A virtual assistant is a person who provides administrative, technical, or creative assistance to clients while working from a remote location. With the rise of online businesses, remote jobs virtual assistant are even more in demand by entrepreneurs who need help but do not want to spend the money on an office space for a staff.
There is a remote jobs virtual assistant for almost every task that needs to be done.
There is a remote jobs virtual assistant for almost every task that needs to be done. For administrative or clerical duties, there are administrative VAs. There are specialist VAs for tasks which need specializations. There are also eCommerce VAs who are knowledgeable in online selling platforms such as Amazon, Shopify, eBay, and Etsy
For healthcare-related responsibilities, Telehealth VAs are the go-to. When it comes to the technical side of a business such as websites, apps, and internal and external software, IT VAs are the ones to hire.
There is an increase in the trend of using virtual assistants due, in part, to more people working from home.
It has become easier, more efficient, and less costly to have a VA on contract instead of an office of employees that you need to pay social security, healthcare insurance, holiday pay, vacation pay, and other benefits for.
If you are reading this article, you may have already made up your mind that you will take on the VA life and have already prepared what you will need as a virtual assistant. You may also be a VA who wants to try other niches.
Read on and let us help you in your job-hunt.
10 BEST REMOTE JOBS VIRTUAL ASSISTANT WEBSITES
1. Upwork
Upwork is a very professional platform and great for beginners looking for career growth opportunities. Creating a professional profile is the key here, so take a look at some other people’s profiles to see what helps them stand out and look legit. You’ll then see that as you start to book your jobs, your portfolio on the site will begin to build, allowing you to take on even more clients and raising your rate.
Tips for getting hired on Upwork:
- Complete your profile. Freelancers with complete, quality profiles are 4.5 times more likely to get hired by clients. Include your education, certifications, work samples, recognized skills, and knowledge to give you a higher chance of getting hired.
- Be unique. You have to stand out in the crowd because there are so many freelancers on this site. Take a unique angle. Look at your hobbies, not just your work experience and skills when you’re looking for a remote jobs virtual assistant here. Sometimes your hobbies might give you the edge.
- Get noticed. Record a short 30-60 second video introduction of yourself. Share the link to your profile. Get creative so that you will have more chance of getting noticed.
- Build your profile. The key to moving up on Upwork is to take some lower-paying jobs and do them well enough to get good reviews and feedback. This will provide potential clients more confidence in your strengths and abilities and will definitely lead to better success at landing higher-paying jobs. You can do this until you get a couple of positive reviews. That will be enough to gain client trust and start charging more for your services.
2. Flexjobs
FlexJobs has one of the world’s largest databases of remote jobs in just about every field. Its platform is easy to use to find positions based on your level of experience, as well as plenty of other filters to make it easy to find the exact type of role you are looking for.
Tips for getting hired on FlexJobs:
- Be bold. Remember, when applying for jobs like this, fortune favors the bold. Don’t be afraid to apply for virtual assistant jobs where you don’t have all the listed requirements. A job description is more of a wish list than something written in stone. As long as you think you are capable of completing the tasks required, put your name out there and see what happens.
- Personalize your submissions. Instead of sending out a standard submission for each job, spend some time personalizing each one. If you craft a killer job submission, you’ll have a much better chance of getting hired. You won’t be able to send out as many applications because they’ll take extra time, but you’ll land a higher percentage of the ones you submit.
3. Indeed
Indeed is a free platform where you can upload your resume and search for available positions from job boards, newspapers, and associations. Before starting, Indeed will screen your skills and group candidates based on these skills, allowing potential employers and clients to also reach out to you if you’re a match.
Tips for getting hired on Indeed:
- Use different keyword combinations. Know what everyone who wants to be a virtual assistant will search for? Remote jobs virtual assistant. But not every potential client will list their job posting that way. Use a keyword based on your skills and specialization
- Submit a customized proposal. Make sure it doesn’t read like a standard letter. Highlight the skills you can offer to a potential client.
4. Fiverr
Fiverr is another great platform for freelancers, especially if you’re looking for quick remote jobs virtual assistant for beginners. It is more targeted at clients who need someone for a set job, rather than the more long term arrangements you’ll find on sites like Upwork.
Because of this, it allows virtual assistants to set a price for their services and not based on time spent. The platform also helps users promote their services for added exposure.
Tips for getting hired on Fiverr:
- Prepare a professional profile. You can check out other people’s profiles but don’t copy them. See what works and how you can adapt that for yourself.
- Get some good reviews under your belt. That may mean performing your first few jobs at a lower rate. It may not seem like it’s worth your time to do so, but if it leads to higher-paying jobs down the road, it definitely is.
5. LinkedIn
LinkedIn is one of the largest employment and business networks around and it continues to grow. To get started as a virtual assistant, you will need to create a profile, then look for appropriate job prospects. You can create a personalized email, and create notifications to appeal to hiring managers.
Tips for getting hired on LinkedIn:
- Update your LinkedIn profile to make it current.
- Make sure the photo you upload is a quality, professional portrait.
- Have a well-written summary. Talk about your career milestones. Make sure to mention specific achievements, not just your job title. Did you have a role in increasing your client’s sales? Did your client’s brand scale up with your help? The more specific the information you provide, the more impressive your profile will be.
- Ask your close contacts to consider giving you a skill endorsement.
- Tell employers that you are open to accepting jobs by modifying your “open to” tab. By doing this, you will also get a notification email from LinkedIn whenever potential clients open a search for virtual assistants
6. Belay
Belay offers roles for virtual assistants, virtual bookkeepers, and web specialists. That said, to secure a job with Belay, you must work a minimum of 10 hours per week.
Tips for getting hired on Belay:
- Belay posts available virtual assistant positions on its website, as well as on Indeed, Glassdoor, LinkUp, ZipRecruiter, Monster, Facebook, Flexjobs, and Remote. co. You can check these websites out for more chances of finding a VA job best suited to you.
- Expect the interview process to take time. Applicants report multiple rounds of interviews over the duration of four to five weeks.
7. Facebook
You may be surprised to see that Facebook is listed as one of the best places to find remote jobs virtual assistant for beginners online. That is, while there are Facebook groups specifically for VAs looking for work, Facebook also features a ton of groups for online business owners.
Tips for getting hired on Facebook:
- Establish a relationship with business owners from Facebook groups. From there, you’ll naturally start to find opportunities where you can offer your services.
- It is also a good idea to have your VA services featured on your Facebook profile so if people click on it, they can immediately see what you do. This includes having a clear link to your website where you list the services you can offer as a VA to online business owners.
8. Zirtual
If you are tech-savvy, highly organized, and great with people, becoming a virtual assistant may be your opportunity to work from home. With a virtual assistant service like Zirtual, your best gig may be just an application away.
Tips for getting hired on Zirtual:
- You must be a US-based VA. A background and reference check is required with Zirtual.
- Once you pass the competency test stage, you will be invited to a video interview with a Zirtual team member. Most former applicants state that the interview is straightforward and asks common interview questions. Make sure to check these questions out.
9. Byron
Byron promotes itself as providing quality work through their network of VAs for businesses around the United States. They offer projects that involve data entry, transcription, sales and marketing support, calendar coordination, retail marketing agency and even developers and designers.
Tips for getting hired on Byron:
- Byron expects their VAs to be highly skilled, including that they have worked a minimum of three years in a relevant field. You can still check their website out even if you’re looking for remote jobs virtual assistant for beginners as it doesn’t mean that you have to have worked as a VA specifically – just in something relevant, like an administrative role.
10. Time Etc
Time Etc is a UK-based company that offers VA services to clients in the U.K. and U.S. Some jobs include data entry, administrative positions, writing/ communications, and research.
Tips for getting hired on Time Etc:
- You should be available for at least three hours per week.
- You should have at least 2-3 years of experience in a similar position. This doesn’t necessarily mean three years’ experience as a VA. Instead, it can be in essentially any sort of office-based or administrative role.
- You must have access to a quiet working space, a computer, a good internet connection and relevant software (e.g., Microsoft Word).
HOW TO GET HIRED ON YOUR FIRST REMOTE JOBS VIRTUAL ASSISTANT (BEGINNER)
Many businesses, especially startups and small enterprises, prefer hiring virtual assistants for specific tasks rather than maintaining in-house staff. If you are an aspiring VA with no experience, follow these tips and you should be well on your way to a new career and a lucrative source of income in the future.
1. Improve Your Skills
Just like any job, training is a must to help you to build your skill set. You may consider checking virtual assistant training courses. These will be extremely beneficial as you begin your new virtual assistant career.
One good training course is Fully Booked VA by Gina Horkey which helps you learn strategies on marketing yourself, building the best skills to be more bankable and pursuing jobs that will pay the most. There are lots of digital marketing campaign template you can lean on.
You’ll also learn things like dealing with clients, pricing your services, and even resources for finding your first clients. While you could learn these as you go through trial and error, having training in these sorts of things can save you a ton of time and make sure you start earning as much money and as quickly as possible.
2. Create A Website
You should create a website that highlights your skills, so potential clients can see all that you have to offer. As more clients avail your services, you may ask for their testimonials so other prospects can see that you deliver as promised.
3. Utilize the Benefits of Social Media
Social media is very much in use these days so take advantage of this existing tool to market your services and skills.
You can also post your client’s testimonials and referrals in your social media accounts to make a noteworthy impression on those checking out the services you offer.
4. Refine Your Services
While there are many potential services you can offer as a VA, it is often better to focus on a few that you know you can do to a high standard. This way, it also makes it easier to target clients which need those specific skills.
The exact skills you should offer will depend on your background and interests so do some research into what services may work best for you based on these.
INCREASE YOUR SUCCESS IN GETTING A HIGH-PAYING REMOTE JOBS VIRTUAL ASSISTANT (INTERMEDIATE)
Now you may be one of those virtual assistants who wants to improve their service rates. Who doesn’t, right? Well here are some tips to increase your success in landing a high-paying virtual assistant job.
1. Market Yourself as a Specialist Virtual Assistant
It can be very competitive to market yourself as a general virtual assistant and you could be missing out on some great opportunities.
Instead, identify the skill you have which pays the most, and find a job that can utilize that skill. Branch out and let your new employer know you can handle other tasks.
You should think about ways to add value for your clients by expanding your skill set and finding what you can offer that not everybody can. Anyone can call themselves a virtual assistant, but if you have specialization, you will open more doors and you’ll earn bigger paychecks.
2. Increase Your Remote Jobs Virtual Assistant Value
Invest in yourself by taking classes or teaching yourself some highly-marketable skills that will bring in more money. There are even certifications that require no investment such as free training courses. Remember, a certification can set you apart from other aspiring virtual assistants.
If possible, you can request virtual assistant training from your employer. Learn at least one new thing from each of your clients and this will surely broaden your knowledge base and improve your skills.
3. Improve Your Remote Jobs Virtual Assistant Skill Set
Being specialized in a skill set allows you to market yourself accordingly for those skills. If you can target highly sought-after skills that pay well, and focus on two or three of those, you are going to take your career to the next level.
By specializing in high-paying skills, you will be able to earn more money for less work. This will provide you a more satisfying work-life balance.
Nothing worth much is ever easy in the beginning. You will really have to work your way up so that later in your career as a VA, you will finally get the job and the pay you wanted.
MASTERING EFFICIENT RESEARCH FOR REMOTE JOBS VIRTUAL ASSISTANT POSITIONS
After creating your profile on these websites, the next step is to find a job posting where you can apply.
Not all job post that you will see on these websites needs your application, you must consider three things before applying. Those are your skills, time, and payment preference.
Your chosen niche and skills must match the job posting as it is the number one factor that will be considered in the hiring process. Take in mind that a lot of clients do not want to keep on repeating the hiring and onboarding process as it consumes a lot of time. Most of them preferred that whoever they hire will stay long and finish each job they will give.
If your chosen niche and skills are not matched to those they are looking for you, it will be hard for you to stay with them and satisfy their business needs. So never lie about your skills, do not say that you can do something just for the client to hire. Be always truthful with your words.
Also, take in mind that a lot of clients need multiskill freelancers, so it’s better if you can expand your skills in more than one niche.
Your skills are the number one factor that will bring your freelancing career to success.
Lying about your skills and you get hired, most probably your clients will leave you a bad review after ending the contract. This is a big detrimental factor that will make your next job hunting harder than before. It will be harder for the next potential client to trust you as they will see bad reviews against you.
Aside from your skills, you must take in mind the time difference between you and your potential client. If the job post comes from the opposite side of the world, you must think first if you can work the graveyard shift. If you can’t then maybe you need to find job posting from nearby countries whose time zone are not too far from yours.
Just in case you have a day job, I would recommend finding job postings that offer flexible time. It means you can work any time of the day as long you can deliver what is being asked of you. A lot of virtual assistant works on flexible time.
But if you can work full-time then working 8 hours a day would not be a problem.
Find job postings that would give you comfortable working hours.
The last thing to consider is the payment preference. There are two types of contracts for freelancers, one is project-based wherein you will be paid after completing a milestone (a percentage of the project, e.g. 25% of the project completed) or after you completed the whole project.
Another is, the hour-based, wherein you will get paid for every hour that you worked on that project. Your payment will come either weekly, every two weeks or at the end of the month. It will be based on the terms you have agreed with your client.
Considering which type of payment you more preferred and search for jobs in accordance with your preference.
Always remember that your reputation as a freelancer is really important. You do not have to apply for all job posts just to get hired. Choose which work will suit you according to your skills, time, and payment preference.
A mismatch of these factors could leave you with bad reviews, bad experiences, and a bad reputation.
BEWARE OF REMOTE JOBS VIRTUAL ASSISTANT HIRING SCAM
Scams also happen in the hiring process of freelancers. Want to know how? Let me tell you a story.
When I was still applying for different job postings, I encountered a woman who wants to hire me as a social media manager and marketer for her company.
After talking with her and presenting the skills I have and how I could help her, she said that she was willing to hire but first I need to look into the project plan which she already sent. Luckily, I was a quick thinker because after downloading the file, I saw that it is in executable file format (.exe).
These kinds of files contain instructions run by your computer after opening it. This kind of file is often used in software and malware.
Malware is a kind of file that could get access to your most important information, it could access your bank details, credit card details, log-in information, or any information that could get you at risk.
Going back to the story, I asked her to send me a pdf file or document file rather than the .exe file. She said she couldn’t because her IT made a mistake and compress the file into .exe and she doesn’t have the file for it.
But I insist that I will only open files in pdf or doc format and not .exe files. After that, she didn’t respond ever again.
It is a good thing that I am aware of these kinds of scams because of the different Facebook groups where I belong. I am not the first person who experienced and a lot of freelancers are saying that potential clients will send them malicious files.
Always be vigilant about these kinds of activities. If you are a remote jobs virtual assistant and you want further information and support in regards to these kinds of issues you can join our Facebook group.
CONCLUSIONS
The 10 best freelancing websites are Upwork, Flexjob, Indeed, Fiverr, LinkedIn, Belay, Facebook, Zirtual, Byron, and Time Etc.
If you want to get hired on your first remote jobs virtual assistant you must improve your skills, create a website, take advantage of social media and refine your services.
You must specialize in one field, increase your value and improve your skill set.
Choose meticulously which job posts to apply for as your projects will determine your reputation as a freelancer and will give you the opportunity to gain another client.
Lastly, beware of scams during the remote jobs virtual assistant hiring process. Do not abruptly open any malicious file sent to you. Be vigilant and protect your important information.
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