Top 9 Remote Skills Graduates Need to Demonstrate in 2025

That

Now that the job world has had to adapt to a new climate, over the past year, certain soft skills have gained great importance in terms of prepping you for hybrid or completely remote work. Not only do you need the hard skills and industry-specific knowledge gained from the theory taught in your degree, but it is equally crucial to have the right kind of character for dealing with your workload - regardless of whether you work from the comfort of your own home or from the office.

After all, working at home in your own little bubble is a bit different from being present in the company building every day with your colleagues. However, there are certain skills that are universal for all kinds of work - remote or in-person.

Top 9 Graduate Skills Employers Look For 

Think you have a couple of those up your sleeve? Now let’s think about the situation-specific skills that you need to polish so that you can commit to working to the best of your ability. 

Top Graduate Skills Employers Want

Let’s understand why these skills are so key a little more in detail. 

1. Adaptability

After the recent months of dramatic change and enforced acclimatisation, is it a surprise that the first freshly in-demand value is adaptability? We think not.

Flexibility and openness to modifying methods of carrying out tasks are vital in terms of both increasing your employability and keeping your sanity during said unpredictable times. The reality is that employers want adapters, not complainers.  

2. Digital Literacy

In the home office, you are no longer within arm’s reach of your colleagues. You can’t print out a document and hand it to them in person, nor even leave it on their desk. The only way to continue collaborating and keep an eye on your joint projects is to manage them digitally.

With documents flying continuously between departments, getting rescripted, adapted, and passed on to clients, you need to know your way around a computer. You need to be able to upload and export projects on a variety of platforms, as well as add comments, track changes, and maybe even automate the apparition of related tasks and their deadlines.

In addition, the ability to collaborate on documents and live edit whilst screen sharing on a video call is highly necessary. Find out about the best apps for remote work that you should get to grips with.

3. Time Management & Discipline

As the day is no longer punctuated by the commute to and from the office, you must be careful to stick to your hours and not get stuck into a project and end up toiling late into the night. Equally, just because your boss isn’t there breathing down your neck, does not mean you can put to one side that project that you find particularly tedious.

What’s more, with the kitchen and the lounge right next to you throughout the whole working day, you really must resist temptation and not succumb to the distractions your house offers. Forbidding yourself from working in bed or extending one’s lunch break a little too long takes a great amount of self-discipline.  

4. Written Communication Skills

If we work remotely, our communication with others will be mostly based on writing. Even at the office, verbal communication is not always possible - many exchanges take place over the chat.

Without face-to-face communication - tone of voice and body language cues- it goes without saying that everything needs to be explained clearly and completely. Just because you have been working on a project for weeks and know it inside out, doesn’t mean that whoever you pass it on will immediately understand the brief if you only email them a couple of phrases about its technicalities.

Remember, every worker is in their own separate bubble, immersed in their own tasks, so always give extra detail when communicating to give colleagues the best chance of getting up to speed. 

5. Initiative

It is an incredibly important quality to have. You need to check in regularly with your team and your boss to ensure that, firstly, the team spirit remains intact, and secondly, that no one begins a project on the wrong foot.

That rule applies both when you see everyone every day in person and when you work from home. Naturally, it is more difficult to be aware of others when working from separate locations as, undisturbed in your room or office, you quickly become engrossed in your own duties.

Although your role might be entry-level, you can still showcase your leadership potential. Making sure everything runs smoothly in your team is beneficial for you, too, after all. When it comes to projects, everyone is evaluated based on their own part - and given how said elements are tightly intertwined, it is virtually impossible to do well if you don't communicate your work to others. 

As cliche as it sounds, there really is no place for "I" in "team".  Communicative and assertive graduates always stand out to employers.  

6. Empathy 

Bear in mind that working from home is not the ideal setup for everyone. Not everyone has purchased a plan that provides them with a mega high-speed internet connection. Some employees might share a home with many others and struggle to find quiet or space to work.

Working parents might have young children that they cannot take their eyes off for more than  5 minutes. Being empathetic and understanding the obstacles your work friends might be facing makes for a much healthier and happier “office” relationship.  

Put all these soft skills together and what do you get? The perfect graduate candidate for 2025! 

If you want to practice the blog's advice, check out the task we've prepared for you, and don't forget to mark it as done afterwards!