Much has been written about the changes in work throughout COVID-19, including the fact that up to 46% of the US workforce has shifted to working remotely.
As a result, employers will continue to need leaders who can navigate the challenges of the “new normal” in their businesses – and it’s time to think about updating your resume to reflect these skills.
Have you shown adaptability in setting up or leveraging remote work opportunities for your employer? What about managing global teams in a far-flung location – or handling an intense workload while communicating virtually with your team?
If so, consider adding these skills to your resume as an indicator of resilience and innovation during the pandemic and beyond.
Here are some ideas for new achievements and expertise you can feature on your resume to demonstrate the flexibility and strategic thinking required for a COVID 19 job search:
Establishing divisions in a different continent or city.
Offshore teams are not a new concept, but the skill needed to establish and manage a division in a remote area has taken on more significance during COVID-19.
When writing your resume, consider how often you’ve needed to offload work to teams in a different time zone, adapt to a different work culture in another country or continent, or adjust your leadership style to clearly convey requirements to remote workers.
If you’ve been tasked with setting up a team in a remote area, break this achievement into a quick description for your resume, with data on the location, headcount, operations procedures, budget, and costs saved from the new group, as in this example:
Established 120-member contact center in Malaysia, delivering 32% additional support to customers, while reducing OPEX 18%.
Communicating with geographically dispersed teams during lockdown.
Even for executives and teams who work just minutes from each other, there are adjustments to be made. Your willingness to learn new communications methods – especially when this leads to greater productivity or revenue – are solid fodder for a COVID-era resume and job search.
As an example, this achievement shows how you can make a difference in company productivity from a single location:
Designed operational improvements enabling 43% additional work from teams in Canada, Latin America, and India.
In addition, you can mention the technologies or tools used to bolster your case, such as:
Instituted one-click Zoom screen-sharing methodology and processes used by trainers in APAC to educate new product users in the US.
Hiring new candidates using remote communications.
More than ever, employers have switched from in-person hiring techniques to remote interviews, recorded interview queries, and other tactics to vet applicants. Perhaps you’ve already used these methods for sourcing and interviewing candidates in other geographies.
By showcasing your part in these new and evolving techniques, you can make the case for why an employer in Fresno could trust your leadership from Boston. You can mention, for example, how you’ve hired top performers using video interviews during COVID-19 or assembled a panel interview team connecting with candidates on a group Zoom call.
Be sure to incorporate quantifiable metrics in your resume, as shown in this example:
Interviewed and hired new teams in Malaysia, India, and Brazil representing 45% of total reports.
You can also consider adding details of new onboarding procedures you’ve developed to help employees feel welcome, even when they haven’t met your team in person.
Conducting your work from another location.
If you’re accustomed to meeting deadlines from home or need to conduct group meetings via Zoom, your ability to be productive away from a brick-and-mortar office is highly relevant during the pandemic.
Brainstorm a list of achievements that show your adaptability to different work situations, such as the number of projects you’ve completed or the volume of team members managed remotely. You can also note the significance of new procedures you’ve developed that were adopted across other regions or continents also grappling with COVID-19 restrictions.
Make a list of the top wins that show how you deal with online interactions, particularly where you negotiated or led deals of substantial value. Add details on the players involved, impact to the company, or even the careers of the others involved, similar to this example:
Coached 3 Senior Sales leaders promoted to VP positions after leading global negotiations for #1 UK deal worth $US43M.
Mentoring your teams throughout pandemic-related stress.
It’s likely that many of your teams have needed to transition to remote work – requiring new ways of handling sales, customer inquiries, project management, technical support, and interaction, while also managing their own stress from social isolation, home-based work requirements, or childcare needs during the pandemic.
If you’ve needed to manage and mentor employees in response to pandemic-era changes, consider framing this as a new leadership skill – and documenting it for use on your resume. For example, you may have set up additional training or coaching sessions with team members to help them through the new world of work, or helped adjust project schedules to account for employees juggling the demands of family needs.
By noting your flexibility and innovation in these new situations, you can make employers aware of your resourcefulness , as in these examples:
Chaired COVID-19 Response Committee charged with updating telecommuting policy.
Built tiered technical support strategy to address project work across 4 time zones.
These resume updates reflect robust change management skills – and show how you’re equipped to deal with the unexpected throughout your career.
Given the likelihood that remote work and virtual communications are here to stay, there are numerous reasons to outline your readiness to operate a division, manage remote teams, and maintain top productivity during a pandemic.
Your ability to adapt to new situations, reach across time zones and geographies to work with others, and influence change is more valuable than ever.
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