR teams use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to vet their thousands of candidates, you need more than your years of experience and great skills. You need the right format, and keywords and know exactly what recruiters are looking for. Fortunately, you came to the right place.
If you’re wondering what should a work-from-home resume include, these are our top 5 tips to take into account:
1. Don’t Write a ‘One Size Fits All’ Resume
“The more work-from-home resumes I send, the more chances I have to get hired, right? It’s basic math.”
If you think the previous statement is correct, we’re sorry to break it to you; your equation doesn’t work that way. When it comes to resumes, quality outnumbers quantity. A solid, well-written CV, with the right information, can get you the job straight away, while a poor, boring one would not even be read by recruiters.
Additionally, if your eyes shine bright and your heart beats fast every time you see a remote job opportunity, before letting your emotions take over and push you to send the CV, read the job ad carefully. The worst thing you can do is apply without even reading the job description. Make sure you want the job, and if you feel you have what it takes, then create a tailored resume for that specific position.
2. Keywords Matter More Than You Think
Most companies, especially those with thousands of employees, use an ATS to vet candidates. As many candidates don’t even read job descriptions carefully, recruiters, instead of reviewing each CV and interviewing them, have the help of this system to identify potential good candidates.
The keywords that you add to your work from home resume give recruiters valuable information, but this is not only why they matter. An ATS is like a scanner that seeks specific details and information, so if you add the right keywords, you will likely pass the first vetting round.
There isn’t a list of the keywords all work from home resumes should have because this depends. While “enthusiastic” or “autonomous” are great skills, the secret to identifying the right words is to study the company you’re applying for. Check out their LinkedIn page and website, and then write down the skills you have and that you believe they are looking for. Some job descriptions add the skills very clearly, so make sure you add those as well.
3. What Qualities Make You Stand Out as A Remote Worker?
Working remotely is much more than working from your bed, showering on morning breaks, or eating garlic bread every lunch. It sounds exciting for most, but recruiters and managers want to avoid the typical “I want to work remotely because I want to work on my PJs” type of candidate.
Working remotely requires a set of skills not everyone has, and recruiters need to see that in you. It’s your time to shine and prove you have all that it takes. Some of the qualities employers look for in remote candidates are:
- Flexibility
- Adaptability
- Self-motivation
- Independence
- Efficiency
- Detail-oriented
- Self-starter
4. Visuals Matter
One of the keys to writing the perfect work from home resume is to make it pretty. A clean, organized CV, where you can add your picture and have all the information in the right places, can help you land the job you need. According to The Muse, recruiters only take 6 seconds to scan your CV. If they see it’s a mess, they won’t even bother reading it.
There are a lot of applications that can help you create your CV, such as:
- Resume Star: Pro CV Maker
- Jimdo
- Pathsource Resume
- Canva
5. Keep It Simple
Who would want to read a chunk of words piled up on one page? Or listing remote work on your resume longer than The Lord of the Ring books?
Sometimes we have a lot of experience, and we believe we are the right person for the position, so our instinct tells us to show off. We want to add our extensive expertise and highlight all our skills, capabilities, and certifications. But is this a good idea? Sometimes all that writing is all in vain. It’s better to keep it simple and add the most important aspects.
This is why writing tailored resumes is so important because we know what parts of our professional experience are worth highlighting for that position based on the job description and the company.
6. Final tip: Proofread
Details matter, especially when you’re trying to get hired. Sending a resume with incorrect grammar or with sentences that don’t make sense could cost you a job! Our final tip, the cherry on top for your perfect work from home resume, is proofreading it.
Check your resume carefully, look out for spelling mistakes, grammar errors, formatting, and make sure all the information and contact details are accurate. You could even ask a friend to check it for you before sending it.
3 Work-from-Home Resume Samples for You to Inspire From
Wondering what is the best work-from-home CV format? Keep these resumes as a general guideline:
1. Software Developer Work from Home Resume Template
2. Social Media Manager Work from Home Resume Template
3. Remote Marketing Role Resume Template
What Should You Include in a Work-from-Home Resume?
If you think your 10 years of experience working and all your certifications will get you the job, you’re wrong.
Landing a remote job is much more than hard skills, educational background, or professional experience. Employers want talented people on their teams that fulfill the requirements, but hard skills are not the only thing that matters. Soft skills are equally important. And when it comes to creating working from home resumes, you need to make sure you put both skill sets on display.
1. Soft Skills
Soft skills consist of subjective skills, also more related to personality traits, that are harder to quantify.
It’s how you relate to people, how you treat others, how you react to specific situations, how you handle projects, etc. These are some of the soft skills that employer’s value in remote workers:
- Flexibility
- Adaptability
- Communication
- Autonomy
- Time management
- Problem-solving abilities
2. Hard Skills
Hard skills are defined as teachable abilities or those skills easier to quantify. They vary in the roles and professions but are the skills that prove you can do the job. For example, if you’re a graphic designer, these are some of the hard skills you need to master:
- Deep understanding of the Adobe package (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, etc.)
- UX and UI design experience
- Typography
- Color theory
- Common patterns
- User modeling
Work-From-Home Resume FAQs
One of the key elements that can help you land a job, whether remote or not, is your professional experience. But , is it worth adding your 10 or 15 years of experience to your resume?
As we explained above, it’s not always the best idea to try to squeeze all your achievements into one resume. It depends mostly on; the position you want to apply to.
You need to evaluate case by case and see if it’s worth adding certain experiences for specific job positions. You want to highlight the best version of yourself that shows you have the skills and necessary experience for that role.
Most experts recommend including 10-15 years of work history on your resume. However, the best way to know for sure what to add to your work-from-home resume is to consider the industry you’re in. The industry, expertise, acquired skills are elements that might attract or not the employer who is looking at your resume.
For instance, if you are applying to the role of Director of Marketing, it’s worth adding the years of experience you have working at marketing and all your previous positions. But if you are looking to change career paths and want to start in a junior marketing position, there’s no need to give so many details about your background that don’t relate to marketing.
Don’t worry; now that many companies are embracing remote working policies, they are aware that many people haven’t worked remotely before.
They value the experience of candidates who have worked remotely, but what they are more interested in knowing is the skills you have and the qualities that could make you a great remote worker. These are some of the things to list on your resume when you have no experience working remotely:
Professional experience (Even if it’s not WFH experience, it is valuable)
Your key skills
Achievements and academic background
Personal projects
Classes and certifications
Volunteer work
Additional Tips to Get a Remote Job
A CV is crucial to land a remote job – but there’s a bit more than that. It’s also about crafting the right cover letter and email that proves how good a communicator you are besides your other skills. Luis Magalhaes, ThinkRemote’s Chief Editor or as you might know him from daily virtual coffee chats with Luis, tells you how to get a remote job:
Write Your Work from Home Resume and Get Hired!
Remember these crucial aspects when writing your work-from-home resume:
- Use the right keywords
- Include soft and hard skills
- Share your work from home experience
- Write a resume summary (this can depend on the role)
- Add your contact information
- Add your professional and educational background
- Use the right format (and make it pretty)
- Don’t forget to proofread!
The remote work revolution has come to stay. Now more than ever, companies are starting to expand their borders and hire remotely. It might seem as if getting that remote job is impossible, but a well-written and formatted resume can get you that job!