A virtual assistant (VA), often understood as a personal office assistant working online or in a virtual setting, typically works from home and assists clients with various administrative tasks.
Virtual assistant jobs typically include clerical data entry tasks, real estate paperwork, customer service, telemarketing, and other administrative tasks requested by the client.
In other words, virtual assistants are just like traditional assistants. What spells the difference is the lack of face-to-face presence and everything done via telecommunication software and messaging apps.
Given that no physical presence is required, many entrepreneurs and professionals in the US, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada sought to hire assistants in other countries.
It is understandable since it won't make a difference since insisting to hire domestic would still mean they're not be working alongside them in an office anyway.
But what spells the difference is the cost savings. One can hire three VAs for the price of one. As such, the hiring of VAs from the Philippines has exploded exponentially in recent years.
It means there are plenty of home-based virtual assistant jobs in the Philippines available.
And if you're a Filipino aspiring to join the fast-growing pool of home-based virtual assistants in the Philippines, keep reading so you can have an idea of how to start your VA career.
Types of Home-based Virtual Assistant Jobs in the Philippines
We can divide virtual assistants into different broad categories.
Choosing which kind of virtual assistant to apply for depends on your skill set, schedule availability, job opportunity, and the aspire monthly or hourly rate.
A full-time VA has similar responsibilities, hours, and benefits as a regular full-time employee. But as mentioned previously, all jobs and tasks are performed at home-based.
On the other hand, part-time virtual assistants work fewer hours than full-time VAs.
Part-time positions are usually available if the employer has only a few tasks that need completion per day. Part-time jobs are typically best for working students or stay-at-home mothers who cannot commit eight hours a day.
Here are the different types of virtual assistants you can apply:
1. Administrative Virtual Assistants
An administrative assistant can do a variety of tasks necessary to keep an office running smoothly.
An admin assistant will be an all-around guy assisting every member of the team or the head in concentrating on their respective jobs.
It is now feasible to employ home-based administrative assistants in today's digital world. They still are assisting, but they'll no longer add to the staff staying in the office.
Here are the example tasks you can do as Admin VA:
- Travel and scheduling
- Remote office management
- Email support
- Phone support
- Helpdesk support
- Lead generation
- Dispatching support
- Onboarding assistance
2. Social Media Virtual Assistants
A social media virtual assistant is someone familiar with digital channels or social media platforms. They assist professionals or entrepreneurs, but the focus is on managing social media pages and handling social media campaigns.
Unlike a full-time employee that works in-house, a social media virtual assistant works home-based.
Here are the example tasks you can do as social media virtual assistants:
- Keep social profiles up-to-date
- Content research and drafting
- Scheduling and managing posts
- Plan social media marketing campaigns
- Monitor comments and replies
- Track social media metrics
3. Virtual Bookkeepers
Virtual bookkeeping refers to the setup when a bookkeeper or accountant works remotely with a customer.
It utilizes cloud accounting and various accounting information systems connected to cloud storage and cloud computing.
Virtual bookkeeping is a more specialized and technical field for virtual assistants in the Philippines.
Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in the Philippines are very much qualified and can earn higher compared to staying with auditing firms and private companies that pay peanuts.
Here are the example tasks you can do as virtual bookkeepers:
- Compile transactions
- Check the completeness and accuracy of bank data
- Manage the compensation for workers and contractors
- Take note of reimbursements to employees
- Assist in preparing your quarterly or yearly taxes
- Produce reports on spending habits
You can apply for online bookkeeping jobs on the VirtualStaff.ph marketplace.
4. Virtual Research Assistants
A virtual research assistant is a remote employee capable of managing your business's internet research duties.
They need to be competent, dynamic and have prior experience doing research. A virtual research assistant can churn out understandable data and offer it to you in an easy-to-understand format.
Here are the example tasks you can do as a virtual research assistant:
- Travel research
- Influencer research
- Product and market research
- Trend research
- Web research
5. Customer Service Virtual Assistants
Providing customer assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even on holidays, is a difficult job, much more so for a growing business. Not only can virtual assistants aid with backup email support, but they can also improve the customer experience through responsive live chat and phone assistance.
Here are the example tasks you can do like customer service virtual assistant:
- Email support
- Phone support
- Live Chat support
- Upselling products
- Outbound calls and sales
- Reception services
- Message handling
- Full helpdesk service
You can choose from the best work from home customer service jobs by applying directly to jobs posted on VirtualStaff.ph.
6. Digital Marketing Assistants
Applying for digital marketing jobs and working as a remote digital marketer can be fun, challenging, and rewarding.
This kind of VA assists digital marketing teams with all duties connected with digital marketing. To succeed as a digital marketing assistant, you need to possess a comprehensive understanding of digital marketing methods, strong interpersonal skills, and perform under pressure.
A top-tier digital marketing assistant assists the marketing team in running paid marketing campaigns, search engine marketing, content marketing, social media marketing, and data-driven marketing.
Here are the example tasks you can do as a digital marketing assistant:
- Administrative tasks
- Market research
- Database maintenance
- Content writing
- Maintaining social media
7. Real Estate Virtual Assistants
A VA in real estate is a dependable administrative assistant who serves as the right hand of the realtor or real estate agent. A real estate VA may provide a range of services to a busy and always out-and-about realtor, including lead generation, database administration, and finance and marketing.
Here are the example tasks you can do as a real estate virtual assistant:
- Research real estate industry
- Data entry of client information
- Basic bookkeeping
- Spreadsheet creation and management
- Cold calling
- Setting and organizing appointment
- Calendar management
- Online marketing tasks
- Customer relation management
- Prospecting
- Translation
The great thing about working as a real estate virtual assistant is that you can work part-time or full-time and earn between $3.00 and $12.00 per hour, or perhaps, even more, depending on the specific employer.
The national average in the Philippines for real estate virtual assistants working for employers/clients in the USA is $5.22 per hour, which would mean you'd be making more than 40,000 pesos per month if converted from USD to PHP.
When applying for real estate virtual assistant jobs on VirtualStaff.ph, the employer and the VA can negotiate and agree on the hourly salary rate and mutually agree on it.
8. E-commerce Virtual Assistants
E-commerce virtual assistants provide invaluable assistance to business owners in managing an online store and overseeing its sale orders and inventory management. They can also double as customer service representatives if the business owner is on a shoestring budget as tasks may include enhancing user experience by responding to product queries.
Here are the example tasks you can do as E-commerce virtual assistant:
- Excel work
- Product image editing
- Product listing
- Product optimization
- Managing pricing and inventory
- Fulfilling orders
- Processing returns and exchanges
- Bookkeeping
- Customer support
- Keep store current and operational 24 hours a day
Where to Look For Home-based Virtual Assistant Jobs in the Philippines?
Due to the growing number of small company owners in need of help, the possibility of finding work as a virtual assistant in the Philippines is now higher more than ever.
There are plenty of VA platforms that connect VAs in the Philippines to employers and business owners in the West looking for cost-effective outsourcing.
These various platforms vary in size of available jobs regularly posted and the concentration of particular skills or job positions. Some could be primarily for administrative or office-related tasks and websites that cater to more technical jobs like web development and IT.
For the easiest way to find remote jobs for Filipinos, you can apply to Philippine-centric outsourcing platforms such as VirtualStaff.ph.
Virtualstaff.ph is a virtual assistant outsourcing platform in the Philippines that caters to every Filipino remote worker, from beginners to seasoned professionals.
You can register a FREE jobseeker profile, and after verification, you can immediately start your application by browsing the fast-growing jobs database.
You don't necessarily have to be a degree-holder to land a remote job inside VirtualStaff.ph. Employers place more value on experience and skills than some pompous certificates that won't ensure top-quality delivery of services.
Apart from your jobseeker profile, you may also focus on calibrating your curriculum vitae (CV) or resume to stand out from the hundreds of other applicants.
Your CV should emphasize the areas of your expertise and valuable previous professional experience. You may include a list of your abilities and credentials showing past employers and the positions you've previously filled.
Since the recruitment process is online, virtual head hunters may also request that you complete an online test to get a snapshot of your skills and abilities.
So before you embark on a journey towards home-based jobs, you should be ready to invest in training and expanding your skills and knowledge. This way, it would be easier for you to pass the rigid recruitment process and land that dream flexible home-based virtual assistant job.
