How to Transition from Regular Employee to Remote Assistant / Virtual Assistant?

The landscape of the workplace is increasingly evolving and the pandemic has heightened the awareness of workers to an alternate working environment. While most employees have only known working in the office environment, the pandemic has caused a major shift in people’s perspective of the ideal workplace. The good thing about the pandemic was there was a time when things slowed down, people had the time to reflect on their lives. More and more people are realising that they want to find balance between having a job, earning money and enjoying their life.

Working remotely breaks the barriers of space and time to the workplace. Some of the benefits of working remotely include: avoiding the daily commute; being able to choose who you work for; choosing the tasks/projects you take on; managing your own schedule; and being able to work from anywhere (from the comforts of your own home to a beach in Thailand!) Working online is a totally different ball game than in an office. It requires self-direction, home office organization, online project management and chat tool experience.

The freelancing/virtual assistance industry has been in existence for decades and in more recent years have become even more popular.

Before we go any further, let’s first define what exactly is a virtual assistant. This is for people out there who may have a misconception or are completely have no idea on what this term refers to.

A virtual assistant is a person that can provide office and administrative support to other businesses from a remote location. They are also called remote assistant. The term also is now loosely connected to artificial intelligence. Virtual assistants are in high demand with entrepreneurs and online businesses that need help and may not have resources to hire a full-time onsite staff. Businesses also hire virtual assistants from other countries due to lower labour cost but highly skilled.

Various industries employ virtual assistants and include digital marketing firms, consultants, life/business coaching, creatives, and accountancy, to name a few. The skill sets of virtual assistants vary as well. There are assistants for general administrative tasks, content creation, website development, bookkeeping, graphic design and social media management.

Now that I’ve just enumerated the opportunities available to anyone who is thinking of becoming a virtual assistant, I believe that next question you have in mind is how do I start? Does it matter whether I have admin experience or no experience at all?

Here is the thing, the majority of the tasks you did in an office aren’t the same that you would do virtually. However, you should use your current experience as the starting point to build your profile.

Like all jobs you have a lot to learn in order to gain confidence and how you can do that is through:

Learning the basics – there are specific Facebook groups, programs, live events or workshops that you can join.

Knowing your strengths – think of what you are good at and enjoy doing.
and most of all believe in yourself.

Do you think you’re ready to be a virtual assistant? Here are a few more tips on how to get started:

1. Build Safety Net

Start your virtual assistant gig as a side hustle. Don’t just quit your 9-5 job right away. You will gain valuable experience and earn extra income at the same time.

2. Figure out your Skillset

Seek out opportunities to try out various VA tasks. I started taking on tasks with rates below my paygrade. However, I did for experience and to build my portfolio/profile.

Through trying various tasks, you will get clarity on your strengths as well determine which tasks you enjoy the most.

Test out your skills to learn what you are good at. Since you’re now limited by a job
description, you have the freedom to take on new challenges.

3. Put yourself out there

Once you have built a safety net and have clarity on what you’re good, it’s time to concentrate on getting more of your ideal clients.

a. You can also start with professional website.
b. Maintain one or two social media accounts to promote your VA business/skills such
as LinkedIn.
c. Attend networking events
d. Make sure you personalize your offer based on your skillsets.

Changing direction in your career path can be very difficult. It requires hard work and commitment. Be very clear on why you want to transition and get started TODAY!