Virtual Assistant Jobs Summary
A virtual assistant works for companies, businesses or entrepreneurs by providing various kinds of services from a remote location. Nowadays, various industries are in search
To fulfill these assignments, the virtual assistant must have a decent internet connection and a working desktop computer or laptop.
The level of difficulty in performing virtual assistant jobs depends on
Age is a factor less considered when working as a virtual assistant. However,
In-Depth Virtual Summary Jobs Details
To better understand what virtual assistant jobs entail, let us look at these images. They are screenshots of a Virtual Assistant post at BELAY.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
VIRTUAL ASSISTANT FREELANCER VS. BUSINESS OWNER VS. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR
A freelance virtual assistant is someone who looks for his/her own client. A VA business owner is someone who has put up a virtual assistant business and pitches for deals that his/her hired people could work on. An independent contractor is someone who works for a particular VA agency. Figure 1 and Figure 3 above show that the job posting is looking for someone to fill the contractor position at BELAY.
If you apply for this job and get hired, you will work remotely from home for businesses and companies that BELAY will assign to you.
education and experience
These are important requirements in most job applications. When you apply for a job in a real world, you look for the required educational background and work experience of job applicants. The same goes for virtual assistant jobs. Different job posts involve different criteria from employers. Looking at Figure 3 once more, the ideal candidate for the job is a college graduate and has considerable work experience as a virtual assistant. If you are just starting out on this career, you need to look for other job posts that welcome fresh graduates or are less experienced in the virtual office setting.
duties and responsibilities
Virtual assistant jobs can involve a lot of different tasks depending on what the employer requires. Some tasks are basic and personal like managing emails, setting up a schedule and booking a hotel. A VA may also work on industry-specific tasks like organizing
skills and attributes
I think being tech savvy is an important skill that a virtual assistant should possess. This career revolves around the digital world of the internet so someone
Since the VA will handle various tasks, this person should be good at organization and paying attention to details.
requirements
The virtual assistant jobs will
Deciding on what laptop or computer to use is most likely the first technical part of the virtual assistant jobs. It is a must that you do not settle on anything that you see that fits your budget. Instead, you must buy the equipment that will perform satisfactorily for the tasks and will meet the technical requirements of an employer. From Figure 3, you could see that the VA contractor’s computer should at least 1 GHz dual core processor,
The basic requirements of this job include:
1. Desktop computer (PC) or laptop with a minimum 8GB RAM
A PC is suitable for someone who does not intend to travel a lot while performing the VA tasks while a laptop offers more portability, which is ideal for traveling or moving around. Whether it is a PC or a laptop that you ought to buy will also depend on your soon to be assignments.
RAM is an important feature/component of a computer setup because it affects how fast or how slow its performance will be. This article will provide you with a more detailed discussion on what computer setup will be most suitable to buy according to the virtual assistant jobs you are applying for. Below is a screenshot of the minimum RAM needed for particular VA tasks.
Figure 4
This will give you an idea about how much RAM you need to have in your PC or laptop so that its performance could keep up with the tasks they will assign you to complete. An 8 GB RAM would be good enough if the VA needs to supervise social media accounts, handle finances and manage a
Depending on the VA position, they might require you to have a webcam, a headset, and other tools/gadgets for performing your tasks. Take, for example, the job post shown in Figure 5. They require the applicant to have a headset with a noise cancellation feature since the job is
Figure 5
2. Internet Connection
Internet is another important requirement of people working as virtual assistants. It is what makes this job possible. Therefore, the internet service you ought to subscribe to must be good enough. A Fiber internet connection (if possible) with at least 3Mbps speed is a likely recommendation.
Right from the initial interview, especially if it is through a video call, the employer would already assess if you are suitable for the VA position. Imagine if you are in the middle of a video interview and the connection became intermittent or slow, you could expect the interviewer to tell you he will just call you back and job applicants definitely know what this statement really means.
As a virtual worker, it may also guarantee your peace of mind when you have a backup internet so that in case there is a problem with your main Internet Service Provider, you will have another ISP that you can use.
3. Quiet Room, Suitable Desk, and Chair
You would not want any distraction from your tasks, so it will always be best that your workstation is in a quiet room. If an office secretary has a specific desk and chair, so should you as a virtual assistant. Any working desk and chair will do, but what could give you more comfort and productivity are ergonomic ones. Watch the video below to watch how you can set up your desk ergonomically.
How To Apply
To apply for the position of an independent contractor of a Virtual Assistant agency, you would first need to become a member of that agency. One very common tip for online work applicants is to stay away from any organization or agency that asks people to pay for registration fees before they can apply for a job. It will be better to sign up for free to online job portals with listings of virtual assistant jobs.
If you are eyeing to be a freelance virtual assistant or virtual assistant business owner, then you should use some marketing methods (email, direct message, social media) to land a job or a contract with other businesses and companies looking for VAs. Apparently, there are some employers who could look for people who can work as freelance VAs, as you could see from Figure 6.
Figure 6
Potential Income
The salary rate of virtual assistants will be commensurate to education, experience and skills (most employers give more weight to experience and skills).
A virtual assistant usually receives payment through an online money/remittance processing system such as
This will, again, be an arrangement that the employer will set. Some pay weekly, others bi-weekly and there are also those that pay monthly.
Salary and Income
There are online resources such as PayScale that show the wide-ranging pay for VAs according to their experience, skills, clientele and industry.
The region where the VA lives and works will also affect the pay rate. In the Philippines, for example, the average hourly rate is Php 194.42 or $200- $2200 per month, according to this blog. This blog will also inform you about varying salary rates of virtual assistants across the world. Figure 7 shows a job post found at OnlineJobs
Figure 7
You may discuss with the employer your thoughts, insights, and ideas about the payment arrangements; Otherwise, you may decline a job offer if you think the arrangements will not suit your needs and preferences.
Work Schedule
Once again, the employer sets the work schedule of a virtual assistant.
From Figure 3, the agency requires that the VA be available during business hours from Monday to Friday and could work at least 20 hours a week.
Figure 6, which is a job post found in Flexjobs, the employer is looking for VA applicants who can work Freelance or Part time on a Flexible schedule. Figure 7 shows that the job position requires 50-70 hours of work per week for a Full time VA. From Figure 5, you can see that the hired Full time VA will have 10 paid vacation leaves.
Benefits / Bonus/ Increase/ Training Provided
This is also an arrangement by the employer. Figure 5, for example, shows that a Health Allowance will
From the examples we have, it will be safe to assume that when you work as full-time contractor virtual assistant for a certain agency, you will have more benefits and perks than the freelancers and part-timers.
Conclusion
PROS
CONS
I