A Guide to making your Job application stand out as a remote job candidate

By Nada Alnuzha

In order to make your job application stand out to potential employers, it’s best to understand the corporate recruiting process behind every job opening. A recent research study by Ladders specified that recruiters spent an average of six seconds reviewing a resume, and spent four of those six seconds exclusively viewing the following areas: Job title, companies worked at, start/end date of job and education.

What makes a good application?

The main purpose of a resume is to endorse your skills and experiences to potential recruiters, thus a good resume relies on the information it contains and how this information is presented on a page. When formatting your resume, ensure to draw attention and quality to the four focus areas aforementioned in order for you to become short-listed amongst the top qualifiers. Below is a guide to making your application stand out when applying for remote work and increasing the possibility of landing a job as a remote worker.  

Layout

A good resume includes having a clear and organised layout. To attract the focus on job titles, bold the titles and list descriptions of your experiences in bullet points. A 2017 eye tracking research by NN/g described the eye pattern when reading a document as forming the shape of the letter ‘F’. The F-shaped reading pattern means that the majority of focus is given to the top and left side of documents. When formatting your resume, it’s best to include the most important information on those parts of your resume. Avoid cluttering words into long sentences so as not to overwhelm the reader with a lot of superfluous information.

Typography

A staggering 61% of recruiters will automatically reject a resume that includes spelling mistakes. A thoroughly written resume is essential if you want it to become positively recognised. The rating of your resume will automatically improve if you show attentiveness to the quality of the content on the page.

Establish a connection with the recruiting team

One particularly effective way to make your application stand out amongst a number of applications is to allow the recruiting team to become acquainted with you. For example, sending a video application introducing yourself and describing your experiences and skillset or including a picture of yourself as part of your application will allow you to familiarise yourself to the recruiting team. Establishing a connection early on in your application process may benefit you, as recruiters may become more inclined towards selecting you for the position due to being familiar with you. Putting extra effort, such as this, into your application shows the recruiters how serious you are about receiving the job.

Display your knowledge of the organisation

Putting extra effort into finding out more about the type of company you are applying for and the company’s objectives will emphasise your dedication and genuine interest in the job. Before applying for the job, thoroughly prepare for it by researching about the company’s values, short-term goals and how and when it was established. The more knowledge you accumulate on the company and display in your application, the more you demonstrate your strong interest in becoming a part of the team, and the more you stand out to the recruiters. Displaying knowledge of a company also goes beyond your knowledge of it, and includes building a connection with members of the company. Networking is an organic approach that allows you to gain a wider perspective of the organisational culture and possibly get your application to be noticed.

Endorse your remote working skills

Any company hiring remotely is searching for an employee who is fully capable of working remotely. Along with effectively displaying your corporate skills, it is important to pay an equal amount of attention to portraying your telecommuting skills and qualities that will allow recruiters to realise that you are fit for the job. I have written about the skills you can cultivate in order to increase your prospect of landing a remote job here. If you have previous experience in working remotely, it’s best to mention it in your application. This allows the potential recruiters to have more trust in your capabilities in performing the remote work proficiently.  

Branding yourself through LinkedIn

As a professional networking platform, the contents of your resume should be displayed on your LinkedIn account. In addition to evaluating resumes, most companies that are seeking to hire remotely make it a priority of theirs to view your credentials on your LinkedIn profile. Treat your LinkedIn profile as your branding tool by replacing headlines with descriptive phrases of your experiences. Moreover, growing your network on LinkedIn is an effective method if you wish to have your profile recognised by prospect recruiters. Additionally, a study by TheLadders revealed that 19% of the time recruiters spend on a LinkedIn profile is spent on viewing a profile picture. Make sure to choose a picture of yourself that depicts you as professional and experienced.

Include a Cover Letter

A cover letter is a strong indicator of the amount of effort a candidate spent planning their application. Instead of writing a cover letter that merely regurgitates the contents of your resume, ensure that your cover letter serves you in your application process by answering many questions that recruiters are looking to have answered. For a remote team, it is important for a company to recognise that a candidate holds similar work values to the company, and is someone who can be trusted to do the job properly and independently. When writing a cover letter, aim to reflect your deep knowledge of the company and reasons behind why you wish to work at this particular company, as well as how you will become a valuable addition.

Finally, choose where to exert your effort. It serves you to be strategically selective when it comes to applying for remote work opportunities. Instead of jumping at every opportunity, seek the jobs that you believe to precisely fit your skillset and experiences. This approach helps you to avoid the low-quality applications, and allows you to place more effort in creating a rich and high-quality application that has more potential of standing out to recruiters.