Many companies today are just starting to explore the idea of Virtual Assistants. The fact is that the field of Virtual Assisting has been around for more than a decade. Many of the women who used to work as professional Secretaries and Administrative Assistants who either decided to stay at home or were forced to stay home came up with the idea to at take their skills to a new level. I am sure many people thought of these innovators as crazy at first. The idea of being able to work from home on a computer via the internet must have sounded insane. I commend them and the first companies that hired these individuals. Both took huge chances and because of them, the field of Virtual Assisting is growing rapidly.

Today with the cutbacks in companies and Board of Directors that are constantly looking at the bottom line, many companies are now turning to a Virtual Assistant for the first time. I am sure many have had great experiences and many have not. It is important to note that just like the traditional Administrative Assistants, there are great employees and there are no so great. Many employers have a hard time trying to decide which VA to employee and how to know who they are getting. Also many have a hard time not being able to have a face to face meeting with the employee or reading a resume with all their information. Many are learning that hiring a VA is a different process all together.

Most VAs can be found on many of the Freelance Websites such as Odesk, Elance, and Guru etc. Most of us have profiles on these sites as well as a list of our skills, exams that we have taken to show the proficiency of those skills, and a feedback forum of past contractors. This allow a contractor to quickly scan over the details of the VA like a traditional CV. Many contractors still ask for a resume, but usually these are the newbies. Most Virtual Assistants also have their own personal website, Facebook Fan page and twitter accounts. You can quickly find just how many Virtual Assistants there are now by doing a random search in any web browser. Even I was amazed at the sheer numbers I have found.

There are many advantages for a company today to hire from this vast source of Virtual Assistants. These are just a few:

The nice thing that companies are finding out about Virtual Assistants is that we are all around the world. These means they now have access to a host of different language skills, time zones, and cultures to choose from. Virtual Assistants are also flexible on their work schedules and times.

A major cost saver for a company to hire a VA is that they no longer have to pay a full time employee for working part time. There are also no additional payouts that need to be made to a VA should they cut their hours or even their contract. This is a great attraction to many of today’s businesses. I know here in Mexico, after 90 days there is a government set price to buy out your employee before you can fire them. This can be VERY costly to many companies here. I am sure there are other countries that have the same laws in effect. They also save large amounts of money for not having pay benefits to a Virtual Assistant. Both of these advantages can allow companies to slash large amounts off their operating budgets.

Another attraction to hiring a Virtual Assistant is that companies no longer have rent or purchase huge corporate offices to house their large volumes of workers. Today many companies can opt to rent just temporary office space, to have meetings, or can rent a small office space for just a limited staff. This can save company hundreds if not thousands of dollars every year.

Another cost saving to companies today, is that they no longer have to provide or maintain large computer servers or a huge amount of desktops. They also no longer have to waste money maintaining these systems or trying to keep up with all the software to run the office. Most Virtual Assistants are responsible for having all the software and equipment to do their job efficiently.

Technology has also helped the interview process of a Virtual Assistant. Today with Skype or any of the many meeting programs, people can now have that face to face interview that many companies are still comfortable with. Also with Skype, Vonage, and many other the other IP phone systems, most Virtual Assistants can call or be called anywhere in the world as a local call, even though they maybe half way around the world from them contractor. With this option, calls can be routed now to Virtual Receptionists at no additional costs to a company. Also in most cases, a Virtual Receptionist is cheaper than many of the answering service providers. Another advantage, and to me the most important, is that the caller receives a real person from the company answering the phone. Not an impersonal, “can I take a message for” phone call. This helps improve the Customer Satisfaction rating to many customers.

This just taps the surface of why a company should at least consider hiring a Virtual Assistant. Most Virtual Assistants be hired for just one project, one need or specialty, or as a full time staff member. To read about more reasons why to hire a Virtual Assistant, please sign up for our free newsletter at: http://www.yourvirtualassistants.net.

Author Bio: Valerie Jennings has a BA in Communications with over 25 years of experience in the Administrative and Computer Fields. She was also an Advertising Director for an Instrument Company in Miami FL for over 5 Years. She was the founder and co-owner of Computers 101 in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. http://www.yourvirtualassistants.net

Category: Business Management
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