The number of businesses hiring virtual assistants has increased phenomenally after the pandemic, though it was already a promising career in the pre-pandemic market. If you are also looking to build a successful career as a virtual assistant with a reputable organization, you need to be an efficient and intelligent candidate. Let’s explore the top must-have skills you need to reap the maximum benefits of your remote job.
Role of a Virtual Assistant
the momentum of remote jobs has accelerated phenomenally due to pandemic outbursts. Consequently, the demand for virtual assistants to effectivA virtual assistant is a remote worker who operates outside the office but provides expert administrative services to your clients. Evidently, ely handle business processes has increased substantially. Virtual assistants are hired remotely to carry out time-consuming tasks of your business quickly and boost corporate productivity while getting an increased return on investment (ROI). Therefore, a virtual assistant has become a staple to every modern business to match the marketplace. The responsibilities of a virtual assistant may include email management, travel management, scheduling meetings, appointments, phone calls, data entry, blog writing, etc. Virtual assistance yields several benefits. If you start your virtual assistance career, businesses expect the following benefits from you.
- Quick delivery of time-consuming tasks
- Decreased cost
- Global approach
Widening Scope of Virtual Assistance
Recent surveys show that businesses that hire virtual assistants have saved up to 78% of costs. Consequently, around 80% of industries have started incorporating remote workforce to enhance business productivity and reduce costs. This industrial shift has opened enormous opportunities for job seekers across the globe. A virtual assistant’s average salary amounts to over $20 per hour. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3.6 million remote workers worked as assistants in 2019, clearly indicating its widening scope. This rate is anticipated to reach 86.5 million by 2027 in the US. San Francisco is currently the highest paying city for remote assistants, with an annual pay scale of over $85K. Likewise, virtual assistants are less stressed compared to on-site assistants. Reportedly only 17% of virtual assistants feel anxious and stressed by their jobs.
Top In-Demand Skills of Virtual Assistants
Virtual Assistants are radically valued due to the variety of transferrable skills they possess. So, to make your way into the competitive market and build your career as a successful virtual assistant, you must acquire and appropriately demonstrate the top in-demand skills. Your chances of getting hired depend upon your competency. As per the skill set of a virtual assistant, their role may go beyond assistance to digital marketers, recruiters, activity planners, etc. Listed below are some must-have skills for the role of a virtual assistant.
Communication Skills
Your words are a mirror to your intellect. The key talent that businesses seek while hiring an employee is effective communications, and that’s probably the only way you can prove your worth. Secondly, as a virtual assistant, your connection with clients will be via emails, video calls, phone calls, official letters, and messaging platforms, etc. Communicating well with your clients throughout a business deal maximizes your chances of making them regular customers. Therefore, you should have persuasive speaking skills to turn prospects into sales.
Reliability
Since virtual assistants are hired remotely, employers need to be assured that they are hiring a reliable person who would be as deeply invested in their company’s success as an internal member. Therefore, as a virtual assistant, you should strictly follow instructions from your clients, coordinate well, timely respond to queries and smartly address their concerns. Any communication gap or inefficiency can result in losing your credibility as a virtual assistant.
Time-Management
Time management is vital for business success, and the fundamental purpose behind hiring a virtual assistant is the quick and efficient handling of time-consuming tasks. Therefore, you should be able to handle multiple tasks and customers simultaneously. Effective time management and prioritizing tasks with no backlog can increase your worth as a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant may be asked to schedule meetings, appointments, email and travel management, and so on. Therefore, you need to have adept time-management skills to lessen the burden on your clients and ensure timely deliveries.
Stay Organized
By organizing resources well and pre-planning upcoming events, you can keep business information quickly accessible and stay on schedule. Suppose you don’t possess good organization skills. In that case, you should not go for the virtual assistant post since a poor organization of tasks can lead to encumbering backlogs and a significant loss of revenue. For instance, if you are unable to schedule a meeting on time or email your client within the stipulated time, you may find great trouble for yourself as well as the company you work for. For being a skilled virtual assistant, you need to keep a keen track of all important events and tasks and stay organized anytime.
Rich in Resources
A virtual assistant is responsible for carrying out many crucial business tasks and thus should have quick access to the required information. Clients may assign you tasks like replying to certain emails, managing social media accounts, quick research, procurement of meetings details, etc., with stringent deadlines. The resources required can be difficult to locate or find. Therefore, for timely completion of tasks, you must be resourceful, having information, material, documents ready and accessible. It would help if you were adept at specific skills like networking, data sharing, storage, etc., to avoid any performance gap.
Accounting Skills
Basic accounting skills are required to carry out the assistant’s tasks productively. Virtual assistants are often expected to perform estimations of business deals and maintain track of the finance department. Therefore, a candidate with good accounting skills is mainly preferred over other applicants. This also helps you effectively gauge the profitability of business projects and construct precise reports. Computer skills, i.e., MS Excel, can be a great tool to perform evaluations quickly.
Love for Learning
People who are passionate about their professional growth and have a great love for learning are likely to be valued members of their team. Virtual assistants need to be quick learners, energetic and skillful in the fast-paced modern era. They should keep learning new skills and trends in motion rather than staying stagnant to meet the emerging business challenges. Employers prefer those who have the capability to swiftly adapt to good change and keep learning new skills to add to their efficiency and boost clients’ profitability.
Looking for a Successful Virtual Assistant Career?
The skills mentioned above are keys to a successful career as a virtual assistant. So, if you also want to reap the maximum benefits of your job, you must have these skills. Adaptability to change and emerging trends can be a big plus to your resume and make it stand out. Outsourcing4work offers excellent remote jobs opportunities to talented people across the globe. Suppose this sounds like you; feel free to visit our career page and apply now for your aspired job. Join us to enjoy a successful career and our ideal HRM practices, i.e., flexibility in working hours, good pay scale, etc. You are also welcome to explore more informative blogs on our website.
