Working from home can be an incredible opportunity, but there are also a lot of questions attached to remote positions. And some of them might include, “Do I have what it takes?” Or, “What are these companies looking for?”
And asking these kind of questions is such an important first step. Learning the skills for work from home jobs is essential if you want to attract potential employers in today’s job market.
And in this article, I’m gonna cover some of the work from home skills you’ll need to land remote job opportunities. So read them over and start planning out how you’ll grow in these skills for WFH jobs this month.
1. You Need to Be Self-Motivated
When you work from home, you won’t have a manager being able to see what you’re doing or how quickly you’re doing it. And it can be very tempting to just relax because you’re in your own comfortable space.
But if you want to be able to work from home, then you need to get comfortable with setting boundaries with yourself. Employers want to know that they’re paying you for the work and productivity they hired you for.
So if you’re working from a home office, then you need to minimize distractions with a quite workspace so that you can work effectively. Also, try setting timers to help you stay on task and get things done more quickly.
2. Communication
Even though you’ll have a work-from-home job, you’re still going to need to communicate with your employers, clients, and others who are on your team.
So when sending out an email or text to your professional relationships, first make sure you’re using proper grammar and checking for mistakes so no misunderstandings happen. And second, make sure you’re wording things to be as respectful, kind, and professional as possible since they can’t hear your tone of voice over written text.
This is probably one of the most important remote work skills that I think many people never think about when looking for remote work options.
3. Critical Thinking
Without any colleagues around to help you out and talk through ideas, being able to think critically on your own is vital to working from home.
You need to be able to come up with plans and ideas for effectively hitting your sales goals or quotas. It’s one of the best ways to get ahead at work, and be able to compete for better positions.
4. Computing Skills
When it comes to remote work, having certain computing skills is essential.
Some of the obvious ones would be being proficient at Microsoft Excel and other similar programs. But if you want to make sure you’re as attractive as possible to potential employees, then you might want to start taking coding classes or get good at data analysis.
5. Marketing and Sales Skills
While communication with employers or the set-up of your home office is important, you might also need marketing and sales skills. And if your job does involve selling products or service, it’ll be necessary to implement workable selling strategies depending on the position you’re going for.
This could mean cold calling prospective clients or companies, which will use the aforementioned communication skills and also require you to understand persuasive language and the product itself. Or it could mean that you’re required to create marketing campaigns for social media.
6. Flexibility
When it comes to being a remote employee and being able to work independently, flexibility is so important.
When you work a typical 9-5, you can generally know that once you leave the office, you won’t have to think about work until the next day.
But when you work from home, you may need more flexibility, and especially if it’s your own business.
While this flexibility can be great, allowing you to spend more time on other ventures or tasks, it can also be frustrating and get in the way of life.
For example, you may have told yourself that you’ll only work from 8 AM to 4 PM each day, yet you receive an urgent call from a client at 6:30 pm.
So to make sure that working from home works for you, this is something to think over, and just a good skill and mindset to embrace if it does.
7. Social Media
Depending on the remote job you’re aiming for, having social media skills might just be helpful.
Being able to effectively operate on certain platforms can be great for marketing and showcasing a product or service.
And whether you plan on working for a company or working for yourself, being able to get a clear and attractive message across to a wide audience is incredibly useful.
Grace Moser is the author and founder of Chasing Foxes, where she writes articles to help women create a life they love in big and small ways. She's been a full-time traveler since 2016 and loves sharing her experiences and exploring the world with her husband, Silas. Her lifestyle and travel advice can also be seen on sites such as Business Insider, Glamour, Newsweek, Huffpost, & Apartment Therapy.