Showcase These 5 Essential Skills to Show You're a Standout Remote Worker

Showing you have the essential skills needed to be an effective communicator in different areas can help you land the job you’ve been eyeing—especially if it’s a remote position.

Your workplace communications dictate how successful you are on the job—and they also affect your productivity. In fact, the 2019 Workplace Productivity and Communications Technology Report found that nearly 15% of employees’ total work time is being wasted on poor and inefficient communications.

What’s more, 40% of learning and development leaders are focused on training their employees in the area of communication this year, according to the 2020 LinkedIn Learning Report.

Remember, when updating your résumé, showing you have the essential skills needed to be an effective communicator in different areas can help you land the job you’ve been eyeing—especially if it’s a remote position.

1. CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILLS
On average, U.S. employees spend 2.1 hours per week dealing with conflict. These issues range from minor miscommunications about workload to significant personal problems with peers or managers. Very few employers want to hire someone who is constantly going to have problems with others and not know how to solve them on their own.

Highlight a few ways you’ve resolved conflicts or used your communication skills to prevent or limit the damage from conflict. This can be particularly valuable if you are applying for a customer service position or role where you deal mostly with people.

2. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SKILLS
As a remote employee, you rely on technology to communicate clearly and effectively. One of the clearest ways to prove your mastery of communication technology is to highlight your experience with various tools and platforms. If you’re already familiar with the software tools that the company uses, your manager will have to spend less time onboarding you to their features, which gives you a leg up in hiring.

When updating your résumé, create a small section to list a few common tools to help hiring managers understand your skill set.

Chat and texting platforms. Slack, Skype, and other tools are used to have real-time conversations outside of email and to connect with team members on a personal level.

VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). More and more businesses will be relying on this broadband technology that bypasses traditional phone lines as the need for reliable communication from home becomes more and more necessary.

Project management software. Tools like Asana and Basecamp are used just as much for communication as other channels like email, if not more. List all the products you’re familiar with to showcase your technology communication expertise.

3. SALES COMMUNICATION SKILLS
If you’ve ever been in a sales position or have been trained on sales communication, don’t leave this off of your résumé. The need to persuade is important in many positions across industries. As Justin Lawson and Jen Abel of JJELLYFISH explain the importance of great sales communication right now:

“This is even more important now as we struggle to adapt to uncertain times—leads that were once warm may now be hesitant or dealing with net new business priorities. Your sales communication skills and unearthing where their urgency sits is what will get the yes.”

If you have the power to win people over, make sure you highlight it on your résumé and during your interview.

4. ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS
Have you ever spoken with someone who rambles through their thoughts or meanders from different subjects without ever making a point? This may be frustrating in a personal situation but it’s infuriating in a professional setting.

Managers are looking to hire people who can provide clear answers to their questions and who can address issues with clients, vendors, and management. Showcase how you can organize your thoughts and present clear sentences, along with logical reasoning and verbal bullet points defending your ideas.

5. WRITING SKILLS
Along with speaking in a manner that makes sense and has a clear point, managers also look for employees who can communicate via written word effectively. Indeed’s 10 Communication Skills to Add to Your Resume explains:

“Whether the job requires you to write reports, create advertising copy, or send effective emails, strong writing skills are important for many positions. When listing writing skills on your resume, consider getting specific by including terms like copywriting or report writing.”

Update your résumé to highlight all the ways your communication outshines other candidates’ to get the job and begin your remote work career.
(Source: AICPA - CPA Letter Daily - Fast Company – October 22, 2020)