Thursday, July 19, 2012

Becoming A Virtual Personal Assistant

By Michelle Poole




After 8 years working as PA to the CEO and Head of Finance & Administration for a finance broker, the company went into liquidation and I was let go. I can truthfully say that I loved that job and the people I worked with and I was devastated when it occurred.

The fiscal end results of the redundancy were troublesome, but controllable short term. Nonetheless what I totally under-estimated was the emotional effect it was to have on me.

I instantly set about hunting for another job but after so many years with one company, I had sliced out a role for myself which simply did not exist in other companies. I also discovered I Had no wish to work for anyone else. I'd gotten cynical about being an employee, something which I'd never experienced before myself and had always found frustrating in others.

Whilst I had confidence in my capabilities and abilities, I invented all kinds of reasons that explain why positions would not suit me. I hadn't , however , lost the fervour to work and to demonstrate high productivity, so I began to check out the chance of starting my personal business.

It looked a noticeable decision to stay inside my field of expertise and knowledge and so I became a Virtual PA. I can stiil take an advantage from a workload which is enormously varied and incorporates all my talents but I'm my boss.

2 of the major benefits I now enjoy are working in different industries and with different folk. One of the key facets of a good PA is the working relationship with their chief which, as an employed PA, steadily builds up over a period of time. As a Virtual PA it's an aspect which I definitely focus on, so as to foster that relationship despite working remotely. It is interesting to discover how my style changes from client to customer reliant upon their own style, preferred working methods and approach and so on.

I also find that my skills are kept much more recent as I guarantee I'm researching the most suitable technology, software, working practices etc. And my client's projects are so wide ranging I'm continually using different abilities which might not necessarily be the case when working for one employer.

I would not recommend redundancy to any person, but with hindsight it was not the end of the world - just the start of my Virtual PA business. If you would like to take an analogous journey then why don't you hunt down a VA Coaching Course.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment