Along with the soft skills that make them a good fit for the job, our virtual assistants often bring a plethora of skills and relevant past experiences to the table. Not only do they know their way around Microsoft Office and Google Suite, but they also are organized, professional, and work fast.
You may be wondering what it takes to get to this point and become a virtual assistant yourself.
Well, thankfully, we’re about to lay that out for you!
Step 1: The Key Attributes & Qualifications
On our virtual executive assistant online application, we’ve listed the key attributes and qualifications that we look for in a potential candidate:
Key Attributes:
- Detail-oriented, organized, and efficient
- Extremely self-motivated with strong time management
- Proactive, pragmatic, and resourceful problem solver
- Trustworthy and reliable
- Friendly and professional communicator
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet or beat deadlines with no errors
- Tech-savvy and quick to learn new concepts
- Ability to anticipate the needs of others coupled with a strong desire to serve
- Adaptable
Key Qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree and experience working remotely preferred
- Available daily (Mon-Fri) during business hours, and able to dedicate at least 20 hours/week
- Experience in an administrative support role
- In-home office setup including Mac or PC Computer (including webcam) with minimum 1.0ghz dual-core processor, 8gb, and the most recent version of MS Office installed (all programs; Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint)
- A fast and reliable internet connection
- Smartphone with email capabilities
- Designated professional, quiet space
Step 2: The Soft Skills
Those short lists should give you a general idea of what it takes to be a rock star VA, but there are also soft skills that come into play when knowing whether or not you are meant for this role.
Understanding the hiring process and knowing what is expected of you going into your interviews and eventually your first engagement, is helpful.
So here’s a deeper breakdown of the qualities that make someone seeking to be in a virtual assistant role a good fit:
- You thrive on organizing all of the things.
Virtual assistants are the ultimate organizers.
They manage and execute a lot of the tasks and leg work behind the business owner’s overarching ideas. This can translate to documenting processes for your client, making sure that their passwords and login information is all in one place, and even creating folders inside of folders for your client to be able to find exactly what they need when they need it.
- You want to help others.
Being a virtual assistant sometimes organically flows into also being a partner and friend who is happy and eager to help.
This can be helping your client manage their email accounts and calendars in order to save and protect their time, but it can also look like helping your clients set and maintain their goals — as well as celebrating their wins together.
- You are proactive.
Sometimes the client or business owner you are working with can get caught up in the everyday weeds, and this is where you can step in to truly shine by providing them with resources they haven’t thought of yet.
You can create a social media content calendar and branding kit for them or make notes during your meetings of future events or projects that you can go ahead and start helping them with.
Maybe they mention an upcoming trip and want to know what podcasts or audiobooks they could add to their download queue, and the next week you have a list for them without them officially asking.
- You are tech savvy.
It’s also helpful to have some experience in project management systems beforehand. This way if your client has something already set up, you’re able to jump right in. But if they don’t have something already in place, you’ll have the experience to know what works well and set something up from the beginning.
If you have a few other apps or software you love up your sleeve, this can come in handy as well. Sharing is caring. When your client needs your help for an upcoming meeting or event, you are already prepared with how to help them with any travel management or presentation preparation needs.
- You manage all of the spreadsheets well.
Similar to thriving on having everything organized, it’s also important to keep everything in one place so that you know how to find it when you need it.
This can be a document or folder that includes detailed information for an upcoming event, or it can also be used to create structure, workflow, and processes for your client to have now and use in the future.
Step 3: The Refinement
Maybe you’re feeling fairly confident in becoming a VA being a possibility for you, but you’re wondering if there is something else you can do to brush up on or polish the skills you already have.
Well, luckily for you, BELAY has an Ultimate Virtual Assistant Master Class that you can take right now.
This course is for those who want to excel, wowing their clients along the way with their ability to manage tasks efficiently, proactively seek solutions, and communicate in a manner that ensures those around them feel heard and valued.
This, then, begs the question: What can you learn in this course?
Best Practices
- Email Management
- Time Blocking
- Video Conferencing
- Remote Security
- Office Ergonomics
Soft Skills
- Setting Boundaries
- Developing Communication
- Practicing Self-Care
- Emotional Intelligence
- Proactivity
Advanced Skills
- Supporting Multiple Clients
- Managing Vendors
- CRM and Data Management
- Social Media
- Digital Communication
And More …
- Project Management
- Event Planning
- Travel Planning
- Personality Tests
- Courageous Conversations
This course allows you to get a glimpse into what a day in the life of a VA looks like, apply your new skill sets, and learn all of the things that are essential to becoming a virtual assistant.
Did You Just Find Your Next Career?
Virtual assistants are helpful, productive and irreplaceable to businesses and business owners. They have a desire to help and serve productively to ultimately help their client achieve their short and long-term goals. And, we’re biased, but we think our VAs are some of the best.
Are you interested in becoming a BELAY Virtual Assistant? Learn more about the process, dive in a bit deeper to refine your skills, and fill out the online application today.