What is a Virtual Assistant? A virtual assistant or VA is a person that provides a wide range of services for a company while working from home. Anyone that has a computer, printer, fax machine, telephone and Internet access is a good candidate to become a virtual assistant.
Virtual assistant is a relatively new concept in the business world but it is a fast growing industry. If you want to work from home in your pajamas and have flexible work hours with good pay, you should consider becoming a virtual assistant
Why Companies Hire Virtual Assistants
With the decline in the economy many companies have resorted to laying off employees yet they still need to have their day to day work completed. Other companies have learned that it is more cost effective to hire virtual assistants than it is to hire full-time employees. Companies are able to reduce their expenses by avoiding paying for insurance, benefits, retirement accounts, taxes or office equipment when they hire a VA.
Virtual assistants are more cost effective for companies. The company has to pay a salary to a full-time employee whether that employee is working or not. The company only pays a virtual assistant for the hours that they actually work. This is much cheaper for the company and a great way for them to boost their profits by reducing salary expenses.
Tasks Performed by Virtual Assistants
Companies are looking for virtual assistants that can do a wide range of tasks. VAs have traditionally been responsible for performing administrative tasks such as phone calls, word processing and data entry. Expectations for VAs have expanded to doing more detailed work like bookkeeping, payroll and accounting.
Smaller companies are using virtual assistants to contact customers, arrange client meetings, product research, product promotion and customer support. Internet savvy customers are using assistants to design websites, blog posting, email communication and maintaining a social media appearance.
How to Become a Virtual Assistant
There are 2 paths to becoming a virtual assistant. The first path is to promote yourself in order to attract customers. The second path is to register with a reputable company that provides VAs to companies that have a job vacancy.
Promoting yourself in order to solicit companies to hire you may be a very cheap way to get started as a virtual assistant. All that is involved is creating your own website and posting your C.V for all to read. You can also register a profile and apply for freelance positions on the large Freelance job markets like Elance, Odesk and Guru.
Registering with a company will allow your C.V. to get in front of a large number of companies that are looking to hire. This allows you to have a much better chance of getting hired. Plus it allows you to easily find your next assignment when your existing project ends.
Job Flexibility
Sometimes people have commitments at home that prevent them from working full time. This could be the result of having a child, caring for a family member or a medical condition. Some people that have recently been made redundant have chosen to become a virtual assistant instead of competing for a job vacancy in this economy. Being a virtual assistant allows you to set the hours that you work from home and for how long.
The rise of the Internet has made it possible for the rise of virtual assistants. Companies realize that they can greatly reduce their expenses and improve their profits by outsourcing the mundane and repetitive tasks performed in their company. They are able to tap into a large workforce of people that are looking for jobs that they can perform while working from home without being tied to a 9 to 5 job. If you are looking for a job with flexible hours and good pay, then consider becoming a virtual assistant.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE – 5 Key Steps to Becoming a Successful Virtual Assistant.
Lisa Taliga’s ‘5 Steps to becoming a Successful Virtual Assistant‘ is a MUST have for anyone who is serious about becoming a Virtual Assistant or Freelancer.
About Tom White
