If you’re tech savvy, highly organized, and great with people, becoming a virtual assistant may be your opportunity to work from home.
With a virtual assistant service like Zirtual, your best gig may be just an application away.
Virtual assistants are pros at administrative work who help businesses and professionals with high-level tasks, all while working from home.
Whether they’re scheduling meetings or making personal appointments, every VA’s goal is to help busy people eliminate their aimless day-to-day tasks and focus on their five-year goals.
In this article, we’ll explain what Zirtual is and how you can use the service to start making money as a virtual assistant.
What Is Zirtual?
Zirtual is a platform that helps small businesses and entrepreneurs cross of their to-do lists by connecting them to virtual assistants (VAs).
Founded by Maren Kate Donovan in 2011 and acquired by Startups.co in 2015, the company now offers a long list of services that its VAs can provide over the web, including:
- Administrative assistance
- Data entry
- Marketing research
- Price comparisons
- Social media scheduling
- Travel planning
- Website maintenance
For anyone seeking an easygoing online job, Zirtual can be your first step toward a full-time virtual assistance career.
It’s an opportunity for you to help busy professionals focus on their teams, ideas, and growth-oriented tasks by addressing some of their necessary day-to-day tasks.
Zirtual Assistant Requirements
Zirtual’s virtual assistants are independent contractors who provide administrative services to assigned clients.
This way, VAs can adapt to their specific clients’ needs and communication styles over time.
Hours vary from contract to contract, but VAs can expect to earn 50% the cost of their client’s plan.
This typically comes out to approximately $10-$18 per hour.
As you may assume based on the fluctuating pay, exact requirements will vary.
For example, current virtual executive assistant openings — in which the selected candidate would work directly with business owners or leaders — require applicants to:
- Be available between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST
- Have a college degree or seven years of experience as a C-level executive assistant
- Have four years of administrative experience
- Be able to accurately type at least 50 WPM
- Demonstrate great communication and task management skills
- Be capable of working in a fast-paced environment
- Be tech savvy with preferred experience working with Asana, Slack, Google Suite, and more
Though these requirements may change slightly for different positions, Zirtual VAs are always required to be located in the United States.
The company will run a background check and contact your references before you can be hired.
How to Become a Zirtual Assistant
While becoming a Zirtual assistant won’t give you the complete flexibility that an Uber driver has, you’re likely to receive better pay and have no additional expenses — as long as you already have a phone, laptop, and internet.
Plus, since Zirtual VAs benefit from having work-from-home gigs, you’ll never have to put any work-related miles on your vehicle.
The path to getting all of these perks starts with submitting a traditional online application to Zirtual.
To do so:
- Head to the Jobs page on zirtual.com.
- Tap on the Zirtual assistant job you’re interested in.
- Scroll down and select “Apply for this job.”
- Fill in all required fields, including your name, email, and resume.
We also recommend preparing a cover letter to copy and paste into the provided field, so your potential future employers can get a better idea of whether you’re a good fit for the role. - Select “Submit your application.”
If the company is interested in speaking to you further, you may be asked to answer additional questions about yourself and complete a competency test for any specific technologies you’ll be required to use.
Once you pass this stage, you’ll be invited to a video interview with a Zirtual team member.
Most former employees and applicants state that the interview is fairly straightforward and asks common interview questions that you can find anywhere on the web.
The video interview should be your final stage before you receive an answer on your application.
If you’re accepted, the company states states that all its VAs will go through a rigorous certification process to prepare to receive clients.
Other Platforms for Virtual Assistants
Zirtual may not be for everyone.
The platform promises high-quality VAs, which comes with high expectations for applicants, including a college education and prior experience.
Whether you’re looking for far greater flexibility, your own choice of clients, or a gig that you’re qualified for, there are other platforms available to you.
Here are three of our favorites to help you start researching your options.
Upwork
One of the leading freelance platforms on the web, Upwork offers an entire category dedicated to freelancers who provide admin support to businesses.
This platform allows you to create a profile and set your own prices, all based on your skills and experience.
In addition, you’ll be able to pitch your services to clients seeking virtual assistants, and to decide if you’re interested in the specific role before you do so.
Because Upwork is entirely dedicated to helping you sell your services, there’s no limit on how much you can make. Some top-rated admins charge over $60 per hour.
This platform is also a great way for you to gain virtual assistant experience by charging a fair price if you’re not yet qualified for a Zirtual gig.
Hire My Mom
If you’re interested in becoming a virtual assistant because you’re a stay-at-home mom, this platform is for you.
Hire My Mom is dedicated to helping moms find jobs that work with their schedules.
You can view a sample of jobs that are available to members on this page.
Current job titles include admin assistants, online bookkeepers, and appointment setters.
Some are actually permanent careers while others are temporary.
The downside to this platform is that you do need to pay to have your resume posted, but this does speak to the company’s confidence in their ability to connect users with careers.
Hire My Mom is a highly trusted website, and you know that every business hiring employees from the site cares about supporting working mothers.
Fancy Hands
Much like Zirtual, Fancy Hands is a virtual assistant platform that connects businesses to assistants who can help with many high-level tasks.
What makes it unique is the fact that its primary packages do not provide dedicated VAs, which means you’ll be receiving requests from thousands of different businesses on the platform.
If you enjoy doing something different every day, Fancy Hands will allow you to do so.
Fancy Hands also has far fewer requirements and provides greater flexibility since tasks can go to any VA who’s available.
Through this company, virtual assistants are paid per task based on the time of day, the complexity, and how fast you’re able to complete it.
This payment typically averages out at $3-$7 per task.
You can learn more and start your application process on this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Zirtual is a fantastic platform for virtual assistants to find the work they need to launch their full-time careers.
Here are a few frequently asked questions to help you better understand what you can expect:
1. Is Zirtual a trustworthy platform to work for?
If you heard of Zirtual during its earliest stages, it was likely in the context of its founder shutting down her company and letting her employees go practically overnight.
Rest assured, this poor management is no longer the case.
Since its acquisition, the company has operated under new management and virtual assistance gigs are as secure as any client-based gig can be.
2. Do I need to work for my clients on holidays?
Not at all.
Zirtual respects their independent contractor’s expected schedules and never requires work on weekends or on major US holidays.
Your assigned clients should be aware that you are only required to respond during business hours, and you can contact the Zirtual team if any of your clients are giving you trouble.
3. I received a request for a technology I’m unfamiliar with. Can I pass on the job?
If the technology or software was not covered in your training and the client insists on the task, you can contact the Zirtual team for help.
Clients must provide clear instructions for any new platform.
Plus, since VAs are meant to do high-level tasks, rather than technical tasks, you shouldn’t be subject to an enormous amount of technology training from your clients.
Earn Money By Supporting a Business
As businesses increasingly move operations online, virtual assistants are becoming more in-demand.
Zirtual is one of a handful of platforms that is cashing in on the industry, while allowing you to take a cut.
We hope this guide helps you decide which platform is the best for you to put your administrative skills into action.
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