legitimate work from home virtual assistant jobs
Online Virtual Assistant Jobs Are Flexible and Challenging Work from home opportunities are the perfect solution for millions of employees today. You may be a parent of young children or retired from your full-time career, but you aren’t ready to stop working entirely because your finances won’t allow it or you want to continue pursuing a career. An online job can meet all of your needs, but you must be careful as you search for legitimate work from home virtual assistant jobs. There are a number of outright scams that will take your money and offer nothing in return.
What is a virtual assistant?
An online virtual assistant performs most of the same tasks an assistant would handle in an office. The primary difference between the two jobs is the nature of the virtual assistant’s employment. Simply put, you work for an employer as an independent contractor rather than as an employee. The employer is not required to pay your insurance or taxes. As an independent contractor, you can take on a special project or work as a full-time assistant, but you generally aren’t required to give a certain amount of notice before leaving the contract. At the end of a specified period, you and the company can decide individually or mutually to continue working together or to end the work relationship.
What kinds of work do virtual assistants perform?
In general a virtual assistant is truly a jack-of-all-trades. Just as an office administrator or a personal assistant handles all the necessary but mundane tasks a busy executive requires, a virtual assistant does the same from a remote location. The client might be located in the Midwest but his virtual assistant works from home in California to provide the services he needs.
A virtual assistant who works for a business may be called on to do the types of tasks typically associated with a secretary, such as answering phones, taking notes at meetings or filing online documents. Your duties as an assistant can be much broader, however. For example, you may be asked to handle the logistics for an upcoming meeting. You would get quotes on potential locations if necessary and present them to the client, create registration materials and distribute them to potential participants, handle payment processing for the event if needed and collate meeting materials. All of this can be done easily at a distance, including consulting with the client by email or phone to handle any problems that arise. You do not need to be on site with the client at any time during the planning process.
Other virtual assistants might be experienced in web development. A client with a great idea but little or no time or knowledge of web-based development will benefits tremendously from the expertise an online virtual assistant provides. If you’re a great web designer or even a programmer, you can help set up and maintain the client’s website, adding customized design features when warranted. As an assistant you may also be well-versed in creating and maintaining blog sites that can be used to provide content to introduce new products or services, market existing products or even offer live chat options for your client’s customers. A subset of virtual assistants are search engine optimization (SEO) experts who know how to track important numbers that help the client determine how and when to make necessary changes to the client’s product or website.
Virtual personal assistants provide important help to individuals rather than to businesses. A virtual personal assistant can organize his client’s calendar, helping keep the client on track through online reminders. You might be in charge of managing the client’s Facebook account, writing thank-you notes when your client is simply too busy or ordering flowers or a gift for a family member’s birthday. When your client doesn’t have the time to look into the best schools for his children, you would be called on to use his criteria to do the research for him. Virtual personal assistants, like business assistants, benefit from the multitude of online options available to them today to do the same work they once needed to do in person or by phone.
How can virtual assistants get training?
Someone who wants to become a virtual assistant likely has already done at least some work in the administrative assistant or personal assistant fields. While the core job descriptions are the same for in-person assistants and virtual assistants, if you’re a new virtual assistant you will need to learn some additional skills, related in particular to running your own business. There are a number of websites dedicated to teaching these skills as well as other more specialized skills. While some websites, such as those created by non-profit associations, are legitimate and helpful, others may not be as valuable as training tools. You’ll need to do some thorough research into the courses you’re considering before paying for a training course.
Where are virtual assistant jobs listed?
Many websites have sprung up, particularly in the past few years that connect clients and virtual assistants. These freelance job sites allow clients to post their requirements for a virtual assistant then allow potential candidates to bid on the job. Some experts recommend that a virtual assistant create his own website before starting to look for jobs, although some assistants are able to find jobs without doing this. Getting referrals from friends, colleagues and satisfied clients is another good way to find jobs, as is networking with other virtual assistants.
Avoiding scams is one of the most worrisome aspects you’ll face when searching for legitimate work from home virtual assistant jobs. There are several things you need to avoid. A job that promises an unusually high amount of money for simple work is one of the most common scams. A job posting that requests payment of a registration fee or for materials is another job to pass up. You can save yourself a lot of trouble by doing thorough research before agreeing to any online job.
