How To Get Hired As a Remote Worker

Remote work has been one of the hottest recent trends, with 42% of U.S. workers working full-time from home. Many companies are realizing the benefits of using remote workers and are planning to offer more remote positions or allow current on-site workers to switch to remote work. Finding a remote position can be challenging. This guide will help you.

Check Remote-Specific Job Boards

Most traditional job boards have some remote jobs listed, but they aren’t always easy to find. You can make your search much more efficient by checking boards that specialize in remote work postings. Examples include Working Nomads, which has more than 20,000 listings. However, most of these jobs are in software development.

Jobspresso is another option. This site features more than 1,000 handpicked jobs. We Work Remotely also focuses on software development jobs but includes listings for jobs that range from customer support for vehicle camera systems to copywriting, management, sales and marketing. 

FlexJobs hosts over 25,000 full and part-time remote jobs, flexible jobs and freelance opportunities. They review all of their job listings to ensure that none of them are work-from-home scams, which is a valuable service because many traditional job boards are loaded with fraudulent work-from-home opportunities. Access to the site costs $15 per month. Remote.co posts a list of curated job openings from what the site considers to be the most in-demand job categories.

Research Remote-Friendly Companies

Another useful way to find remote jobs is to research companies who either are open to offering remote work or already mostly use remote workers. Companies that use a fully remote workforce tend to already have the logistics of remote work figured out. They also usually make more of an effort to promote a remote work culture than traditional companies that only have a few remote workers. 

These companies usually have remote jobs listed on their web pages. If there is an option to sign up for email alerts when new jobs are posted, this can be a good way to stay on top of openings without having to keep checking the sites. 

Feature Your Remote Experience on Your Application

When applying for remote jobs you not only want to convince the employer that you’re perfect for the job, but that you’re the perfect person to perform that job remotely. If you have any experience working remotely, list that on your résumé. Instead of using the company headquarters as the location, indicate that the location was “virtual,” so that hiring managers can easily see that you have done remote work in the past. 

If you have any experience managing remote teams, be sure to highlight this. Promote your ability to work with diverse teams. Include the keywords “remote” and “virtual” on all of your online profiles and applications. If you don’t have any remote experience, highlight skills that are required to be a successful remote worker, such as being able to work well without supervision, organization, ability to meet deadlines and time management.

Know What Remote Managers Are Looking For

When remote managers are doing interviews they are looking for candidates who will be good at the job and be good at working remotely. Important skills include transparency, independence, communication, resourcefulness, humility and self-awareness. Remote workers need to be able to work well on their own, communicate with other remote employees and sometimes on-site staff, and figure out how to get the job done when they may not always have access to a manager or other team member when a problem arises.

Don’t Focus on Just the Remote Aspect

Companies don’t want to hire employees who are only applying for a job because it is remote. Focus on jobs that you are a good fit for that also happen to be remote jobs.

Finding remote work can be challenging, but the flexibility and other benefits of working from home make it worthwhile. The tips in this guide will help you find the remote job you are looking for.