Career in Virtual Assistant – How To Become a Virtual Assistant
Due to the rapid growth in online businesses, virtual assistantship has become one of the highest in-demand jobs in recent years. In the modern working world, when small businesses or startups can’t afford to hire multiple employees for different work responsibilities, they prefer hiring a virtual assistant who can multitask and handle all the duties. The job of virtual assistants consists of various work responsibilities similar to digital marketing, social media management, customer service, and even bookkeeping. This job profile is moderately well-known in the global market and allows employees to work remotely according to their preferences.
In the last few years, many organizations and companies have switched to remote working mode as the owners have realized that they don’t need employees to be in their offices to fulfill their work requirements. That’s why many companies have started hiring assistants who can virtually help the organizations and positively contribute to the companies’ growth. The job profile of virtual assistantship has gained immense popularity among youth as it allows them to work with various organizations across the globe. This job can be a great career option for those who want limited work commitments and wish to grow in their professional career by working online. If you want to know more about this job profile, you’re in the right place. Here we will discuss everything related to this job profile of virtual assistantship. Before getting into detail, let’s know who a virtual assistant is.
Who Is A Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant is just like any other office assistant, but the difference is that a virtual assistant works remotely. Most virtual assistants work as freelancers rather than committing to a full-time shift job. A virtual assistant is a self-employed person who accomplishes all work duties online. The only thing they require to do their job duties is a good internet connection and a personal computer or laptop.
A virtual assistant handles email marketing, provides customer support, makes necessary phone calls, prepares financial documents and monthly or annual sales reports, transcribes documents, helps in digital marketing, organizes files, collects information regarding sales targets, coordinates schedules and meetings, arranges business trips, and primarily takes charge of the administrative responsibilities for a company. Some virtual assistants accomplish significant technical duties also if there are any requirements. They may run multiple programs to look for business leads and new opportunities for sales. Additionally, they schedule social media posts, handle email campaigns, perform bookkeeping duties, and even track marketing metrics. In simple words, a virtual assistant does those tasks that take a considerable time for the client to complete. Virtual assistants assist clients with minor work and help them perform other critical duties.
Virtual Assistantship – Job Profile And Work Responsibilities
The rise of the internet and digital technologies in the global market positively contributes to the immense popularity of the virtual assistantship job profile. This job profile includes various career aspects as the employee may have to perform different administrative, technical, and marketing duties. Virtual assistants usually work part-time or on a contractual basis. Additionally, they have access to various digital resources essential for their jobs. Nowadays, companies of all sizes across the globe are hiring for this job profile. However, virtual assistantship has proved extremely useful for most solo entrepreneurs or small startups. Because most startups need help with their administrative tasks but don’t have the budget to hire a full-time assistant.
Work Responsibilities of A Virtual Assistant
The following are some significant work responsibilities of virtual assistants.
- Performs general administrative tasks
Providing general administrative support is one of the primary work responsibilities of virtual assistants. These administrative tasks include answering phone calls, scheduling meetings, replying to emails, arranging business trips, organizing files and calendars, and more.
- Prepares bills and invoices
Companies require invoices for their potential clients regarding their purchases. Preparing invoices may seem a minor task, but in reality, most companies need help in preparing sales-related bills and invoices. A virtual assistant helps a company by creating invoices for them. They mostly use the company’s software platform to create invoices, verify them, and send them to the clients. Additionally, they often process financial transactions and record them after successful completion.
- Research information and write contents
Research can be a time-consuming task even with the help of dedicated resources. Because of this, many companies assign virtual assistants to conduct online research on the significant content and compile related information. A virtual assistant often performs intense research regarding sales, products, market analysis, customers, and the company’s annual performance. This responsibility is best suited for virtual assistants specialized in data analysis. Additionally, a virtual assistant is also expected to write the contents they research. These contents are generally for blogs or social media posts.
- Performs bookkeeping
Small businesses often can’t afford to hire a full-time bookkeeper. So they hire a part-time virtual assistant who can handle their bookkeeping tasks, including processing payments, verifying payrolls, checking expenses, preparing regular budget statements, and making purchases.
- Provides customer support
Virtual assistants often play the crucial role of a first point contact medium for a company’s potential customers. They provide support to those customers who are looking for assistance with troubleshooting. They can also contact customers or clients to give product-related updates or receive feedback. Similarly, they answer frequently asked questions by their customers, forward their messages to the company’s management team, and look for customer details.
- Performs data entry
Sometimes a virtual assistant may perform data entry tasks according to the requirements. They organize and type information, compile relevant data, check for data accuracy, delete unnecessary records, and maintain an accurate spreadsheet.
- Manages social media platforms
Virtual assistants often work to increase customer engagement on a company’s social media platforms. They regularly handle a company’s social media platforms, reply to comments, communicate with followers, share creative content, and ensure that the brand looks good online. They often perform social media marketing-related responsibilities, such as creating online campaigns, defining ad targets, preparing campaign reports, and forwarding the essential details to the management team.
Other job responsibilities of a virtual assistant include:
- Asking for updates from other team members
- Creating reports on the progress of an ongoing project
- Finding purchase-related tracking numbers for customers
- Performing additional duties of a personal assistant
- Increasing brand awareness by email marketing
- Organizing writing resources for content writing employees
- Helping in the content publishing process
- Writing new emails and responding to customer emails
- Listening to recordings of meetings and transcribing the relevant data
- Providing technical support to customers
Skills Required For Virtual Assistantship
People of any gender can pursue a career in the virtual assistantship field. However, a person needs to have a few essential skills to be successful as a virtual assistant. Let’s have a look at the primary virtual assistantship skills.
- Virtual assistants must have a sound knowledge of operating computers and using different software. They must know to maintain a spreadsheet, work on WordPress, communicate via emails, and conduct online research.
- They must have excellent communication skills to provide necessary customer support. They must know to communicate with potential customers and respond to their queries. They should be able to listen well to what the customers are saying, understand their concerns, and convey relevant information.
- Another essential skill to apply for the virtual assistantship job profile is multitasking. A virtual assistant must be good at multitasking as the job includes multiple work responsibilities. The multitasking ability helps virtual assistants to meet new deadlines while not compromising other duties.
- Virtual assistants must also have good organizational skills to perform administrative duties. As remote working lacks direct supervision, good organizational skills help virtual assistants keep track of all their tasks.
Other required skills are:
- Time management skills
- Good decision-making skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Interpersonal skills to directly interact with clients
- Excellent attention to detail
- A passion for learning
- Technical or IT skills, such as running a program
- Project management skills
- Ability to handle social media platforms
- Ability to provide customer support
- Data entry skills
- Creativity and reliability
How To Start Your Career As A Virtual Assistant?
A person doesn’t need an advanced degree or experience to start their career as a virtual assistant. However, there are a few ways through which one can pursue a career in this field. Apart from exceptions, most companies prefer virtual assistants with a minimum bachelor’s degree. The candidates can be graduates from any discipline with a minimum of 50% marks from a recognized education institution.
As this job profile includes various responsibilities, one needs to know about their specialization first and apply accordingly. Having a good understanding of which services you can offer an organization will help you to get a job. Some additional courses, such as digital marketing and social media marketing, can significantly help you perform your virtual assistantship responsibilities. Though certification is not mandatory, you can also consider joining an online virtual assistantship certification course to gain knowledge about this unique job profile. However, required skills and a computer application course can also help you crack the interview and convince the employer that you are eligible enough to get the job.
Virtual Assistantship Courses And Fees
Nowadays, most online educational platforms provide virtual assistantship certification courses to those candidates who want to pursue a career in this field. In India, most colleges and universities don’t offer specific offline courses regarding virtual assistantships. Those candidates who wish to have an offline learning experience in this field can join digital marketing-related offline courses in private or governmental universities. Many renowned and affiliated educational institutions in India provide offline digital marketing courses to candidates.
Best Online Virtual Assistantship Courses
The following are the top 8 best online Virtual Assistantship courses.
P.S- One can join these online courses after completing their 12th or graduation according to their preference.
| Sl No. | Courses Name | Course Provider | Duration | Average Fees |
| 1. | Virtual Assistant: Find, Hire, Train, and Manage | Udemy | 1.5 hours (with full lifetime access) | INR 499 |
| 2. | Work From Home as a Virtual Assistant | Udemy | 3 hours video class + 1 hour audio class | INR 499 |
| 3. | Certification Course in Executive Assistantship | Brentwood Open Learning College | Maximum 16 days | INR 6600 |
| 4. | Virtual Assistant Masterclass | The Knowledge Academy | 1 day | INR 11,995 |
| 5. | Virtual Assistantship | SPL Study | 1 month | INR 5000 |
| 6. | Virtual Assistant Diploma | PITMAN Training | 5 weeks | Registration required |
| 7. | Must-Have Skills (Training) for Virtual Assistants in 2022 | Udemy | 3.5 hours (with full lifetime access) | INR 499 |
| 8. | How To Become A Virtual Assistant | Udemy | 2.5 hours (with full lifetime access) | INR 499 |
Offline Virtual Assistantship Courses in India
In India, private and governmental educational institutions don’t offer specific or complete virtual assistantship courses. For those who want to join an offline virtual assistant course, many institutions provide some digital marketing-related offline courses. The syllabus of these digital marketing training courses covers the virtual assistantship module also. The duration of digital marketing offline courses may vary depending on the syllabus, from a few weeks to 1 year. Here are some offline digital marketing-related courses that may help you to learn virtual assistantship.
- Social media management
- Digital marketing
- Email marketing
- Graphic design
- Website design
P.S- The mentioned courses are additional training courses. While most of these courses have no eligibility requirements, you must complete your 12th or graduation to join some of them.
Best Virtual Assistantship Online PG Diploma Courses
Universities in India don’t offer specific offline Virtual Assistantship courses in their bachelor’s or PG diploma programs. However, a few online educational platforms provide PG Diploma courses in this field.
| Sl No. | Course Name | Institution Name | Duration | Average Fees |
| 1. | Virtual Assistant Business Diploma Course | Centre of Excellence | 1 week | INR 10,114 |
| 2. | Virtual Assistant Business Diploma | Alpha Academy | 8 hours | INR 954 |
Salary Of A Virtual Assistant In India
In India, the average salary of a virtual assistant is 22,544 INR/per month. Many companies pay freelance virtual assistants on an hourly basis. A freelance virtual assistant can earn up to 250-300 INR/per hour, depending on the density of their work. The salary structure in this field widely depends on various factors, including the candidate’s qualifications, work experience, specialization, job responsibilities, and certification. However, the pay scale of this job profile increases with time depending on the candidate’s annual performance.
Top 10 Recruiters of Email Marketing Job Profile In India
Most organizations or companies provide freelance opportunities for their virtual assistants. Due to the continuous growth in online businesses, many companies across different industries are now hiring virtual assistants to perform their online work responsibilities. Thus, this job profile is high in demand, and virtual assistants can witness good professional growth in their careers.
There are a variety of job opportunities in the field of virtual assistantship. Here are the top 10 companies in India that are hiring virtual assistants.
- Deloitte
- Vbuddys Solution Pvt Ltd
- Wing
- IILM University
- Raysoft Technologies
- Brickwork India
- Acelerar Technologies
- Profit Factory
Top Universities In India For Virtual Assistantship Courses
It is hard to find a university in India that offers specific offline virtual assistantship courses for candidates. However, one can join an online certification or diploma course to study virtual assistantship. Many private and governmental colleges and universities across India offer offline digital marketing courses for candidates. These courses are additional training or diploma courses that include the virtual assistantship modules. Here are some top universities in India that provide the best learning experience in the digital marketing field.
- Christ University, Bangalore
- Galgotias University, Noida
- NMIMS, Mumbai
- Patna University, Patna
- Delhi University, New Delhi
- Amity University, Kolkata
- Henry Harvin Education, Delhi
Top Online Platforms Virtual Assistantship Courses
Nowadays, many online platforms offer different digital marketing courses, and virtual assistantships are one of them. The courses cover all the aspects of digital marketing, from bookkeeping and email monitoring to data entry and handling potential clients and projects. The following are the five best online platforms that offer virtual assistantship courses for candidates.
- Udemy
- Brentwood Open Learning College
- The Knowledge Academy
- SPL Study
- PITMAN Training
Virtual Assistantship Course Fees (UG/PG Level)
The certification courses (for both UG and PG level candidates) in virtual assistantship are mostly short-term courses offered by online educational platforms. There are also a few educational institutions in India that provide offline digital marketing courses for candidates. These digital marketing courses also help candidates learn about the virtual assistantship field. Most online virtual assistantship courses are completely paid ones. The course fee largely depends on the duration, and the course duration can range from a few hours to 1 month. An online virtual assistantship certification course can cost up to 15,000 INR, while an offline digital marketing course can cost up to 50,000-1,00,000 INR.