Today, we are increasingly living in a remote-first world. Many employers now understand the benefits of allowing employees to telecommute. Plus, the COVID-19 situation is still fluid, and many companies are embracing remote work approaches for the foreseeable future as a result.
If you have remote work experience, that may make you a stronger candidate in the eyes of remote-first employers. That means you want to showcase it, allowing you to demonstrate your success as a telecommuter.
Luckily, it’s easy to position your remote work experience properly. Here’s how to include it the right way on your resume.
Include Remote Work Experience in Your Professional Summary
Your professional summary should always be tailored to the position you want to land. If you’re going for a remote job and have prior experience telecommuting, highlight it in your summary.
You can discuss the number of years you’ve been part of a remote workforce, as well as telecommuting-specific skills or achievements along with industry- or field-specific ones. That way, the hiring manager does not doubt that you’ve telecommuted in the past successfully.
Showcase Remote Work-Oriented Skills
If you have a skills section under your professional summary, work in a few that relate to your remote work experience. You could include relevant telecommuting technologies as a starting point, or add “remote” to the bullet point.
For the latter approach, for example, “project management” could become “remote project management.” However, you could also simply list “remote work/telecommuting” as a skill, if you want to single it out specifically.
Update Your Job Title to Highlight Remote Work
If you previously worked in a position that was remote from the beginning, consider updating your job title to reflect that. For example, if you were a contact center customer service representative, you may want to list your job title as “Remote Contact Center Customer Service Representative.” That allows the hiring manager to see that the position always involved telecommuting.
However, you could add a note about your remote experience, even if the job didn’t always involve telecommuting. After your job title, in parenthesis, you could add “In-Office/Remote.” With that, the hiring manager would know that you telecommuted at least part of the time.
Put “Remote” for the Location
Another option for a completely remote position is to forgo, including the employer’s city and state for the location. Instead, you’d list “remote” or “telecommute,” showing that you weren’t heading into a physical workplace while handling those duties.
There are other approaches you can also use. For example, “Remote – City, State” or “City, State (Remote)” shows that you were telecommuting but also allows you to provide a pertinent detail about your employer.
Mention Remote Accomplishments
Generally, discussing your achievements instead of just your duties is the best way to catch a hiring manager’s eye. If you want to make sure that your remote experience is highlighted in your resume, include accomplishments that occurred while you were telecommuting. That way, you can integrate that vital detail into the description of that achievement.
For example, instead of leading off an accomplishment with “Managed a 12-person project team…,” you could say, “Remotely managed a 12-person project team…” That allows you to subtly discuss your telecommuting experience without having to separate it from your achievements.
Ultimately, all of the tips above can help you include remote work in your resume. If you’d like to learn more, the team at The Advance Group can help. Contact us today and see how our resume writing expertise can benefit you.
