One of the most phenomenal jobs in this planet is working as a virtual assistant. The profession can be fun, as you get to work on various projects during the course of your career. What\’s more is that it allows for plenty of personal and professional freedoms—some perks of the job allows you to work from anywhere you want and at the time of your choosing.
While the profession is quite popular among people seeking to make money on the Internet, it still appears to be an obscurity to outsiders and the offline types. Meeting new people, sometimes, can be a bit of a trouble for VAs, as they end up getting plenty of questions about their profession.
In my experience, it\’s pretty much the same set of questions every time, with the same set of answers. In that regard, I have decided to compile these frequently asked questions or FAQs.
Q: Virtual assistant? What is that?
A: Virtual assistants or VAs are usually self-employed professionals that provide various services from a remote location. In other words, we work online for somebody from somewhere else.
Q: What do you guys do?
A: We offer a wide range of services to remote clients. Usually, this involves administrative support work—the type that the white collar people do at an office like taking calls, booking appointments, checking emails, research, etc. VAs, however, can offer services that go beyond the administrative. This includes marketing, writing, graphic design, web design, programming, and more. The non-admin services offered also vary from one VA to another, and there are even some who specialize in certain services rather than offer them all in a smorgasbord.
Q: Do you work from an office?
A: Yes, I do, since I work with a virtual assistance firm. However, others—especially the self-employed VAs—prefer working from home, or pretty much from any place where they can get a decent Internet connection. Free WiFi that comes with fancy coffee and cheesecake is always great.
Q: Is that like working in a call center?
A: Not quite, although we can also offer customer support services like call centers do. Like call centers, we also have voiced and non-voiced options for customer support. I prefer the latter, in case you ask.
Q: How do you get paid?
A: VAs working in teams like Bahagia Staff often get their pay in cash or check, while self-employed VAs usually rely on one of the many online payment options. PayPal is a favorite due to its security and hassle-free transactions, despite their rather spotty customer support.
Q: How much do you earn as a VA?
A: Now I\’m not gonna answer this question directly for security reasons, but let\’s say I earn just enough to be financially secure. Usually, individual VAs and VA firms have their own rates. The rates are often based on the hours worked, and sometimes, a fixed fee is set up for certain projects. It all depends on the time one will spend working and the complexity of the task.
Q: How do you communicate with clients?
A: We use Skype for that matter, unless the client prefers something else.
Q: Why would your client hire you and not do things themselves?
A: That is because we do things that our professional clients would rather do without so they can concentrate on actually running their business. We get the small things out of their way, or do tasks that they are unable to do.
