You’re finally doing it! You have decided that you want to work remotely. That’s awesome! But job searching is always tough. And looking for remote jobs is even harder. There is more competition and you have to sift through all the scams. But don’t lose hope just yet. There are some insanely simple tasks you can do right now to start your remote job search.
Let’s dive right in!
1. Set up a professional email address
Setting up a professional email address is crucial. The one you made in high school might not work.
Head on over to Google and sign up for a Gmail account. Choose an email address that matches your name on your resume and other professional documents or profiles.
I always recommend Gmail for professional use. Not only is it simple, but it comes with a lot of free tools that remote teams often use.
2. Pimp up that Resume
Put an hour aside to revamp your resume. Update your contact information, add your new professional email address, add any new skills and experience, and remove outdated and false information.
You can use Canva to design your resume. It is free and totally awesome! Plain resumes on word documents are outdated and not suited for remote job applications. Your resume should reflect who you are, including your personality.
Always edit your resume according to the job you’re applying for. Having a template with all your information ready to be customised for any job application will save you a ton of time and frustration in your remote job search.
If you want to add some of the latest skills to make yourself stand out, check out these 7 Online Work Skills to Beef Up Your Resume, that you can learn today. Keep learning, keep growing and always keep your resume up to date.
3. Revamp your LinkedIn profile
LinkedIn is a great way to network and connect with other professionals and find jobs. Your profile has to be up to date, relevant and professional.
Use a clear, high-resolution headshot of yourself. Make sure you smile and seem real and approachable.
All the information and skills should be up to date. Feature your work on your profile by using the feature option.
Join relevant groups in your industry or niche. That’s also a great way to connect with people.
Use your headline effectively to describe clearly in one sentence your skill, role or designation.
Get a custom URL.
A good LinkedIn profile goes a long way in a remote job search. Even if you don’t find a job or client directly through LinkedIn, employers and clients will ask for your LinkedIn and other social accounts so that they can check you out. So make sure it’s not clumsy or out of date.
4. Clean up your social media
Like I said before, whoever wants to hire you will ask for your social media accounts or just Google you. You don’t want them to find drunk pictures of you on Facebook right? That would seriously hamper your chances of being hired.
So scrub that social media clean. Remove bad content, make all your social media profiles kind of professional. Have a clean high-resolution picture of yourself. Not a picture of you and some friends or your spouse. Just a picture of you. Use the space in your bio to tell people what you do. Make sure there is no offensive content, foul language, emotionally charged content or inappropriate pictures.
Just make sure it shows your best self!
Don’t open different social media accounts for professional use. Facebook and Instagram will mark one of your accounts as spam and shut it down. It’s not worth it.
The tips above apply to all public posts on all social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, all of them.
5. Anticipate expectations
Anticipate what the hiring manager will need from you throughout the process and make it simple for them.
- Think they might want references? Have a list of names and contact information ready so that you can provide it quickly.
- Pretty sure they will offer you an interview? Go ahead and let them know the days and times that work best for you. No one likes going back and forth via email.
- Will they want to see samples of your work? Include a link to your portfolio or previous work in your resume.
Consider everything they may ask you for and have it ready to go. Making things as easy as possible for the person hiring you will make you stand out.
Conclusion
You are going to rock this remote job application! It can be scary to pursue something new, especially remote work, but it is definitely worth it!
With a little preparation to make your application relevant, unique, and professional, you’ll be working remotely in no time.
Just think – you could be working from the beach, a cafe, your home, or the airport with just your laptop! It’s time to start a life you love while making a living at the same time.
Remember these 5 simple and insanely effective tips whenever you decide to launch your remote job search. Before you know it, you’ll officially kick your cubicle to the curb. You’ve got this!