It seems more and more people today are looking for a way to become a virtual assistant. Virtual assistant jobs have gained a lot of interest lately, as evidenced by the growing number of ads looking for one. It’s fairly obvious why. The flexibility of working from a stress-free environment such as your home (or any preferred location, for that matter), as well as making extra money is an alluring opportunity. Another major factor is the accessibility of the market, as there are no limitations to certain areas. In that regard, the whole world is an open market.
However, while being a virtual assistant is becoming more popular, there is still a lot of uncertainty. As the position is still evolving into a full-fledged mainstream occupation, there are certain things to look for. No worries, you’ll find all the information here on how to become a virtual assistant.
Expectations for virtual assistants
First, leave your expectations at the door if you are just coming into this field of work. You have to do a little bit of research in order to get a better picture about virtual assistance. This is a global profession. The world is a huge place and the competition can be overwhelming. For some people, being proficient in English language automatically means they are eligible for this line of work. Granted, knowledge of English language as a universally accepted means of communication is a big part of the job. This may be especially evident in more general virtual assistant tasks like email management, but it’s far from being the decisive one.
That is why you need to keep your expectations in check. A worker from a different part of the world may work for a fraction of the virtual assistant salary you are seeking. Living standards are different throughout the globe and this is something you’ll just have to accept as is. Arguably, some of these individuals degrade the service by working for peanuts, so to speak, but there is quite enough of them capable of ousting you on the less valuable work for a much smaller price. Don’t let this discourage you. It’s a free market after all, and if you can provide high-quality help you will always be highly desired.
The triple E: Virtual Assistant expertise, experience, and education
This is where your skills and knowledge kick in. A virtual assistant job is a lot of things in terms of work. You can be in charge of almost anything, providing you have the abilities to do so. It’s also a great responsibility and fortunately, it gives you some breathing space to play to your strengths.
Increasingly, virtual assistant work is divided into categories. The first and the most widespread one is the role of a general virtual assistant.
General virtual assistant jobs (GVA) are an all-around solution when it comes to saving time and taking care of more important things. A GVA can help with email and file management, scheduling meetings, arranging travel plans and so on. The list is long and often unspecific so there will be some time getting to know the complete role through virtual assistant training.
However, a general virtual assistant cannot handle all the work. That is why there is a classification of roles. It is unreasonable to waste your talent as a content writer, for example, on doing general tasks when there is a specific role tailored for you. The same goes for any other role or category. A web developer is just that, an audio/video professional takes care of media files, etc. You get the idea.
The list of various tasks that virtual assistants can handle is a mixed bag of services, almost the same as the list of roles that are available. Play to your strengths by seeking out the work you are specialized in. And remember – not one role can cover all the others so always look for the role where your expertise, education, and experience can prevail. Of course, much of it depends on the employer and the hiring requirements.
Where to look for virtual assistant jobs
Once again, the Internet is your friend. For the most part, you’ll likely find a virtual job by performing online searches. After all, it is the nature of the profession. With that in mind, there are some specific places you can search.
Depending on the way you want to pursue this profession, you can act as a freelancing VA, if you are looking for a part-time employment or simply trying it out. One of the best ways to find work is to browse through freelancing platforms such as upwork.com, freelancer.com, and others. These are websites where both businesses and independent professionals can interview, hire and work with freelancers on a worldwide basis. This means you can retain all the flexibility you want regarding work hours. You can either seek part-time assistance, full-time employment or occasional, per-need basis. And the best part? Seeing as these are global platforms, there is no shortage of ads looking for personal virtual assistants.
If you are inclined to make this a permanent contract job, then you might also employ the good, old-fashion email pitch and directly contact companies that offer virtual assistance to their clients. Companies like Uassist.ME, Worldwide101, Zirtual and many others are often looking for and hiring new talent to improve and enrich their services. As technology advances, there are new jobs and professions created regularly so you just might be what they’re looking for. Furthermore, you are not limited to contacting companies. You can offer your services via email to any website or individual you seem fit, especially if they have a big workload.
Another option is joining virtual assistant job forums. Websites like www.vanetworking.com and virtualassistantforums.com provide places where you can find all the necessary information. These sites offer networking through many ways, such as a forum, job board, industry directory, blogs and calendar of events. Most of these have a free membership that should suffice, but some also have paid premium areas for advanced users.
Other things to consider
One factor that you may overlook when seeking a virtual assistant job, but might be very important is the time zone. If an employer is looking to have his work done while he’s sleeping so he can have it at his disposal first thing in the morning, your time zone may play an important role. Of course, the same goes for the people who rely on real-time work. A client from a different corner of the world may not off-limits so there are options available.
Another thing that you may use to your advantage is virtual training programs. There are a number of websites offering virtual assistant training. These online training portals might help ease the process of starting as a VA. It may give you a competitive edge if a potential client sees you are already in the know.
Closing words
So, there you have it. Hopefully, you now have a clear picture of what awaits you as a virtual assistant. There is a wide array of things you can do, but you should market yourself within your specialties. The world of virtual assistance is rapidly evolving and specialty hiring will be more and more prominent. In addition, don’t be afraid to explore or try a couple of gigs before settling in on what you want. You have all the flexibility at your disposal so make the best of it.
Good luck!
Update (November 5, 2017): Upwork now offers a “Best Virtual Assistant Available” feature here. So that is another option for listing Virtual Assistant services.