After several years in a pandemic, many companies are deciding what the future of work looks like for their organizations. Unfortunately for some HR professionals who want to continue working remotely, many of their organizations will be going back to the office at least part-time.
If your company will be returning to the office, but you’d rather contribute virtually, it’s time to look for a remote HR job. While the space is competitive, there are still plenty of online HR jobs popping up daily. With the right strategy, you can find a job that will give you the flexibility and job experience you are looking for.
Remote work has skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic.
Having a taste of remote work has massively changed workplace expectations. According to a recent Owl Labs survey, 71% of employees surveyed want a hybrid or remote work style after the pandemic is over.
As remote work has become a large part of the workforce, HR professionals have been behind the scenes helping companies pivot, creating efficient processes, and keeping as many employees on board as possible in The Great Resignation.
HR professionals have dealt with many burdens since the pandemic started. On top of their existing responsibilities, many HR professionals have been tasked with keeping their teams safe, dealing with vaccination requirements, and acting as the messenger when companies lay off workers. All of these experiences have weighed down HR workers.
According to the Paychex Pulse of HR report, “Seven in 10 HR leaders say this has been one of the most challenging years in their career.” HR leaders are dealing with the pandemic's effects, additional turnover, and all of their job-specific duties.
With all the issues that HR professionals are facing, it’s no wonder they would like to find a virtual role that helps them grow and be as flexible as possible. It’s okay to want to find a better people operations role that meets your needs as a leader. Here are some tips to help you pivot to a more flexible, remote role.
“Remote jobs are in hot demand at the moment, especially with many companies planning on bringing their employees back into the office,” shares Michelle Sheridan, a talent development manager, HR consultant, and freelance writer.
Since so many organizations plan to go back to the office, finding an organization that plans to stay remote is becoming more competitive. The strategies we go over today will put you ahead of other candidates so you can find the perfect recruiter jobs (or any other HR role)!
Depending on the job board you select, remote jobs may not be the first option you see.
“If you are looking solely for remote opportunities, be sure to filter your search either by entering the keyword or selecting "remote" for the location,” says Charlotte Kackley, HR Director at Merchant Maverick.
Filtering for remote jobs will save you a lot of time when setting up job alerts or looking on larger job boards.
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If you are looking for a remote role, you need to consider that different industries, companies, and roles may lean remote or in-person.
Anika Briner, Director of Human Capital at Enspira, offered great advice for finding the right companies. “Search for industries (e.g., consulting) that generally operate as remote-first; and be clear about how much or if you’re willing to travel some—which can dictate where you land.”
Briner continues, “Know that some industries (such as biotech, in which many offices are lab-based facilities requiring in-person work) may culturally lean more towards having all roles in-office, even if you know the actual work doesn’t need to happen there.”
As a last piece of advice, Briner shares that HR professionals should look for remote-first companies because they will likely have more open HR opportunities. “Any time there’s even a small misalignment between the organization and the individual, the likelihood of resentment/micromanagement skyrockets—so starting from a place of agreement and alignment is key!”
Your resume is essential for the job search process. Creating a stellar resume will help put your foot in the door for great remote HR jobs. What do you need to do to create a resume that stands out?
Ana Goehner, a bilingual career strategist with Digital Butterfly Communications, LLC., offers her best tips for creating a winning resume:
“For the work experience bullet points, list relevant skills for remote employees (communication, collaboration, tech-savvy, etc.).” Goehner shared a few examples of work experience you can highlight in your HR resume, “Implemented an HRIS onboarding module during the pandemic, trained 20 recruiters, and saved $500K per year.”
Overall, you want to feature the skills employers are looking for in the remote workspace. Be sure to focus on the outcomes, like how much money you saved or how you increased/decreased something that improved the business.
Once you have an interview, it’s equally important to be ready to give more detailed answers about your work experience and how you can manage remote and HR work.
“Working remotely requires you to take that extra step of initiative when you see an issue and proactively seek solutions, and many remote managers want to know that they can trust their team to keep the wheels moving even when they’re not in the same office for 8 hours a day,” adds Sheridan.
Make sure that you use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) model to tell your best remote work stories during the interview process.
Many HR professionals have recently switched to remote roles. If you need some help breaking into this aspect of your career, reach out for help.
Create a list of questions about what to expect and how to prepare for a remote HR job search. Reach out to some colleagues or someone you find on LinkedIn. Many HR professionals will be willing to spend 20 minutes answering questions and helping you make the transition.
You can also find great colleagues by joining Twitter chats like #HRSocialHour, which take place twice a month. It can be challenging to speak to a stranger about career progression. Professionals who join these chats are already engaging in a discussion about HR.
Last, it’s important to adjust your mindset when thinking about remote roles.
Jewel von Kempf, Head of People at Coinme, shares, “You need to enter a remote HR role with a growth mindset. Most likely, a company hiring remote employees will be hiring them in multiple states, if not countries,”
If you don’t have the energy to expand your current HR knowledge, you might want to stick to the states or countries you know.
Now that you have some tips on how to get a remote job, let’s cover some places you can go to find the remote HR job of your dreams.
Congratulations! By reading this blog, you already have access to a stellar remote HR job board. HR Chief's job board is consistently updated with high-quality remote HR jobs. Every job on the board is well-vetted with clear labels to make your job search a breeze. Are you looking for a leadership role or a company with salary transparency? HR Chief is there to help you cut the fluff and find stellar remote HR jobs.
Indeed has made its mark in the job search industry. Many organizations and job seekers trust Indeed, and there are tons of roles available on the platform. There is a lot of information to digest on the Indeed platform, but they have a great filtering system to help you find the right fit.
Another fantastic option for finding a job is LinkedIn. Many organizations post their jobs on LinkedIn, and recruiters love to check out the site for potential candidates. For passive job seekers, keep your LinkedIn profile updated and share the projects you’ve been working on with other HR professionals. If you want to take a more active role, utilize LinkedIn’s job search and easy apply features.
Another option for finding remote work is ZipRecruiter. This organization has put many resources into its technology that helps employees get the jobs they want. ZipRecruiter’s AI Phil acts as a personal assistant for job seekers. It lets you land in the inbox of your dream companies, and it sends you jobs you might enjoy.
Many people know about Glassdoor for their company reviews, but the company also has job searching capabilities. The best part about using Glassdoor is that you can easily see a company’s rating and reviews when looking at a job opportunity.
If you are like many HR professionals, you probably have access to a SHRM membership. Besides being an excellent resource for new and veteran HR professionals, SHRM has a fantastic job board where you can find HR jobs. Compared to other job boards, SHRM’s experience is a bit clunky, but it provides great information about each role on the site.
If you're looking for virtual human resources jobs at startups, Wellfound is a great solution for finding the proper role. It’s not always easy to find a smaller company that’s excited to bring on HR team members, so this site helps you find those smaller companies who need human resources support.
We Work Remotely is a job board for remote work. It focuses on programming and development jobs, but other openings are available. HR professionals who want to seek a remote job will probably want to head to the management and finance category to find a role.
Remotive is another remote-only job board option. Remotive’s job board does feel a bit easier to navigate for HR professionals than We Work Remotely. For example, there is an actual “human resources” category on the Remotive site. You can also easily view whether jobs are USA only, worldwide, or based in another location.
Lastly, look at specific company websites to see if there are any openings at your favorite companies. If you are excited about a company’s mission and want to work there, you’ll be more engaged in the conversations, and your job applications will be more detailed. While checking your favorite company’s site isn’t a way to reliably find job openings, it’s a good idea to keep career sites bookmarked and check occasionally.
Check out the HR Chief job board for a stellar remote HR job-seeking experience.
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With the right strategies, an engaging resume, and a place to find remote work, you will be well on your way to finding the remote job you’ve been dreaming of.
Companies are looking for remote HR talent and listing new opportunities every day. Don’t forget to keep up with HR Chief’s job board and create a habit of finding and applying for remote roles.
With a bit of work, you’ll be enjoying your new remote HR role in no time.
