What Does a Virtual Assistant Do?
Virtual Assistants typically work for corporations from a remote area, enabling them to complete their job duties at home. They work closely with company employees using email, phone or video chat technologies to enter data into spreadsheets or update office calendars. Their job is to answer customer phone calls and oversee transfers, create memos or newsletters and assist with planning travel details. They may also be responsible for helping their employers maintain social networking platforms or customer support channels.
Virtual Assistant Skills and Qualifications
This section should outline the educational qualifications and skills required for the Virtual Assistant position in your organization. List the technical and non-technical skills your organization requires along with degrees, certifications and training you want the successful Virtual Assistant candidate to have. Include if you are looking for certain personalities, qualities or traits.
Examples of Virtual Assistant skills and qualifications include:
- High school diploma or GED
- Bachelor’s degree preferred in some roles
- Over three years of experience in a Virtual Assistant role
- Familiarity with latest workplace technologies, including VoIP, online calendars and desktop sharing
- Working knowledge of spreadsheet and word-processing program
- Excellent multitasking, time management and organizational skills
- Ability to work with minimum supervision
- Must have a PC and reliable Internet connection
Virtual Assistant Salary Expectations
On average, a Virtual Assistant receives a salary of $15.84 per hour. Indeed has computed this estimate after considering the salary data submitted by several hundred Virtual Assistant employees and job advertisements published on Indeed during the last three years. Typically, a Virtual Assistant works for an average tenure of less than a year. Salaries may depend on the candidate’s level of education and experience, as well as your organization’s industry and geographical location.
Virtual Assistant Education and Training Requirements
A Virtual Assistant should have a high school diploma for effective understanding and execution of instructions, but some organizations prefer bachelor’s degrees for more refined skills. You may require the candidate to have additional training and certifications depending on the nature of duties you plan to assign to them. For example, a basic course in computers and typing can be helpful for a data entry task. Similarly, certification in social media management can be of great help in ensuring that the candidate possesses the necessary knowledge and skills required for the job. Some community colleges and online educators also offer certifications in Virtual Assistant skills.
Virtual Assistant Experience Requirements
An experience of two to three years would be sufficient for a Virtual Assistant position if you are hiring for data entry and other basic tasks. However, more experience in certain industries may be necessary for more specialized functions like cold calling, email marketing and lead generation. In either case, look for candidates with experience in the area they will be working on in your organization. A Virtual Assistant should also have a reasonable experience in using common internet technologies like VoIP and desktop sharing applications as well.
Job Description Samples for Similar Positions
If Virtual Assistant is not quite the position you are planning to recruit for, here are some other job description samples for closely related positions: