How to Become a Virtual Assistant

The most flexible types of jobs are those which you can do from home. And it’s becoming easier than ever to start your career as a remote worker.

While you can find all kinds of jobs online, one position that always seems to remain in high demand is Virtual Assistant.

Despite having great job security and pay, becoming a virtual assistant requires no experience. And with more companies switching to remote, the need for virtual assistants is only growing exponentially.

If you’re thinking about trying out virtual assistance, you couldn’t have picked a better time. This blog is meant to be your gateway to the world of virtual assistants and we’ll get you up to speed on how to get started today.

A virtual assistant is an online worker who helps companies in their day-to-day operations. This includes a wide range of tasks such as checking emails, managing social media, scheduling appointments, data entry, preparing documents, writing blogs and so much more.

Job descriptions can vary greatly from company to company so it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly what a virtual assistant does. Basically, someone who can help reduce workload stress. 

It’s almost exactly the same as an assistant sitting in the office. But since most of today’s work is done on a computer anyways, a virtual assistant fills the role extremely well. Several major companies are beginning to realize this and have begun shifting to the work-from-home model at a rapid pace. This is why we predict that demand for virtual assistants is only going to go up. It’s not a question of ‘if demand will increase’, but a question of ‘how much will it increase’.

Most virtual assistant jobs require you to have the following:

• Stable internet connection,
• Good typing speed (around 50-65 wpm)
• A decent computer

If you have these, then you already qualify for most virtual assistant positions.

But like most people, you should always strive to do better than expected. So let’s talk about some other easy-to-learn skills that can improve your chances of getting hired as a high-level virtual assistant.

Helping out with general administration is probably the closest thing to what many view as an ‘assistant’. Checking emails, handling meetings and reminders, preparing documents, answering phone calls, you name it. High level managers are usually swamped on most days and wholeheartedly welcome an assistant who can do something even as little as read emails for them.

Glassdoor has a great guide for job seekers on which skills to learn for administrative work.  But rather than raw skills, most employers are looking for someone with the right personality. They want to hire someone who is forthcoming, honest, communicative, and most importantly hospitable since you might need consistently communicate with high profile individuals.

Even if being an administrative assistant isn’t your dream job, it’s a great stepping stone that could lead to some exciting opportunities in the future.

Publishing blogs, press releases and social media posts is something almost every business or entrepreneur is doing. Posting fresh content consistently on so many platforms can become overwhelming, and that’s where virtual assistants come in.

If you can help someone create high quality content on a daily basis, then your skills are in high demand. It’s not just about writing, sometimes you will need to proofread and edit content appropriately. If you’re willing to take it to the next level, learn some basic graphics design skills and you can serve as a social media manager. Online tools such as Canva make it extremely easy to put together a compelling graphics that matches the quality of a professional graphics designer.

Managing finances is extremely important to ensure smooth daily operations and companies need all the help they can get. More virtual assistants are now being hired to lend a hand with payroll, recording transactions, managing invoices, processing payments and so much more.

Most of these tasks require basic understanding of working with spreadsheets such as Excel or Google Sheets. But even without those skills, you can go a long way by just helping out with number crunching. In fact, most companies have already created their financial documents and just need someone to do the busy-work of filling them in.

All companies with a digital presence will need someone to constantly check on their websites. You don’t need to be a professional web developer to take on this duty, you just need to be familiar with the platform.

The world’s most popular website builder is WordPress. Chances are that the company who hires you as a virtual assistant will already be using it for their business website so go ahead and familiarize yourself with it. The best way to do this is to actually build your own WordPress blog which is completely free. Even better, WordPress themselves conduct regular webinars which teach beginners how to use their platform, all free of charge.

Almost anyone with a digital presence is looking for virtual assistants. Small business owners, entrepreneurs, bloggers, youtubers, anyone with a website and so on. 

Larger companies have also built their digital channels using a crew of virtual assistants who are working from different parts of the world on different time zones.

Most who are willing to employ VA’s are very flexible with who they hire. Some of them are even aware of the fact that new virtual assistants may not have the necessary skills to take on the job. That’s why they offer in-house training or a grace period to allow virtual assistants to learn everything they need to handle their tasks confidently.

IdeasUnlimited has helped shape hundreds of remote workers into confident virtual assistants capable of serving all business niches. Based on our experience, we have developed a very simple checklist for aspiring virtual assistants to set them up for success.

Feel free to scroll back up and re-familiarize yourself with what a virtual assistant does. As you’re reading through, find things you are most comfortable with. Perhaps a skill that you already know or a task that you have prior experience with. It can even be something you find interesting and wouldn’t mind learning.

The goal is to develop a focus. You could very well offer a wide range of services as a virtual assistant, but we highly recommend sticking to just a few. 

In our experience, virtual assistants should strive for long-term projects rather than short-term gigs. In order to achieve this, you need to focus on a few tasks that you deliver extremely well. If you try to accomplish many things at once, you risk underperforming and not making a great impression on your profile.

A portfolio is doubly important for virtual assistants who want to focus on content creation. Most of the time, you will be required to show a portfolio which will be compared with the work of other virtual assistant candidates and you should therefore be prepared to present one at a moment’s notice.

If you’re looking for ideas for an eye-catching portfolio, be sure to skim through Pinterest for some inspiration from millions of content creators.

Items that could be added to your portfolio include social posts, graphics, website snapshots, blogs, articles and so on.

Even if you haven’t worked as a virtual assistant, we highly recommend using your free-time to craft a portfolio. For example, you could start a WordPress blog (which is free of charge) and begin submitting content on it for your portfolio.

Becoming a virtual assistant, especially when starting from scratch, can seem daunting at first. IdeasUnlimited has worked with hundreds of remote workers who have shared their stories about the early days of their journey.

One of the biggest challenges of starting a work-from-home career is staying mentally strong. It can be demotivating not hearing back after interviews and or watching other freelancers who might seem much more skilled than you are.

But in the same vein, IdeasUnlimited is also home to amazing success stories where remote workers have built wonderful lives for themselves by working from home. Just remember that it takes time, effort and patience. Be positive and trust your abilities. Also, be open with other freelancers and share your stories as we’re all in this together. You can start right now by leaving a comment below!

Anyone can start their journey today to become a successful virtual assistant! Simply follow our plan, find your niche and stay positive. As the world is shifting to a remote workforce, building your career from home is only going to get simpler. Why not embark on your journey with us? Head over to ideasunlimitedonline.com/apply-now where you can find remote jobs and guidance from our recruitment team on being successful as a remote worker.