HOW TO BECOME A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT?

The Philippine Star published a news article regarding the worsening traffic situation here in the Philippines. It is mentioned that a Data from the World Health Organization published in 2018 said that the total life expectancy in the Philippines for both men and women is 69.3 years. Palafox, an urban planning company made a study about the traffic situation, and the sad conclusion is that Filipinos lose 9 to 15 years of their lives sitting in traffic. Given that facts, many Filipinos are now considering a career change - home-based freelancing. Have you also thought about it? If you go to online-based job sites, one of the top job titles that have high-demand is a Virtual Assistant. So what is a virtual assistant? According to Wikipedia: A virtual assistant is generally self-employed and provides professional administrative, technical, or creative assistance to clients remotely from a home office. Yes, it is a work-from-home opportunity. That what makes virtual assistance attractive, working from the comfort of your own home, spending more time with your family, while you earn the same as your current 9 - 5 job, with the opportunity of getting paid even more.

So how do you become a virtual assistant? 

Do you need experience? Definitely not! Your corporate job is a big plus already! Are you a fresh grad and want to be a virtual assistant? No experience needed as well! Clients from different countries are after your skills and what you can offer to their company. However, to calm your nerves, I’ve come up with a list to help you prepare to be a virtual assistant!

1. Workspace - Yes, even though you work from home you need to have a decent workspace. Some clients require video calls and you need to keep things in your background professional. Make sure you have a decent work area. Also, please be in your formal attire when being interviewed.
2. Tech - No need for a high-end pc or laptop here. Just like the ones you use in your office. The current trend is Core i3 (or AMD equivalent) with 8 gig RAM. A decent camera and headset. Definitely, a stable internet connection above 5 Mbps speed.
3. Learn the software used - Google Docs/Sheets, Google Calendar, MS Office apps, Wordpress, Canva, Skype, Dropbox, and online conferencing apps.  Those are the basic, but a client may require you to learn other software. 
4. Your strong point - In your previous jobs, where did you excel? What tasks or assignments do you get high praise? Are you good at writing? Data entry? Customer service? Email correspondence? Do a raincheck about your skills and talent, because that will make your job application easy because you will only apply that matches your skills. Below are some virtual assistant tasks, but the list is actually endless, depending on your client:

• Administrative tasks
• Social media management
• Sales & marketing
• Project management
• Blogging
• Graphics design
• Video editing
• Email outreach
• Cold calling 
• Appointment setter
• Personal errands via online. 
• Content writing
• Customer service
• Bookkeeping

1. Setting up job site profiles and joining online community of freelancers - Create your profile at Upwork, Onlinejobs.ph, Hubstaff, just to mention a few. Join FB groups that are home-based job centric, you will get a lot of job postings there and a helpful community to guide you on how to become a successful home-based freelancer. 

Also, you need to revamp your resume. Your corporate resume, no matter how impressive it is, may not be as effective with your online job hunting. Clients prefer short and concise resumes. In line with that, your profile on your online job sites should be really well thought out. Highlight your skills and strong point. Your cover letter should be versatile as well, depending on the client you are applying for. 

1. Paid training - Now this one is optional, it is not a requirement for everyone. If you Google right now on how to become a VA, you’ll get hundreds of results. Your FB community may also give free training sessions. You will learn a lot from them. However, paid training is a whole new world of learning, it is like getting a backstage pass to meet your favorite singer and them teaching you personally how to sing. You get the point. 

There! You have the basics. A piece of advice though, integrity and honesty are what clients really appreciate from their hirees. Why? Because you can get more than one client at a time and you need to be upfront with your availability and schedule. If you land a virtual assistance job, build a lasting relationship with your client. Along your home-based freelancing journey, you will hear a lot of stories on how clients show great appreciation with a hard day’s work. You can be one of them too! Get out of that 9 - 5 job and start earning from the comfort of your own home!