Virtual Assistants: What They Do and How You Can Become One

Want to become a Virtual Assistant but don’t know how to go about it?

In this article, we help you understand:

• What is a virtual assistant job?
• Who hire for virtual assistants?
• What are the various virtual assistant jobs you can explore?
• Skills you require to get a virtual assistant job.

At a time when more and more people are looking for online jobs, a virtual assistant work from home job is a good option.

It’s a great opportunity to work from home. Anyone with good communication and organisations skills can do this job.

What exactly is this virtual assistant?

A virtual assistant is a professional who works with companies and clients from remote locations and provides support in the daily business for a fee. This job has varied opportunities which can range from providing support in normal administrative work, customer service to complex creative, social media activities and online reputation management.

Which companies hire for virtual assistant jobs?

Virtual assistant jobs are gaining popularity. From small businesses, startups to big multinationals and busy professionals all require their services. This usually is a client-based role. Large businesses or well-off busy professionals outsource some of their routine tasks or operations to focus on major business areas. Hiring a virtual assistant is cost-effective and relevant than an in-office employee. By employing a virtual assistant, companies save money on perks such as medical insurance, travel allowance, phone bills, office supplies, etc.

What are various virtual assistant jobs that one can explore?

• Social Media Virtual Assistant: Social media management is very important for most business but the truth is that it consumes a lot of time for professionals to do campaign posts and track the progress. Here comes the role of a social media virtual assistant, this professional helps clients in sorting this issue and take the complete responsibility of social media execution hence freeing up time for the client. 
  
  This job profile is best for candidates skilled in using various social media tools to create buzz and brand awareness. This is one of the highly paid virtual assistant professions. A lot of candidates are trying to gain relevant skills to start working as a social media virtual assistant.
  
  
  
• Blogger’s Virtual Assistant: Bloggers usually have a lot of work to do i.e. they have to plan, write, organize, upload, and manage their blog on their own. Moreover, they have to manage other writing work as well. So, they usually need a virtual assistant to help them in managing the work. This profile is best for those who like writing, know the advanced level of grammar and sentence construction among others. The duties that are assigned in this profile are writing, editing and posting of blog content, do basic graphic designing on Canva, Coral Draw, optimize existing content (write-up, links, affiliate links), and schedule posts on social media. 
  
  
• E-commerce Virtual Assistant: E-commerce companies have a lot to offer when it comes to virtual assistant jobs. They require additional manpower for a variety of side work. Here comes the role of an e-commerce virtual assistant. They help in managing inventories, orders, returns and general customer inquiries. This job role is suitable for those who like writing product description, respond to the billing inquiries, track delivery, returns, and are interested in product launch and brand promotion. 
  
  
• Real Estate Virtual Assistant: Real estate is a big market in our country. There are a lot of areas to focus on, such as securing home listings, help customers to find the best property, make market listings, hold open houses and this all can be a lot of work for a single professional. So, they hire virtual assistants to schedule market listing, schedule listing appointments and home viewings, managing calendar, and reaching out to prospective clients for presales activities.
  
  
• Admin Virtual Assistant: Companies hire admin assistants to help in managing day-to-day admin activities such as booking cabs for employees, looking after office hygiene, maintain attendance, sharing calendars, and managing emails among others. This job role is mostly available with startups, solopreneurs, and small businesses.
  
  

Personality traits required to become a good Virtual Assistant

To be an effective virtual assistant one needs to have a few personality traits and these are:

• Patience
• Trustworthy
• Personable
• Organized

Although, if one has an added work experience and professional skills, then it adds to a better job profile and salary in this field. Moreover, since it is primarily an online job, a good understanding of using the internet is very much required.

What types of jobs are available for virtual assistants?

Here are some virtual assistant jobs that you can find more about:

• Customer support
• Processing online orders and refunds
• WordPress site maintenance
• Email management
• Bookkeeping
• ORM
• Calendar management and travel arrangements
• Editing and proofreading
• Keyword research
• Transcription
• Content research

Candidates who want to start a job as a virtual assistant may take up a full-time, part-time jobs, freelancer, or contractual employee job role. There are a lot of virtual assistant jobs available for deserving candidates but it is important to have the required skills.   

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