What exactly is a VA?

A Virtual Assistant is not AI, Alexa or Siri!

A Virtual Assistant or VA is a freelance or contracted professional person who provides administrative assistance, undertakes project work and sometimes does event management.  They are independent, usually sole traders who can work on specific tasks (email, diary management, correspondence etc), manage projects and/or events.  A VA can usually be hired on an hourly basis, for a set number of hours per week/month or for the duration of a project or event. 

In the main, Virtual Assistants work remotely away from your business premises which reduces your overhead costs.  Hiring a Virtual Assistant can be very beneficial to all businesses, especially small ones as it gives you the benefit of someone doing administrative tasks and functions and frees up your time to focus on developing your business. 

Virtual Assistants are highly experienced and well qualified to undertake any form of admin, project or office management tasks – often they will specialise in certain areas like HR, marketing, bookkeeping, social media or in my case Arts Admin (which I will cover in another article). 

It can be helpful to hire VAs with specific skills for different projects, including personal projects such as proof-reading academic pieces, researching specific areas, managing events.  Charities can benefit enormously from using VAs due to the reduced overheads and recruitment costs. 

Virtual Assistants have become more popular in recent years due to improvements in remote working technology, working as a VA can be particularly good for people like me who have chronic illnesses as it can make it easier for you to manage your work life balance around your health condition. 

If you are looking for a VA then please get in touch with me to discuss your needs

April Pardoe

The Proficient PA

theproficientpa@gmail.com 

www.theproficientpa.com