{"id":30566,"date":"2021-10-12T18:46:21","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T17:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peopleperhour.com\/discover\/?post_type=guides&p=30566"},"modified":"2021-11-05T17:03:29","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T17:03:29","slug":"what-do-freelance-virtual-assistants-do-and-why-do-i-need-one","status":"publish","type":"guides","link":"https:\/\/www.peopleperhour.com\/discover\/guides\/what-do-freelance-virtual-assistants-do-and-why-do-i-need-one\/","title":{"rendered":"What do freelance Virtual Assistants do and why do I need one?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In today’s society, we live in a fast-shifting world where traditional working frameworks are having to adapt to more modern life. In recent years, there has been a shift from the standard Monday to Friday office job to remote working and co-working spaces. This has become particularly prevalent in modern-day tech start-ups and businesses that may rely on freelancers for their output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Graphic Designers have all the tools they need to work from home, as do UX (user experience) and Web Developers. The roles of business development and sales also don\u2019t exclusively rely on face-to-face meetings anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This new way of working has resulted in the emergence of the Virtual Assistant (VA). It has been found that hiring a VA could save as much as 78%<\/a> compared to the traditional Personal Assistant (PA). Therefore, this quick guide will talk you through the key differences between the two and why you may need one at work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PA vs VA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Personal Assistant<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The role of a PA is to support their bosses and sometimes wider teams by arranging meetings, booking transport, carrying out bookkeeping duties, minute taking at meetings, and communicating between teams daily. The main difference here is that the PA will usually work from an office on a permanent basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Virtual Assistant<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A VA will carry out many of the same tasks that a traditional PA will do but mainly on a remote basis, either in the comfort of their own home or in a shared office space. Often, their working environment is not client-facing at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

VAs are also more likely to work on a flexible contract by contract basis and may take on various projects at one time, therefore offering quite a mixed palette of work experience and dynamism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Difference<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A PA will support one senior member at one given time in a physical office space, whereas a VA will embrace the flexibility of remote working and take on a variety of projects simultaneously – that’s the key difference between the two. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given what we\u2019ve already highlighted in terms of a more fluid workplace requiring flexibility and a multi-faceted skillset, being a VA is much more in sync with the needs of modern-day working. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What does a day in the life of a Virtual Assistant look like? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With modern workplace trends and emerging industries in mind, let\u2019s look at a freelance virtual assistant working for a digital marketing company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Assuming they\u2019re working for a digital marketing director, the types of daily tasks they would need to tend to could look like: <\/p>\n\n\n\n