Tired of your 8-5 job? Do you have kids to spend more time with at home? Does work-from-home virtual assistant jobs fascinate you? If you answer yes to all these, then it’s high time you look for virtual assistant jobs and leave your 8-5 job behind. But before you submit that resignation letter, you should first ask yourself if you have these 5 qualifications to be a virtual administrative assistant.
1. Your own space and equipment. Virtual administrative assistants work either from their homes or from any place where they find comfortable completing their projects. Okay, so you got your home there, own space check. Next, you should have your own equipment such as computer, printer, and computer accessories. Computer check, printer check, but how about the accessories like headset? Often times, virtual assistants communicate with their clients via voice call like on Skype. So, make sure that you are equipped with a reliable headset and mic at that.
2. A flexible schedule. Believe it or not, sometimes virtual assistants work for clients overseas. For example your client is from United States and you are from Asia, of course you will be required to work based on your client’s time zone and not yours. So, if it’s morning at the United States and evening in your country, you don’t have any choice but to work online at night. Now, if you’re not comfortable with this type of schedule, then better find a client who has the same time zone with you.
3. Multiple communication options. If you only have your computer to communicate with your client, better equip yourself with other means of communication like a landline phone or a mobile phone. Unexpected scenarios happen like your computer got busted or your Internet connection got disconnected; so it is must that you have other means on which you can reach your client and vice versa. That way, you can build trust, confidence, and a stronger working relationship with your client.
4. Working as a virtual administrative assistant means working freelance. Yes, it’s a freelance job ahead of you. And when you say freelance, it means you are paid on project terms and that you are not entitled to benefits unlike in a real corporate setting. So, are you open about this idea? If yes, then a virtual assistant job is for you.
5. Internet experience. Of course, as a virtual administrative assistant, you are expected to be not only knowledgeable about the Internet but also experienced when it comes to Internet tools and software like Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. These tools are very important in completing your tasks and obligations as a virtual assistant, so you must be familiar with them. But aside from these, you should also know how to use communication software like Yahoo Messenger and Skype. These can be your primary means of communicating with your client so it is important that you know how to operate them.
Okay, now that you know these 5 qualifications to be a virtual administrative assistant, do you still look forward to be hired as one? If you have all 5, why not? But if you still lack 3 out of 5, then better think twice about becoming a virtual assistant.
