Virtual assistant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Not to be confused with conversational agent or virtual personal assistant.
- See also Virtual Assistance.
A Virtual Assistant (typically abbreviated to VA, also called a virtual office assistant)[1] is an entrepreneur who provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients from a home office.[2][3] They usually work for other small businesses, brokers and consultancy groups.[4] It is estimated that there are as few as 5,000-8,000 or as many as 35,000 Virtual Assistants worldwide; the profession is growing in centralized economies[5] with "fly-in, fly-out" (FIFO) staffing practices.[6][7][8]
Common modes of communication and data delivery include the Internet, e-mail and phonecall conferences,[9] online work spaces, and fax machine. Professionals in this business work on a contractual basis and a long-lasting cooperation is standard. Typically 5 years of administrative experience in an office is expected at such positions as executive assistant, office manager/supervisor, secretary, legal assistant, paralegal, legal secretary, real estate assistant, et cetera.
[edit] References
- ^ Unattributed (2002). "Real work in virtual offices". International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management 51 (4/5): 266-268. ISSN 1741-0401.
- ^ Starks, Misty (July/August 2006). Helping Entrepreneurs, VirtuallyPDF (2643.3 KiB), D-MARS. Retrieved on 2008-07-27.
- ^ Youngblood, Sharon. "Virtual help is on the way" (reprint). Inside Tucson Business 15 (52): p. 11. http://www.youngbloodconsulting.com/pdf/Best_Practices/Virtual-Assistant-Jun-06.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-04-19.
- ^ Finkelstein, Brad (February/March 2005). "Virtual Assistants A Reality". Broker Magazine 7 (1): 44-46. ISSN 1540-0824.
- ^ Virtual Assistance — "A Global Economy… A Local Business"PDF (20.1 KiB.) Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
- ^ Outsourcing Comes of Age: The Rise of Collaborative PartneringPDF (548 KiB), PricewaterhouseCoopers. Retrieved on 2008-07-27.
- ^ Rose, Barbara (2005-12-21). "Personal Assistants Get a High-tech Makeover". Standard-Times. http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-21-05/l02ca250.htm. Retrieved on 2008-07-29.
- ^ Meyer, Ann (2006-05-22). "Technology links virtual businesses: Advances spur rise in collaborative work" (reprint). Chicago Tribune. http://www.motiontemps.com/index_files/Tribune506.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-08-14.
- ^ Johnson, Tory (2007-07-23). "Work-From-Home Tips: Job Opportunities for Everyone". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/gma/takecontrolofyourlife/Story?id=2621388&page=1. Retrieved on 2008-07-28.
