Working remotely is a little different to the normal positions you'll be applying for. It's basically like working for yourself but for a company that you have to stay in contact with every day.
So there are some key skills organisations will be looking out for and you have to know how to highlight them in accordance to your experience. The top 3 are as follows:
1. Communication
Being able to stay connected and communicate effectively is possibly the most important skill when working remotely. Think email, online chat, video meetings, tools that you'd use to do this.
2. Self Leadership
This is really about self awareness, being able to judge a situation effectively before taking action, taking the lead when you need to and understanding when not to.
This involves, taking responsibility, facing and resolving conflicts, having clear communication and knowing when to ask for help.
3. Organisation
Your boss or manager won't be able to keep track of what you're doing by popping over or having a meeting. So you need to be able to keep track of your own work and be organised.
When applying for a role you need to give examples of ways in which you have done this.
E.g. Maybe you were responsible for writing the company blog and gathering stories/interviewing people and oversaw the customer emails —and you balanced the priorities well. Give the details of how you did that, and remember to refer to the tools you use—like Trello, Asana for project management or Google Drive for collaboration.
What examples do you have for the above three skills? And what others do you think you can shine a light on that would be relevant for remote work? think outside of the box. Skills you picked up from anywhere and everywhere!
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