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Advice / Career Paths / Training & Development

5 Skills That'll Make You Look Very (Very!) Qualified for a Remote Position

The first seven skills mentioned last month are all important to have for every remote worker. Without them, you’ll have a hard time landing any remote job, let alone your dream job.

But there are specific skills you can learn that will qualify you for a lot more in-demand remote jobs. Yes, you can find a remote job without them, but having them will give you options.

Learn these five skills to open up a whole new world of remote jobs and stop dreading your morning commute.


1. HTML & CSS

HTML & CSS are the basic building blocks of the web. Every website you see is built with HTML, and every modern website uses CSS both for styling and to improve user experience. In the simplest terms, HTML contains the content, while CSS contains the way it’s presented to the world.

Every development job and the vast majority of web design jobs will require you to know HTML & CSS. And even jobs like marketing and some customer support positions will benefit from a basic knowledge of HTML & CSS.

2. JavaScript

Modern web design relies heavily on JavaScript for a lot of website functionality and interaction. JavaScript (and libraries like jQuery that build on JavaScript’s functions and make it more user-friendly to code) is a vital skill for anyone who wants to build websites or become a front-end developer.


3. WordPress and PHP

WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world, and PHP is the language that it’s built on. There are two distinct skill sets that are useful when it comes to WordPress.

Knowing how to use WordPress, including how to set up websites and do basic theme customization, is important for people in marketing positions, as well as a useful skill for designers.

Knowing how to code WordPress is also useful for designers and can become the basis of a development career for a lot of people. Whether you spend your days working on WP themes or coding plugins from scratch, understanding PHP and the way it works with WordPress is vital.


4. UX Design

User experience (UX) design is one of the best-paid tech jobs out there (average salary is around $90,000 per year), and it’s growing at a crazy rate (up to 30% according to some estimates). If you want a high-paid job with some security, then UX skills will never serve you wrong.

But even if you don’t want to become a dedicated UX designer, understanding the basics of how users experience a website, how design and interaction impact their experience, and how to use those things to create the best user experience possible, will help both designers and developers to create better sites.


5. Data Analysis

Knowing how to analyze data available to you comes in handy for a variety of jobs, including marketing, web development, data analysis, and strategy jobs.

The web revolves around data. Everything is built on it, and it’s constantly being collected about everything we do online. Learning how to use basic programs like Google Analytics is a good place to start.

Beyond that, learning how to work with large data sets and interpret that information makes you a very valuable employee across a ton of departments.

Be sure you get your copy of the free Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Resume for everything you need to know about creating an amazing resume that will help you get an interview, including templates and examples!


Photo of woman at desk courtesy of izusek/Getty Images.