As one of the top online jobs for Filipinos, it’s no wonder many are looking to become virtual assistants. Filipino virtual assistants are sought-after for their skills, proficiency in English, and work ethic.
One type of virtual assistant that’s in-demand today is the general admin virtual assistant job. They’re the ones who are specifically tasked to handle their client’s everyday administrative tasks, such as answering emails or scheduling appointments.
To help increase your chances of getting hired, here’s a guide for a general admin virtual assistant job. This includes the general admin virtual assistant job description, what skills you need, and more.
What Are Your Duties and Responsibilities?
Let’s start with the duties and responsibilities of a general admin virtual assistant. General admin virtual assistants provide office support to their clients, ensuring their day-to-day operations run smoothly.
Take note that the needs of each company are different from one another. This means your client may ask you to do other tasks that aren’t included below. In general, your duties and responsibilities include:
- Answering phone calls and e-mails for your client.
- Make travel arrangements when needed.
- Schedule meetings.
- Manage filing systems, update records, and organize documentation.
- Prepare and organize databases and reports.
- Issue invoices to your company’s clients.
- Provide recommendations according to customer needs and preferences.
- Direct your company’s clients to the appropriate department for their needs.
When talking about duties and responsibilities, one shouldn’t forget about the salary that comes with it. Junior-level general admin virtual assistants have a salary range between Php 15,000 to Php 17,000. It then increases from Php 21,000 to Php 30,000 for senior-level ones.
Skills You Need for This Job.
To thrive in a general admin virtual assistant job, you will need the following skills:
Verbal and Written Communication Skills.
Most of your tasks involve communicating with your client or customers verbally or in writing. In addition, you’ll also most likely need to converse with foreign clients regularly, either as your boss or as a customer.
So if you want to last long as a general admin virtual assistant, you must possess at least some basic verbal and written communication skills. Having these enables you to present a positive image not only of yourself but of your client too if you’re talking to your company’s customers.
Excellent Organizational Skills.
To fulfill your responsibility of managing your client’s everyday needs, you need to be organized. Having excellent organizational skills allows you to accomplish multiple tasks quickly and efficiently.
Another benefit of having excellent organizational skills is it prevents confusion between you and your client. You wouldn’t want to tell your client you forgot where you placed an important document now, do you?
Time Management Skills
To possess excellent organizational skills, you should also have great time management skills. There will be times during your work when you’re given several tasks to finish within a short time. If you don’t want to be overwhelmed, you need to be capable of knowing which tasks to prioritize.
And this is where time management comes in. With it, you’ll be able to budget your time wisely to accomplish your tasks. This also helps you find time for rest and bond with your family, which is one of remote work’s advantages, at least in theory.
Able to Do Multitasking.
With how hectic managing a business is today, clients need someone capable of handling multiple assignments simultaneously and accomplishing them all. Having such an assistant will help them do more in a shorter amount of time and lets them focus on essential business matters.
But what if you have trouble multitasking? Instead of helping you do more in less time, it just causes confusion and panic to you. In this case, try to take things slow. Start with accomplishing two simple tasks you can do simultaneously, then move on from there.
Be Capable of Working Independently.
A prerequisite for remote work is the capability of acting independently. Since you’ll be working with distant clients, you can’t expect they’ll be able to help you with every problem you encounter.
Additionally, your client hired you so they can save time and be more efficient, right? If you can’t be relied upon to achieve your tasks without needing a hand, your client has picked the wrong person.
Flexibility.
Besides being independent, another skill that all kinds of virtual assistants should have is flexibility. No matter how well we do in our work, problems will always arise. But if you have a flexible mindset, this wouldn’t be an issue. With it, you can readily come up with solutions to the problems you will encounter.
Familiarity With Various Design and Report-Making Tools.
Of course, you should also familiarize yourself with the tools you’ll be working with on your general admin virtual assistant job. Knowing your tools well is the difference between a good general admin virtual assistant and an excellent one. Popular tools you should be familiar with include the various Microsoft Office tools, Zoom, Dropbox, and Google Workspace.
Google workspace, in particular, makes remote working that much easier as it has everything you’ll need for your work. Need a place to store your files? Use Google Drive. Need to set up a quick meeting? Google Meet is there for you. Setting up your boss’s busy schedule? You can use Google Calendar.
What Equipment Do You Need for This Job?
Aside from having the necessary skills for your job as a general admin virtual assistant, you will also need the right equipment. Fortunately, you don’t need much for this job. All you need are the following:
A Computer.
As its title suggests, being a virtual assistant means that you will conduct most of your work online. To do that, you’re going to need a computer or laptop. Yes, I know this should be obvious. But you’d be surprised at the number of applicants we had who lied about having their own computer.
Since you’ll be doing mostly non-CPU intensive work, you don’t need to buy a PC or laptop with high specs for work. This helps you save a little bit more when building your PC, as you don’t need the latest processors or a large RAM for your computer.
A Stable Internet Connection.
Having a computer is good and all. But without a stable internet connection, you still won’t be able to work. A stable internet connection reduces the chance of your work being disrupted and helps you avoid missing anything essential while working.
However, because we’re in the Philippines, having a reliable and stable internet connection may be a problem. Because of this, it’s wise to have a pocket wifi, so you have a backup internet connection.
The Required Apps by Your Client.
Once you have your own computer and a stable internet connection, it’s time for you to download all the necessary software required by your client. Most of these apps are already familiar to you; Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint chief among them. Some, however, may be new to you, such as your client’s chosen monitoring app and cloud storage apps.
As I discussed earlier, familiarizing yourself with how these apps work is a great advantage to you. This means your client won’t have to spend too much time training you anymore. You can immediately start working on your tasks without too many issues.
Do You Have What It Takes?
And that is it! Here’s the all-in-one guide you need for a general admin virtual assistant job. By following this, you’ll gain an edge over your competitors and increase your chances of landing this job.
If you’re having trouble finding opportunities for this or other virtual assistant jobs, check out Remote Staff for any openings. Good luck, and see you in the virtual workplace!
