Virtual assistants are professionals who carry out various tasks remotely to help their employers complete their day-to-day work. Like regular assistants, these professionals need wide-ranging skills, such as customer service and communication, organization, administrative, and human resource skills. So, this job is ideal for those who enjoy interacting with people and want to develop a diverse skill set. That said, it is important to know what this role entails before deciding to pursue it.

Duties of virtual assistants
Virtual assistants must be versatile and willing to take on various responsibilities for their employers.

1. Social media management
Today, every organization has an online presence, especially on social media platforms. So, each organization needs help maintaining, enhancing, and constantly updating its online profiles. A virtual assistant can help with this task by taking up several social media management responsibilities. The professional would be expected to monitor the organization’s content on online platforms, help it maintain its positive image, and engage with target audiences occasionally through good-quality posts. Their responsibilities may not end at just designing and publishing content on social media; they may have to respond to customers’ comments and messages on time.

A few other key responsibilities are brainstorming ideas for content , managing the organization’s social media calendar, exploring social media ads to broaden the brand’s reach, and launching social media campaigns. Optional duties here would include monitoring follower counts, tracking online performance, and writing social media captions.

2. Email management
Organizations get a lot of internal and external emails daily, which can quickly crowd their inboxes. Many emails can be unnecessary or non-urgent, while useful ones can get buried, staying unread. Virtual assistants are expected to help organizations or their immediate managers sort these messages. The primary goal here would be to ensure that urgent emails are read and addressed immediately. Other objectives are to get rid of spam mail, redirect emails to relevant teams or persons, and deprioritize non-urgent messages. This is a key role that virtual assistants must fulfill, as it helps organizations work efficiently and communicate better.

3. Travel planning
Many organizations regularly ask their employees to take on domestic or international work trips. The task of planning these trips falls on virtual assistants. Organizations tend to give virtual assistants a brief outline of scheduled trips. Based on these details, virtual assistants must book trips and make all the travel arrangements. Here, they may be required to research and book transportation, stays, and meals. Additionally , virtual assistants must coordinate with relevant team members to get the necessary documentation and personal information and communicate all the details in time. The assistants are also responsible for addressing all the queries of employees taking the trips. At times, virtual assistants are notified of these trips on short notice. This makes it important for them to know how to act quickly.

Some of the other roles and responsibilities of virtual assistants include calendar management, data entry, helping with market research, providing customer service, and assisting with recruitment.

Benefits for employers
Organizations hire virtual assistants to perform daily operations as easily and seamlessly as possible. That said, these professionals can also offer a few additional benefits that make them worth considering.

1. Greater efficiency
Timeliness is a major concern for organizations. Virtual assistants offer a helping hand on project-related tasks, such as brainstorming for ideas, writing or approving first drafts or copies for projects, and scheduling tasks, ensuring projects are completed on time. This can speed up the project and help organizations use the time they save to focus on other key tasks.

2. Cost-effective option
Virtual assistants work remotely, so they do not require dedicated office space, utilities, or supplies like regular employees do. So, employers can save money on these amenities they would otherwise have to get for physical assistants. Additionally, virtual assistants can be hired on a contractual basis to carry out tasks for a specific period. This helps organizations only pay for the services they need and keep expenses low.

Necessary skills
Virtual assistants should primarily be able to handle all kinds of administrative tasks. For that, oral and written communication, technical proficiency, accounting, critical thinking, time management, organizational, and customer service skills are required. Additional know-how, like marketing knowledge and sales experience, can boost their profile. Another thing that can give candidates an edge when looking for virtual assistant jobs is demonstrating the willingness to learn, multi-task, and take up various tasks. This can help them hone diverse skills and get better opportunities in the future.