‍Working from home can be a great way to balance work and life. You get to avoid the commute and work from wherever you like. The benefits are excellent, and a remote job can help you stay focused on tasks rather than getting distracted by the office water cooler or your team.  

However, working from home also comes with unique challenges. Staying productive can be tricky without someone to keep you accountable or give you that little push when you need it most.

Virtual assistants are professionals who specialize in assisting other individuals or businesses remotely. As a virtual administrative assistant, your job will be to manage day-to-day tasks for your client.

This position is great for people who want to work from home but still need to gain the skills or experience.

Here is what the role of a virtual administrative assistant entails:
What Does A Virtual Administrative Assistant Do? 

You will probably see a little bit of everything as a virtual assistant. Depending on the client, your day-to-day activities will be different. You’ll see some overlap with these core administrative tasks.

• Assist with project management - A successful business relies on an efficient workflow. As a virtual administrative assistant, you can help with project management by tracking milestones, managing due dates, and ensuring that projects stay on track.   
• Conduct research - When clients need more information than they currently have, it’s your job to do a little digging to get the required facts. Whether it’s a market or competitive analysis, or you need to research an industry standard, this is an essential part of being a virtual assistant.  
• Create and manage calendars - Part of conducting research is ensuring that the information you gather is accurate. That information will go into a calendar so your client knows what’s coming up and when.  
• Draft and edit letters - You’ll also write letters for your client. You’ll write business letters if you need to put together a proposal for a new client or respond to a government agency.  
• Manage email correspondence - One thing that comes with working for yourself or a company is managing email. You’ll respond to email correspondence for your client, which could include everything from answering customer questions to writing company updates. 

Create and Maintain Schedules

Managing a client’s schedule is one of the biggest challenges of working as a virtual assistant. Most people work with virtual assistants because they don’t have the in-house staff to handle administrative tasks such as scheduling meetings.  

You’ll need to create and maintain your client’s schedule as a virtual assistant. Organizing their schedule and keeping track of their appointments is one of the most critical aspects of the job.  

Keeping a digital calendar accessible by you and your client is the easiest way to keep track of both of your schedules at once. In addition, you can create recurring events that help ensure you remember everything necessary. 

Manage Recurring Tasks

From filing taxes to sending out birthday cards, there are a lot of tasks that can be made easier with automated reminders. Be sure to ask your client what recurring tasks they need help with.  

Depending on the type of work, these tasks may happen weekly, monthly, or yearly. You’ll need to ensure that you’re taking care of these recurring tasks, so they stay caught up. 

Research and Organize Information

A big part of being a virtual assistant is an information hub. An essential part of any administrative assistant’s job is researching and organizing client information. Research could involve anything from searching for the best insurance rates for your client to finding information for a speech your client is giving at a conference next week.  

As an administrative VA, you need to pull information from various sources and compile it all in one place. Some of your tasks can include collecting information from research articles, company reports, etc. You’ll also need to organize this information so your client can easily navigate it. Whether an Excel spreadsheet or a Google document, you ensure that your client can easily find the information they’re looking for. 

 Wrapping Up

 A virtual administrative assistant’s duties may vary from job to job, but they include scheduling, organizing, and managing client information. Whether you work full- or part time, you can telecommute, making the job incredibly flexible. Read more about the benefits of working as a nearshore virtual assistant with Cápita Works.

As you can see, a virtual assistant does much more than answer a few emails. If you want to work from home, but don’t have the skills to go out and get a traditional job, then a virtual assistant position could be a great fit and we can help you find it. Find our virtual assistant jobs.