5 Best Remote Job Skills You Probably Already Possess
A FlexJobs poll found that 4.7 million U.S. employees now work from home at least half of the time.
Other studies have shown that remote employees are healthier, more productive, happier at work, and may even earn more money.
It’s no surprise that the majority of telecommuters want to keep working from home—98% said they wanted to keep working remotely.
Do you want to be a part of this joyful remote workforce? The good news is that you probably already have a lot of soft skills that will help you be recruited for a remote job and flourish in it. Here are some of the abilities that businesses look for in their remote workers.
- Communication Abilities
Hiring managers are constantly on the lookout for applicants with strong written and verbal communication abilities. When looking for a remote job, though, it’s more crucial than ever to be able to show that you can interact effectively with colleagues, bosses, customers, and vendors—even if you’re not in the same physical area.
When you’re not chatting face to face, it’s more difficult to convey your message. Successful remote employees can communicate themselves through email, Slack, and video conference calls (or rapidly learn how to do so).
Listening abilities are the cornerstone of effective communication. You won’t be able to discover common ground if you can’t listen to what others are saying or show your respect for them while explaining their intentions. Improve your listening abilities by using active listening strategies.
Interviews are an excellent chance to demonstrate your verbal communication abilities. Again, listening is important, but so is preparing for the interview. Investigate the organisation, practise interviewing tactics, and be prepared to answer standard interview questions—including those concerning communicating while working remotely.
- Self-Motivation
To be successful as a remote worker, you must be self-motivated. While some businesses watch their dispersed workforce more closely than others, all employers want to know that their employees can meet their objectives without micromanagement.
If you’re not motivated to take initiative at work, the first thing to ask is, “Do I need a new job?”
If your employment isn’t the issue, you may need to develop some new behaviours. Set tiny targets, work in short spurts, or do activities in batches.
“Are you self-motivated?” many interviewers may inquire. The response should be an unequivocal “Yes,” but don’t stop there. Prepare to provide concrete instances of how you stay motivated.
- Willingness to Seek Assistance
In any workplace, asking for assistance may be difficult. It might be even more difficult to swallow your pride and accept that you need explanation, support, or a second pair of eyes on an issue when you work remotely. On the other side, if you’re adept at identifying when you need support, you’ll have a huge edge over individuals who struggle to ask for aid.
If you find it difficult to ask for help, start by helping others. Not only will this build morale and improve your relationships with your coworkers, but it will buy you some goodwill.
If you become known as someone always willing to help others, you’ll find you have plenty of people ready to assist you when you need it.
Hiring managers often ask candidates to share their biggest work-related challenges and how they overcame them. This is a tricky question because you don’t want to dwell on your failures, even if they’re long in the past. But if you share a story about how you reached out to a colleague to learn a new skill you can demonstrate that you’re self-motivated and eager to learn and a good team player.
- Problem-Solving Skills
Problem-solving skills apply to more jobs than any other soft skill. Managers want candidates who can identify, analyse, and address problems in positions ranging from customer service to executive management.
But even if your position doesn’t seem to involve a great deal of problem-solving, you’ll need these skills when you work from home.
Remote jobs are complex simply because you’re off-site and away from the rest of your team.
You may have to deal with issues that would not arise if you were in the office. For example, if you have a computer problem at the office, you can probably walk your laptop over to tech support. When you work from home, you’ll have to be able to address the issue remotely, speaking to your IT folks via phone or video chat.
If you gather the correct information, analyse it effectively, and make a plan to put it into action you’ll maximise your chances of coming up with a good solution. If that sounds obvious, consider how many times you’ve seen a colleague “go with their gut” during a crisis, with less-than-successful results. You’ve also probably seen plenty of coworkers think up a good solution and then fail to put it into action.
Go to interviews prepared with examples of times that you’ve solved problems at work. Numbers are incredibly persuasive in these situations; if you can explain to the hiring manager that you raised sales X% or decreased costs Y%, you’ll make a stronger impression than if you say that you raised sales numbers or cut costs.
- Collaboration and teamwork
Being able to get along with others and cooperate to achieve a goal is essential in any job. But when you’re working remotely, it’s even more important to prioritise collaboration and communication among teammates.
In practice, this means being proactive about reaching out to your colleagues. If you’re a manager, setting and keeping regular one-on-one meetings should be part of your approach.
If you’re an individual contributor, it’s important to understand how your manager and colleagues communicate best.
It’s also essential to respect other points of view during your communications with teammates. You’re not going to agree on every issue, and that’s for the best: hearing multiple opinions and perspectives will allow your team to find the most effective solutions. The best teams are the ones that expect and manage conflict.
Respect for others is essential for remote work. Also, it’s helpful to practise giving others the benefit of the doubt. Especially when you’re communicating via messaging or email, it’s easy to mistake people’s tone. Clarify before you assume.