6 Jobs That Set You Up To Be An Awesome Virtual Assistant

As the summer draws to a close and we watch new skyrocketing cases of COVID-19 sweep various parts of the U.S., people everywhere are holding their breath. We all wait for the other shoe to drop. We all ask ourselves, “What are we in for this fall?” While physical health and safety are at the forefront of most of our minds, I’m willing to bet on what the next worry in line is... 

Employment Jobs. Finances. Paying bills. Keeping the lights on. 

I imagine that educators are wondering if they want to go back to school or if it’s time for a career change. 

I imagine that people working in the hotel and travel industries are wondering what to do as the hotel chains, airlines, and airports they work for aren’t returning to business-as-usual because no one is going anywhere. 

I imagine that others whose work relied to some extent on some physical location to support (like administrative assistants, office managers, or live event planners) are finding their responsibilities have been significantly reduced or their jobs/roles cut altogether as a result of their companies now being remote-only.

I’ve painted a bleak picture, I know. It doesn’t have to be that way. There’s actually a rosy alternative both real and lucrative. There is an incredibly viable career option that is available right now as the business world goes virtual. A career option that even Kevin O’Leary of Shark Tank endorses. 

You can become a Virtual Assistant (VA). 

Right now, the world needs more VAs to help all of the business owners and entrepreneurs navigate this new virtual business landscape. There is an abundance of opportunity. There are limitless possibilities. There is money to be earned.   

Better yet? There are a select handful of jobs that transfer ridiculously well to offering virtual assistant services. 

If you’ve ever had any of these jobs, you would make an awesome, successful, and well-paid VA: administrative assistant, educator/teacher, hotel industry professionals, live event planner, office manager, and travel agent. 

Admin/Executive Assistant

Dynamite administrative/executive assistants are like giving a leader an extra lung to breath. Leaders (or business owners) can focus their energy on envisioning and running the show while their support (the assistant) ensures that the show goes off without a hitch - on time and as it was intended. Administrative/executive assistants are needed in the virtual business space. Business owners still need administrative support in their operations. 

Admin/exec assistants often support calendar management, document storage, meeting coordination and set up, client and team communications, and a great many other details that require their agility, organization, time management, and ability to see both the big and the fine details. Tons of virtual business owners - from coaches to speakers to accountants to designers and everything in between - are looking for someone they can pass off these administrative tasks to with assurance they’ll be taken care of.   

Want 5 services an administrative/executive assistant could provide as a VA? Read this other post. 

Educators/Teachers

Amazing educators are those that are able to command a classroom with multiple individuals and lead them through learning collectively while also not forgetting they each have strengths and areas of improvement. They are also serious taskmasters and timekeepers, always operating off a schedule, knowing when this class or that subject ends and another begins, and keeping track of which assignment is due when or how they’re going to get their curriculum planning or grading achieved. 

Above all else, VAs need to be able to balance having multiple clients in their portfolio at one time. While an individual client may not know their VA has another six clients, they need to feel like they’re the only one in their VA’s universe. Who better than a teacher who already knows what it’s like to juggle the needs of multiple people at one time? Add to that amazing communication, public speaking, and planning skills and you’ve got a VA who can easily support business owners in planning and developing presentations, courses, training, workshops, etc. that deliver the business owners’ content to their intended audience. 

Want 5 services a prior educator/teacher can offer as a VA? Read this other post. 

Hotel Industry Professionals

Hotels are all about customer care and hospitality. When you travel you remember how your stay was at a hotel based on the friendliness and care of the staff. From the guest concierge, to the front desk receptionist, to the hotel manager, to the events/conference coordinator, how they treat you and the information they provide is paramount to the way you feel when you leave. You might even decide you’re only ever going to stay at that hotel chain whenever you travel. 

People who have worked in the hotel industry make successful VAs because they are usually familiar with systems. Think about the number of systems the front desk receptionist probably needs to know in order to book a person’s reservation, help in the event of a flight delay, assist in local transportation, resolve payment issues, etc. They usually have excellent ways with people which makes them ideal for not only working with their clients directly but also working with their clients’ clients. If they were a part of arranging hotel events/conferences then they have experience in planning events and the number of tasks and details that are involved.    

Want 5 services a hotel industry employee can offer as a VA? Read this other post.

Live Event Planners

Live event planners make concerts, conferences, seminars, training, summits, product launches, book signings, speaking gigs, and personal milestone celebrations successful. They have a plan with all the details and then a back up plan and a backup plan to the backup plan. If something occurs that couldn’t have been prevented or wasn’t considered during the planning stage, they are resourceful and quick to resolve the issue. Because they’re putting on an event which means a lot of people, they know how to communicate to a variety of stakeholders while not losing sight of the planning itself. 

How this translates to VA services is simple. For as many live event planners we needed before COVID, we now need more. The one big exception, of course, is that we need them to plan virtual gatherings instead. But virtual events require the same organization, attention to detail, communication, resourcefulness, and planning as a live event does.

Want 5 services that live event planners can offer as a VA? Read this other post. 

Office Managers

That behind-the-scenes person that is ensuring the supply closet is stocked, the vendors are paid, the office resources (conference/meeting rooms, A/V equipment, etc.) are shared, the items needed for employee onboarding are available, is probably the office manager. They’re keeping the office in tip-top shape for all the people to operate within it, having everything they need without even having to ask. Well, just because companies are going virtual, doesn’t mean the “office” ceases to exist. The employees that were sent home are now setting up home offices and those things still need to run optimally for employees to be successful. 

For an office manager looking to become a VA, much of the same responsibilities can be applied - it may just take a moment to re-imagine the “office”. A VA’s clients still have need for supplies, equipment, or furniture even if they’re working from home. Or, even if the VA works from home but the clients office is still brick and mortar, that ordering can still happen. There are still accounts payable/receivable to be managed as it pertains to vendors. There are still operations and systems that can be designed to help a business function more smoothly even if that business operates now from multiple homes (of its employees).  

Want 5 services office managers can offer as a VA? Read this other post. 

Travel Agents

If you’ve ever worked with a good travel agent, you know that they are excellent at truly getting to know their traveler(s). In order to create the most customized travel arrangements, they’ll ask questions, truly listen, and learn the preferences of their clients - from what modes of transportation they like, to hotel chains they prefer, to where they want to sit on the plane. When an agent goes to plan the trip, they provide a package that is as specific to the requirements of the traveler(s) as possible. All of this requires strong communication and active listening skills, extensive research, attention-to-detail, organization, and planning. 

VAs must effectively communicate and actively listen to their clients so that not only do they understand what’s being asked of them, but so that they know their client and the client’s business so well they can be proactive about what might be asked next, later, or in the event of something happens that wasn't supposed to. Since a VA often has multiple clients with multiple projects organization, attention to detail, and planning will be required no matter what the VAs tasks are. 

Want 5 services a travel agent can offer as a VA? Read this other post. 

Is it time to consider life as a VA?

This pandemic has rocked our nation in ways we don’t even have enough words (or the right ones) to express. There’s no denying how much devastation, stress, chaos, and uncertainty has come along with it. At the same time, however, I’ve also seen a great many examples of the opportunities it has provided to some - like inviting people to re-evaluate their careers and explore other professional paths that are available they may have never considered before. 

If you fall in this camp - assessing your means to make money, weighing your financial options, needing to pivot in your profession - I invite you to consider life as VA. 

If you’ve ever been an administrative assistant, educator/teacher, hotel industry professional, live event planner, office manager (manager of any type is good too), or travel agent, you already have all the skills you need to become a successful VA and get paid for your services. 

And, if any of this interests you, the next step to take is to sign up for my 5-day training, Create a Virtual Career in the New Economy. 

There is a way forward and a way to pay your bills that even COVID-19 can’t touch.

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Kathy Goughenour is an experienced and savvy business coach and trainer. From corporate marketing to Virtual Assistant to business coach and trainer

Since 2008 she's been training and coaching women to build successful Virtual Assistant home-based businesses through her program Virtual Expert? Training.