Internet became very much essential nowadays and everyone was given the right to have access to it. It became so powerful that communication became so easy regardless of the distance just through our personal computers or on our mobile phones so long as it’s powered by the internet, and this gave convenience and leisure to all of us. Internet speed also became an indicator of a stable economic status of a country, therefore everyone is benefitting from it.
Because of the internet, jobs became easier and more flexible. Most of the jobs are mainly dependent on the internet and this gave so many opportunities to all people to work with flexibility and one of these is working as a Virtual Assistant. Virtual assistant service jobs became so in-demand for those who wanted to be in a flexible work environment as they can work from the convenience of their homes. Virtual assistants offer their expertise and services over the internet while it also become a demand from companies in any parts of the world to hire virtual assistants on-shore or off-shore as it is cost-efficient and doesn’t require much of a tedious hiring process and be attached on a typical 9-5 shifts.
Virtual assistants are greatly a big addition to the virtual workforce world but how did they exactly start and evolve into what it is today? Here is how it all happened.
The Beginning of the Secretarial Profession
Secretarial jobs were the start of everything, in the year 1800s, Sir Isaac Pitman invented the shorthand method of secretaries and founded a school for secretarial services that was exclusively for men. The task became amenable for women when the typewriter was invented in the 1880s. By the year the 1930s, the job was predominated by women and men vanished from it. Secretarial jobs became a women’s profession. Typewriters became an essential tool for secretarial jobs because of their typing ability and able to use it for anything else. As technology evolves, the tool became the word-processing machine, fax machines and telephones were invented and technology keeps upgrading.
The birth of “Virtual Assistance”
Technology modernized the traditional secretarial services into “virtual” from the beginning of the internet and it became the popular medium for transactions from long distances. The word “Virtual Assistance” where firstly surfaced in 1996 through a casual phone conversation between Stacy Brice and Thomas Leonard. Stacy called herself a “virtual assistant” as she works full-time as a secretary for an international client while working from home. Stacy provided services online as administrative support, personal assistant, and travel planner. The term “virtual assistants” became popular and it eventually became the definition of such a profession. In 1997, the Virtual Assistant industry was professionalized under the organization called “AssistU”.
In another event in 1995 that Christine Durst wrote the book “The 2-Second Commute” addressing the booming industry of virtual assistants as a “revolutionary way of working from home” encouraging people all around the world to maximize the ability and advantages of the internet. She encourages professionals to pursue their passions and independence while earning in the convenience of their homes.
The turning point of the Virtual Assistant Profession
Nowadays, Virtual Assistants became one of the most successful digital careers that professionals are pursuing. Aside from that, they are not tied up to a 9-5 office setting, they can manage and be flexible with their time since most virtual assistant seekers are family persons like mothers who often wanted to stay at home with their kids while earning. Speaking of it, there were lots of companies who hire virtual assistants and seek support from them.
Current Companies demanding Virtual Assistants
There was a high demand for Virtual Assistants from western countries like the US and the UK. There were usually agencies and online companies that hires a pool of potential Virtual Assistants and were booked by the potential clients who will seek services directly from the VA herself. One of the famous Virtual Assistant website pools is “Flexjobs” and “Fiver”. These websites create a pool of potential virtual assistants to be booked by clients for personal hiring.
The job-seeking site Indeed.com named the major companies that hire virtual assistants here are some of the following…
· Belay Solutions – They mainly focus on bookkeepers and Virtual assistants to help their clients with marketing tasks, social media management, and data organization.
· Buolo Solutions – They mainly focus on providing staffing solutions for women in the workforce and matching talented professionals that meet both job candidates and the needs of the clients.
· Equivity – They mainly hire Virtual Assistants for legal, marketing, and administrative positions.
· Gabbyville – They mainly staff Virtual Assistants to help businesses manage call volumes.
· Perssist – They hire Virtual assistants to work as self-guided administrative support for their clients in the technology sector.
· Trusty Oak – They often hire Virtual Assistants for freelance positions
· Zirtual – They hire Virtual Assistants with expertise with Executive clients. Duties may include managing expenses and invoices, event planning, travel booking, and data entry.
· Profit Factory – They hire Virtual Assistants for their high-profile clients in need of their services.
· Time etc – It is a UK-based staffing company that hires Virtual Assistants to take duties including administrative support, research, and content production.
· Smith.ai – They hire Virtual assistants with excellent communication skills and typing speed accuracy as virtual receptionists and chat supports.
· Boldly – Virtual assistants with extensive business experience are being hired to take on complex tasks for clients.
· Fancy Hands – Hiring Virtual Assistants to serve as task assistants to the CEOs or professional clients who are taking monthly subscriptions to work with them.
· CVS Health – This company is a health care provider that often hires Virtual Assistants for administrative tasks and customer care assistants
As the Virtual Assistants industry boomed and became in-demand, it has now been introduced as well in the Scandinavian region with the help of Scandinavian Virtual Assistants Company based in Sweden which hires Virtual Assistants in any parts of the world. They are looking for potential Virtual Assistants with an extensive experience in Web Designing, Content Writing, Social Media Management, and Administrative work with very proficient communication skills in the English language. The applicants go through an extensive interview process to ensure that potential staff is suited for the role. The company also provides training to ensure that the clients will get the best Virtual Assistants they can have.
Why Virtual Assistants Today?
There is definitely a growth from the humble beginnings of Secretarial services to the date in the Virtual Assistance industry since it provides a win-win solution with both companies for having a low-cost workforce and to the Virtual Assistants themselves to work and earn in the convenience of their homes. Definitely, work-life balance is visible and the Virtual Assistance industry will surely last for long.
Written By: Maria Nerizza Acero – Content Writer (Scandinavian Virtual Assistants)