Wanting to Become a Virtual Assistant

[pcdoctor]

Hello everyone:

I have decided that I would like to be able to work from home doing something of some sort so I can get out of working at McDonald's when I've been doing for almost 18 years. After doing some research, I've come across information related to becoming a virtual assistant. The only thing though is that I have absolutely no professional experience in anything related to being a virtual assistant. While researching virtual assistant jobs, these are some of the jobs that I have an interest in wanting to do. There maybe more out there as well.

For the administrative support jobs I have an interest in learning:

Managing your client’s calendar/schedule
Building or managing databases (of contacts, for example) - What exactly would this be?
Booking appointments and calls
Making travel arrangements
Monitoring voicemail
File management (in Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
Data entry
PDF conversions
PDF merging or splitting
Sending cards/gifts (for holidays, thank you’s, milestone events, etc.)
Personal online shopping

These are the customer service jobs I have an interest in learning:

Processing orders and shipments
Processing refunds
Handling customer inquiries
Operating live chat
Following up on orders, inquiries, etc.
Chasing outstanding payments - eh, this one not so much.
Updating member records
Inviting/approving requests to join a membership community (e.g. Facebook)
Setting up/updating CRM tools (Customer Relationship Management)

I would prefer to do most everything online and very little on a phone since i do not have a landline and I don't always have a quiet environment.

For the time being, I want to complete freelance jobs that people want done and eventually, thoroughly learn the skills I have an interest in so I can go and run my own business doing this kind of stuff.

Please let me know of first steps I should take. Any recommended books I should read, programs I should enroll in, etc...

Thank you.

[bracknelson]

Do you think you can do whatever you mentioned without having expertise?

[Naheed]

It is good to see that you want to be a virtual assistant. First, I wil suggest you
taking some basic administrative training to be a successful VA. for this you
need to apply for internships in various companies.

[CharlyFunk]

Originally Posted by pcdoctor

Hello everyone:

I have decided that I would like to be able to work from home doing something of some sort so I can get out of working at McDonald's when I've been doing for almost 18 years. After doing some research, I've come across information related to becoming a virtual assistant. The only thing though is that I have absolutely no professional experience in anything related to being a virtual assistant. While researching virtual assistant jobs, these are some of the jobs that I have an interest in wanting to do. There maybe more out there as well.

For the administrative support jobs I have an interest in learning:

Managing your client’s calendar/schedule
Building or managing databases (of contacts, for example) - What exactly would this be?
Booking appointments and calls
Making travel arrangements
Monitoring voicemail
File management (in Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
Data entry
PDF conversions
PDF merging or splitting
Sending cards/gifts (for holidays, thank you’s, milestone events, etc.)
Personal online shopping

These are the customer service jobs I have an interest in learning:

Processing orders and shipments
Processing refunds
Handling customer inquiries
Operating live chat
Following up on orders, inquiries, etc.
Chasing outstanding payments - eh, this one not so much.
Updating member records
Inviting/approving requests to join a membership community (e.g. Facebook)
Setting up/updating CRM tools (Customer Relationship Management)

I would prefer to do most everything online and very little on a phone since i do not have a landline and I don't always have a quiet environment.

For the time being, I want to complete freelance jobs that people want done and eventually, thoroughly learn the skills I have an interest in so I can go and run my own business doing this kind of stuff.

Please let me know of first steps I should take. Any recommended books I should read, programs I should enroll in, etc...

Thank you.

Definitely investing in a basic touch-typing course is going to set you on a good path. I know friends who have assistants they've hired purely off their ability to type/annotate/transcribe quickly and accurately.