If you’re interested in learning how to get hired as a virtual assistant, I hope these tips and advice will be of assistance to you. Be sure to check out my other post: How to Become a Virtual Assistant.
How to Get Hired as a Virtual Assistant
The hardest part of getting hired as a virtual assistant isn’t necessarily finding who to work for, it’s making sure you market yourself to everyone that may need your help.
Pitch Your Skills
Give companies a reason to hire a social media specialist (that’s you!). Why do they need assistance with their social media profiles? What can you do for them? What will they gain by hiring you?
Evaluate your competition. Who are your biggest competitors in this business? Keep an eye on them. Find out what they’re doing right, what they’re doing wrong, and log it all so you know what to do (and what not to do).
Increase your SEO experience. Whether you’re wanting to work with big companies and brands, or are only targeting bloggers, increasing your knowledge of SEO will help you get hired much faster than you would be if you didn’t have this experience.
Engage one on one with your audience. If you have a blog, respond to every comment. If you’re on Twitter and Facebook (like you should be!), respond to tweets and Facebook comments. Be visible. Be available. Show people that you’re a human, not just another face on social media sites.
Craft Your Resume
When creating your resume, you really need to sell yourself. First, talk about what you’re experienced with (social media, curating content, advertising for a large brand, etc). Then, talk about what you excel in. Do you have amazing communication skills?
Don’t forget to talk about your actual experience. Have you been blogging for 5 years? Sell that! Using terms such as “highly influential in ____” will make things sound great, too.
Where to Get Hired
The sites above are great for getting started, or just snooping around even, but looking on Craigslist or even on Facebook can be helpful as well. The most powerful tool for Virtual Assistants these days is word of mouth. I would snag one client, and as a result of their testimonials and referrals, I’d snag five more clients! It grew from there, and now I have enough clients to keep me (and my bank account) happy!
Do not pay to become a virtual assistant. Paying for training is completely different, and understandable, but paying to be listed somewhere (unless it was personally referred to you), or replying to an ad and paying to start working is not okay. Keep that in mind when trying to find work as a virtual assistant.
Once You Get Hired…
Here are a few tools that Kelly Loubet mentioned during her presentation that will be helpful to you while working as a virtual assistant.
Sprout Social – $39-$99 per month
Viral Heat – Free – $99 per month
HootSuite – Free – $9.99 per month – I love HootSuite and it helps me keep track of all the scheduling I do for my clients. I definitely recommend it.
Hashtracking – $29-$399 a month
Tagxedo – FREE – Read 101 Ways to use Tagxedo
Facebook Insights – FREE, Right on your fan page dashboard.
Pinterest for Business – A book that can help you understand Pinterest and how to help grow followers on your clients accounts.
Statigram – More and more businesses are joining sites like Pinterest and Instagram. Stay on top of Instagram with this program.
I took these notes while listening to a presentation by @childhood while at Bloggy Boot Camp in Phoenix. If you ever get a chance to attend Bloggy Boot Camp, I suggest you take it! I’ve also added in my own thoughts and ideas, as I was just chicken-scratching the notes as she was speaking.
