Freelance Virtual Assistants

In this entry I thought I would spotlight how a virtual job can span many industries and skill sets.  The number of freelance virtual assistants is growing.  If you have a skill set that someone else would benefit from, you can probably market that skill virtually.  But to be successful, you will need to apply creative ways to make your skills valuable to others.

Educational background? Search out jobs such as editing children’s books, writing educational articles and online tutoring.

Fitness enthusiast?  Market your knowledge as a personal trainer, weight loss motivator, fitness coach or nutrition counselor. 

Like to work with online content? Help both businesses and individuals market themselves online with services such as website building, social media page administration or ghost blogging.  What is ghost blogging?  Check out http://www.ghostbloggers.net/

Like to talk on the phone? There are customer service, support, and technical jobs with phone systems that can be logged into from home.  In fact, you may work incoming calls from all three types of careers at once, and have a real variety of things to do in your day!

A good starting place for many looking for legitimate work-from-home opportunities is Rat Race Rebellion.  http://www.ratracerebellion.com/  Jobs show pay ranges and industries for easier searching.

Who hires virtual assistants?

1-800 Flowers.com

U-Haul

UnitedHealth

Amazon.com

American Airlines

Apple

Best Western

Hilton

Jet Blue

Marriott

Quest Diagnostics

Good luck!

Do Your Homework

This week I thought I’d circle back to talk to those who think they would like to work from home.  I will be honest here…I did not purposefully seek out a work from home job.  The opportunity to do so came about by unusual circumstance while I was updating my resume in W231 – Professional Writing Skills.  We did a cover letter, resume, and were asked to find a job we thought we’d be able to tailor our resumes toward and apply for. 

Well, I looked internally into my company, found this very interesting position that happened to virtually office, applied, and was hired by the end of the summer.  I was ready for a change and a challenge, and one pretty much was out there waiting for me.  So remember, do your homework!

 

Now, doing your homework applies to finding the virtual jobs too.  There are a lot of shady advertisements out there looking to make money by writing too-good-to-be-true job descriptions.

 

Many years ago I moved a great distance and had to find a job very fast.  One job in the classifieds read something like, “Do you like to play with toys? Are you a child at heart? Come join our team! Unlimited income potential!”  I called the number in the ad for more information, and they simply told me there were ongoing interviews at 8am the next day.  I was given an address, and showed up dressed appropriately with my resume and portfolio in hand.  Asked to wait, I heard people in the back offices cheering and laughing.  I looked around at the equally curious faces in the waiting room.  The laughing group greeted us enthusiastically in the lobby and I was quickly introduced to my new liaison.  She was going to show me this wonderful way to make money and have fun. 

She directed me out into the parking lot, and to her car. This happened with all the other liaisons partnered each with a new potential worker.  We were going to the distribution site, or so I was told.  It ended up we were going to her “preferred neighborhood” to walk door to door, peddling duck print umbrellas and oversized Disney storybooks from her truck to the people in the hair parlors, repair shops, and small office suites along the way.  I just laughed to myself as I watched her show two old men the merits of having a duck print umbrella, and gracefully bowed out from this new business venture by heading home before lunch. 

So again, do your homework, and ask the right questions about any potential new job:

·        How long has the company been in business?

·        What are their annual revenues?

·        If it is a new company, does their business model look promising?

·        What does the company DO, exactly?

·        Is it a Fortune 500, or 1,000 company? If not, do they have any as clients?

·        Where is the headquarters?

·        Is the position seeking an employee, or an independent contractor?

·        Discuss a pay range

·        Research for publications, clients, awards, or other public information on the company

It is wise advice to “trust, but verify”.  Avoiding scams is a very high priority for anyone seeking the opportunity to work outside of an office. The fastest growing industries remain computer sciences and technologies, the medical field, and the financial sector.  In all three of these, there are legitimate jobs that can be done virtually.  Focus your education on the right sort of work from home fields, make note of the virtual classes and group projects you successfully completed already in your college career, and I am sure doing your job search homework will reward you with opportunities to work independently from home.

A Sticky Situation

I’m going to go a little off topic, yet not really since it happened during work hours and at my “office”.

Niles and Be

                               Earlier this year, my husband and I moved to Florida.  I have two horses, both of which a good friend elsewhere in the state kindly kept for me while we searched for a new home on a couple of acres.  This plan took longer than anticipated, so shortly after closing on the property we rushed to get it ready not only for us but for my horses as well.  Over three hectic weekends we removed ample amounts of palmettos and scrub brush, trimmed up low branches, fenced in a perimeter and made about half an acre habitable for the horses to come home.  They arrived last week. We finished off their new living quarters with a nice shelter and hay feeder this past weekend, and figured things were safe enough to continue with the finishing touches in our spare time.

The New Paddock

Well, a couple of people warned us about this one solitary sappy little pine tree that was growing in the paddock.  It was oozing goo down its sides like a sticky volcano.  We just didn’t have time to address that situation yet.  The horses arrived Thursday, and that day and Friday passed uneventfully.  Saturday we kicked the horses out in the backyard while we built them a shelter, and they still did not get into any trouble.  Sunday I took them for a nice short ride each.  Monday had a rainstorm overnight, but the shelter kept them and their hay high and dry.  So that leaves today, Tuesday.
 

Mid afternoon I am deep in conversation with my developer, going over a roadblock hindering a site deployment and discussing my options.  She can’t do much for me, as she doesn’t have access to the settings I need configured.  Only someone in a department that isn’t responding can help me.  They are currently working on another priority.  I’m going to have to write a pointed follow up, and copy some people that I only bring in when I can’t get action any other way.  I hate doing that, but it is part of project work.  Sometimes your wheel needs to squeak.

 

Frustrated, I look up from my computer and notice my mare is vigorously rubbing her neck on a tree.  At first, it doesn’t dawn on me which tree she’s cozying up to.  Then I look again at the tree, and realize it’s the same sticky pine she’s brushing her hair with.  Oh no. No, no, no.  She snakes her head around the little sapling, and I can see from my desk chair that her mane is clumped together with fresh sap.  I politely disengage from chat with my coworker, and explain I need to step away from work for a bit. 

I try tapping the window while I hurry my feet into sneakers, but she’s ignoring me.  She’s massaging that little pine all down her back as I’m moving toward the door, grabbing shampoo and the pump house lock key as I go.  As I open the gate to the paddock, her eyes are guilty and she approaches me with her head down.  I tell her in polite, gentle tones, “you are a complete moron,” as I softly clip the lead rope to her halter.  Two soapings and rinses later, and I think I had more success with the hair pulling out in clumps than I did with shampooing the sap out.  The horse enjoyed her hearty massage though!

So back to the original sticky problem.  I need to get the rubbing tree out of the paddock.  I've never removed a tree before.  I don't exactly have great options for tools yet either.  We have a bow saw.  

Guess who learned to use a bow saw?

Hey hey hey, good bye!

I see my horse out there sniffing where the pine tree use to stand.  Sorry gal.  How about a peppermint and a nice bath instead?

 

Niles and Be, doing more appropriate things