The Ultimate Guide to Resume Templates for Remote Work Positions

Working remotely can be an exciting prospect, but it's also a time when you put your virtual skills to the test! Employers look for candidates who are clear communicators and can work independently and productively.

Treat your resume as a canvas on which you showcase more than just a list of skills and work history—it's a place to design an unforgettable impression. In this ultimate guide to resume templates for remote work positions, you'll learn how to structure your resume, what to include, common mistakes, and how to use templates explicitly tailored for remote work roles.

Why Do Remote-Specific Resumes Matter, Anyway?

Remote working requires a significant change in how you collaborate, manage tasks, and stay productive, all without going to the office. HRs aren't just interested in your technical qualifications. They're after strong indicators that you can manage time well, use digital tools efficiently, and work without supervision.

If you're applying for a customer support, marketing, development, or admin position, your resume should clearly reflect remote-relevant experience and skills.

Must-Haves in a Remote Job Resume Template

Most applicants today use an AI resume builder to create their resumes, but certain elements are non-negotiable when it comes to your resume, no matter what online tools you use. In the next section, we outline five essential elements that every remote job resume must include in order to make a notable impact.

1. Professional Header with a Remote-Friendly Location

A concise and sleek header that includes your name, phone number, email, LinkedIn URL, and city is a must. If you are open to working from anywhere, include something like "Open to Remote Opportunities" next to your location. Ideally, you should be able to include any portfolio links here as well.

2. Dedicated Work Experience Section

When working on your work history, it's essential to highlight your job titles, duties, and how you contributed and collaborated in hybrid or remote settings. Make sure your resume template has enough space to:

• List your job titles, employer names, and employment dates.
• Indicate if your roles were remote, hybrid, or if you were part of a distributed team.
• Leverage the impact of bullet points when talking about your past achievements, focusing on aspects like your autonomy, communication skills, and proficiency with digital tools.

This approach will provide a clearer picture of your experience and adaptability in various work environments.

3. Skills List Focused on Remote Work

Every solid remote job resume example includes a skills section that blends job-specific abilities with soft and technical skills relevant to remote positions. Make sure your template allows you to include your best skills in a bullet list format. Whether you have years of experience or are just starting out, list the skills that best match the requirements in the job description.

4. Career Objective or Resume Summary

Including a separate section for a career objective if you're entering the workforce for the first time or changing fields, or a resume summary if you have a decade-long career, can help give the hiring manager a quick snapshot of your suitability for a remote role.

When crafting your career objective or resume summary, aim for no more than three to four concise sentences that focus on impact and relevance. Highlight one or two core remote competencies—such as proficient use of Slack and GitHub or strong written communication—that match the job posting's keywords. Keep the tone active, results-oriented, and specific to the challenges in remote working. Try to highlight what motivates you about this position and your adaptability.

Finally, aim for clarity and brevity—remember, less is more when capturing attention in a busy hiring pipeline.

5. Education Section

This section should have a simple and clean format (consider using a bullet-style), listing your degree(s), field of study, university, and graduation date. Think project-management credentials (e.g., PMP, Scrum Master), cloud-platform certifications (AWS, Azure), UX/design boot camps, or even short courses in remote-team leadership.

If you're applying for a position and have no experience, it will hold more weight—so consider including the following:

• Academic achievements
• Remote class projects
• Online courses or workshops you've completed, especially if they’re directly relevant to remote work or the position you’re applying for

Best Resume Templates for Remote Work Positions

While resume template styles can vary across platforms, most follow common layout, structural, and content principles. It's important to understand the advantages of each, as the best resume templates typically incorporate these elements, which every remote worker should consider when preparing their application.

1. Two-Column Resume Template

The two-column layout is a very popular layout choice. It contains a vertical split that helps organize content effectively. A narrow side column typically includes contact information, skills, and certifications, while the wider, main column showcases work experience and education. It strikes a nice balance between design and functionality.

Best For: Applicants with diverse experience, such as those involved in freelancing or project-based remote roles.

Key features:

• A space-efficient design, ideal for candidates with a variety of roles.
• Highlights tools and remote-friendly skills without making the page feel cluttered.
• Keeps information organized and accessible.
• Works well when creating a free remote resume template tailored for flexible industries.

This style is especially helpful for remote roles that require multitasking or managing several projects at once.

2. Hybrid Resume Template (Combination Format)

A hybrid resume combines the strengths of both the chronological and functional resume styles. It's a flexible format that allows for showcasing skills (like a functional resume) while also providing a timeline of work experience (like a chronological resume).

Best for: Those with diverse work backgrounds, career changers, freelancers, and applicants with both traditional and remote job experience. It allows them to highlight transferable skills and relevant achievements at the top of their resume.

Key features:

• Prominent skills section that showcases remote work readiness.
• Accommodates non-linear career paths and contract-based work.
• Makes room for tools and platforms like Zoom, Slack, and Trello.

The hybrid layout is most effective when you want to create a remote job resume with no experience and mention qualifications up front before diving into your work timeline.

3. ATS-Friendly Resume Template (Text-Based Format)

An ATS-friendly template strips away complex formatting and focuses solely on content. It's optimized for applicant tracking systems that scan resumes for keywords and structure.

Best For: Applying through job boards or companies that rely on automated resume screening.

Key features:

• Simple formatting with no columns, tables, or images.
• Compatible with most hiring platforms.
• Uses standard headings (Work Experience, Education, Skills, etc.)
• Easy to convert into a work-from-home resume PDF.

This template is ideal if you're applying to large organizations or remote jobs via platforms like Indeed or LinkedIn, which require machine-readable documents.

How to Showcase Experience on a Remote Work Resume

You don't need to do anything too fancy for a remote work resume. Simply add your professional experience in reverse chronological order, as usual. But be strategic. For any remote-friendly role, explicitly mention that the work was remote.

Check out the remote job resume example below:

Project Coordinator — ABC Tech
Remote — Mar 2020 to Present

• Coordinated deliverables across teams in three time zones using Slack and Trello.
• Reduced project turnaround times by 18% through improved scheduling and communication workflows.
• Conducted weekly video check-ins and tracked task progress in Asana.

Even if the role wasn't fully remote, hiring managers will look for anything that proves you've succeeded outside of a traditional office, so ensure you quantify whenever possible.

What If You Don't Have Remote Experience?

If you're writing a remote job resume with no experience or transitioning from in-office to remote roles, don't panic. Highlight transferable experiences where you've demonstrated autonomy, digital communication, or cross-team collaboration.

Consider including:

• Academic or group projects completed remotely
• Freelance or consulting gigs
• Volunteer work using digital tools
• Online certifications or training programs

Use the experience section to illustrate how you've communicated digitally, self-managed tasks, or adapted to new tech platforms.

Top 4 Things to Avoid in a Remote Work Resume

Even with a great layout and impressive experience, a few mistakes can sabotage your remote job application. Here are five things you absolutely want to avoid when creating a remote work resume:

1. Vague experience: Always clarify if a previous job was remote or hybrid.
2. Using generic language: Avoid phrases like "Was part of X project" and use strong action words, such as Led, Guided, Directed, Coordinated, Managed, Assisted, etc.
3. Overly general objectives: Don't just say you want a "challenging remote position." Align your objective with the company's mission or values.
4. Neglecting collaboration tools: If you're familiar with platforms like Zoom, Slack, ClickUp, or Notion, include them—remote hiring managers do care.

Featured Image by Freepik.