Archive for 2009
More than just a fill-in job…
I read a blog this morning, written by another VA, which implied that most VAs within the UK are doing this type of work because they are unable to commit to a full time career.
Well, excuse me but ….
Whilst I agree with most of what Helen Byrne says in her blog, many VAs are not just "… very often people who – for any number of reasons – don’t want to commit to a full time career at the moment but have valuable skills that they know could be used by a wide range of clients in a Virtual Environment."
I am a VA, the first in the UK to be certified by VAcertified.com and I am fully committed as a VA to running my own Virtual Assistant/remote secretarial services business. I am not doing it because I don't want to commit to a full time career, it is my full time career, I do it because of the variety of clients I can work with (currently a not for profit business organisation, a GP locum service provider, a journalist, a GP, a psychologist expert witness company, a local recruitment company), the variety of type of work I can do in a day (update web copy, email/diary management, invoicing, formatting documents, audio transcription …), the satisfaction of knowing that I am helping my clients achieve more with their business now that I am doing the administration, and the flexibility it gives me with my work.life balance.
VAs are not just an extension of the administration staff you may have in the office – they can assist strategically with your business too. By taking on the day to day administration of running a business, a VA will allow the owner/director the time and space to work strategically within the business on their key priorities, helping them find the time to grow their business,strengthen their business foundations and increase productivity.
Generally, VAs have held senior PA/EA posts within a corporate environment and have the skills, experience and knowledge to help in many areas of your business. A senior PA may very well have been a line manager or budget holder and can assist their clients in various departments – financial, marketing, web updating, health and safety, even in some cases management of staff.
Yes, a lot of VAs work in the industry part time, some around other jobs, some around their small children, but for some it is more than 'just a fill-in' it is their career and their own business.
I’ve been certified!
I always knew that there was a need for me to be certified and I have finally done it. I am the first VA in the UK to be awarded the globally acclaimed VAcertified logo.
You don't know what this means? Well, if you want to know what this means to you as a client/potential client, take a look at the VAcertified website. If you are a VA or aspiring to become a VA take a look at the requirements by visiting the website.
VAcertified.com was founded by Tawnya Sutherland and the award was brought about through a collaboration of a number of well established virtual assistant business owners from the UK, USA, Australia and Canada along with a number of advisors from training departments within the government and other business agencies (details of the panel can be found here: VAcertified panel).
Why is there a need for a global VA certification? The VA industry has grown exponentionally over the last few years with many VA agencies, sole businesses, partnerships and outsourcing companies sprouting up across the world. Potential clients can spend hours and even days working out who would be the best VA for their business. Tawnya and her panel are passionate that clients and potential clients are given the opporutnity to work with the best VAs there are and by establishing a global award it sets a benchmark which says that those VAs who have been certified have met a set high standard in the qualifications they hold, their previous corporate experience and in the way they run their own VA business, as well as supporting other VAs and aspiring VAs.
The first 'batch' of awards have gone to the UK (Your Office Online), Australia (Cyberspace Virtual Services), Canada (Crystal Clear Business Solutions) and USA (Fastype)