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A Guide to Virtual Personal Assistants

A virtual personal assistant is an administrative professional who supports your business while operating off-site.  It can be also be useful to you as a tool to coordinate your private life, if engagements and deadlines are passing you by.  Let’s consider how a virtual personal assistant works, what the advantages are, and what you should consider before hiring one.

How It Works

Usually the person you engage has on-site experience as an assistant – or probably should.  The responsibilities are similar, and given the breakthroughs in communications technology over the last decade, works at the same pace.  That pace, for many admin professionals, is breakneck, and the person you hire should be able to handle the teleconferences, Skyping, email, and phone messages that go with the job.

You can engage someone on your own or consult a hiring database.  Many contracting firms will offer your service tailored to your needs: if you only have use of a secretary one day a week, some will counsel that you employ rotating contractors so that you make sure someone does the work.  If it’s a closer position, you may want to consider hiring someone full-time.  But by definition, virtual admin is contract work – and so doesn’t require the distribution of a benefits package.

Often the firms that can help you or the services you will find online will recommend outsourcing the labor to workers in the developing world (India is a common choice).  The competence level can be very high if you look for it, but be wary of the time zone changes – their work schedules are almost the reverse of ours.

Benefits

If you’re trying to get your business off the ground, it can be useful to you to keep costs down by engaging a worker whose long-term financial life isn’t your responsibility.  Often the quality of the work can be very high, and for short term boosts to your business ventures, it can be effective.

Should you require an assistant to manage your private life, the concerns about quality or reliability aren’t quite as prevalent, and you’re likely to be able to find someone who can make your scheduling and everyday personal management a lot easier.

Pitfalls

Virtual assistants will come and go with the passing opportunities that come their way.  You’re not offering much to keep them there in terms of financial security, and the personal ties will be weak.  No one will be able to enjoy the work or the company enough to stay on comfortably for a while.  It’s very much a short term investment, and it’s likely to turn sour over time, one way or another.

You’ll also want to hire carefully.  If the employee is managing your personal affairs, they’re projecting their identity on yours, and you may find it troublesome if their methods or manner conflict with yours.

Conclusion

Virtual personal assistants can make valuable contributions to your personal or professional life.  But they carry with them complications that may not make it worth the effort, so consider your choice carefully.