Get a Certified Virtual Assistant

Outsourcing is a great way to cut back on business expenses and help a company stay above water in these tough economic times.

Since the most affordable online assistant services are normally offered from distant geographical locations, most companies or entrepreneurs turn to offshore outsourcing for their employment needs.

Sadly though, there are lots of horrible stories. Oftentimes expectations are not met or work delivered is substandard.

Getting the right people is a real challenge, more so if you are looking at overseas resources.

In my years as a certified virtual assistant, I’ve learned some offshore hiring practices that have worked.

Here are tips to successful outsourcing for offshore hiring:

1. Spend time looking and get a certified virtual assistant person or team

With so many offshore virtual assistant providers out there, it would be time consuming to actually check them all out. You can ask for referrals from friends but if no one you know has tried outsourcing, it is smart to do actual background checks before hiring anyone or any company for their services. Ask them if they are certified virtual assistant, by asking their membership for any association like IVAA or NAVA.

Always ask for portfolios or samples of their work, whether you’re dealing with a freelance individual or a VA services company.

For background check on freelancers, you can ask for their resumé and call their previous employers for information on the quality of their work and attitude.

For VA service companies, you can check their reputation through online reviews or if possible, contact people who have provided testimonials for these companies. This will give you an idea if their company would serve your needs well.

2. Take advantage of free trial offers

Most virtual assistant services offer free trials. This is a great way for you to test the quality of service the company or their staff can provide. It is a chance for you to gauge if they can meet your standards.

3. VA companies vs individual VA freelancers

I have nothing against freelance workers (heck, I used to be one!) but hiring from a reliable virtual assistant company offers more security when hiring from a different geographical location.

A reputable company or agency will be a safer choice given the fact that they can be held accountable if any issue arises. A reliable company would always have a support or contact person available even after a project is completed, which is advantageous for obvious reasons.

If you experience any problems with a freelance VA, you need to directly deal with the VA. This is one less headache to deal with if you signed up with an outsourcing company.

4. Get a virtual assistant that you can work effectively with

Besides affordability, one of the reasons for outsourcing or hiring a VA is to free up more time. So it is vital to find the right person to work effectively with. Here are some things to consider when finding an effective offshore assistant.

• Communication & writing skills

Miscommunication is a common problem in any workplace. It is a good idea to find out if a virtual assistant you’re potentially hiring can effectively communicate with you. You can conduct interviews over the phone and correspond a few times by email to test their communication and writing capabilities.

• Work attitude & cultural exposure

These two things affect the execution of their work. A virtual assistant, who knows her business ethics and is a bit familiar with the Western way of doing business, would likely be able to deliver work with integrity and quality.

5. Get a multi-skilled VA

Aside from basic computer skills, you should find out if your VA has other useful skills. Some VAs also proofread, write copy, compose articles, use Photoshop, Podcast etc. Learning your VA’s work experiences can help you discover her other skills.

Following these five steps will help you get quality people to work for your company.

Besides cutting down on expenses and getting more results, successful outsourcing also translates to more security for your company and more free time for you. So from now on get a certified virtual assistant to make your business place in right track.

Philippines Key Advantages for Virtual Assistant Services

Why The Philippines?

The Philippines is a newly industrialized country fast becoming a regional and global hub for shared corporate backroom operations and hiring high-quality personnel at a reasonable cost. Its service-sector economy boasts of one of the most vibrant outsourcing industries in Asia, serving Fortune 500 companies. This growth is attributed to the many benefits offered by these islands, Philippines key advantages for virtual assistant services are the following:

• Skilled Workers
• Language Advantage
• Shared Lifestyle
• Low Cost of Doing Business
• Availability
• Location

Skilled Workers

The country shares a language and legal system with the U.S., and offer high skills and low costs. The Philippines is ranked #1 in the availability of knowledge-based jobs and workers worldwide, and ranked 4th among Asian nations in terms of labor quality, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. based Meta Group. The Philippines is the third largest English-speaking country in the world with a huge, productive, trainable and multi-skilled labor force. The country is dedicating $10 million for new trainees in the outsourcing industry and produces a selection of English- and IT-proficient business, accounting, HRM and engineering graduates who are skilled in customer service orientation and possess a superior work ethic, high degree of trainability, flexibility, multicultural adaptability, and loyalty.

Language Advantage

More than 180 languages and dialects are spoken in the Philippines, with Filipino and English both serving as official languages. Many Filipinos understand, write and speak English. English is used in education, churches, religious affairs, print and broadcast media and business and is the preferred medium for textbooks and instruction. Residents of the Philippines have an average literacy rate of 92.5% and English is the sole language of the law courts.

Shared Lifestyle

The Philippines ranks third - next only to Australia and the U.S. – for its cultural compatibility with expatriates, housing, sporting and recreational facilities, quality healthcare, and first-rate educational institutions. There is a wide influence of American pop cultural trends, such as the love of American television programs, fast-food, movies and sports like basketball and billiards.

Low cost of doing business

Wages are typically less than a fifth of that in the U.S. and communication, electricity and housing costs are 50% lower compared to the U.S. Companies that are now outsourcing programming and business processes to the Philippines estimate 30 to 40% business cost savings, 15 to 30% call center services, and 35 to 50% application systems and software development.

Availability

The Philippines offers state-of-the-art telecommunications facilities, and adequate and uninterrupted power supply. There are ready-to-occupy office and production facilities, computer security and building monitoring systems, as well as complete office services in specialized IT zones available to service customers 24/7.

Location

The Philippines is located in Asia between the two great trade routes of the Pacific Ocean and South China Sea. Because of this, it is a popular choice for European and American businesses and an entry point to over 500 million people in the fast-developing ASEAN market.

Best Place to Hire a New Employee

Nowadays, a lot of business is looking for a place where they going to setup there business, what kind of business they going to venture and best place to hire a new employee.

As is known to all, that Indian takes the lead of outsourcing industry. However, according to a recent study, that India is confronting the threats from other countries in the regions. The disadvantage of India still exits. The poor basic infrastructure, rising wages of workers, the serious floating of domestic currency have trigger the investors’ alertness. Some of the shrewd enterprises have evacuated from India market and find other more appropriate regions to invest.

For example, due to the contribution of the relatively stable politic circumstance and economy policy, Philippines and other Southeast countries have become the ideal location for the investors. The establishment of outsourcing industry should be based on the low-cost labor force, excellent talents and the policy support from government. Owing to the benefits in such fields, it’s possible that Philippines and other neighboring countries would overtake India in outsourcing industry in the near future and best place to hire new employee.

See the No.1 recommendation of entrepreneur for the best place to hire new employee check Philippines Key Advantages for Virtual Assistant Services.

Virtual Assistant in the Philippines

Virtual Assistant in the Philippines is a solopreneur who specializes in providing ongoing, collaborative-style administrative support. Like other professional service providers, Virtual Assistants operate remotely from their own places of business and utilize today's technology to deliver their services and communicate with clients. Virtual Assistants are first and foremost administrative experts. Virtual Assistants sometimes offer additional, separate specialties that fall under creative and/or technical services.

The Virtual Assistant in the Philippines has become a popular location for American Companies providing Business Process Outsourcing, or BPO. Companies, such as Dell... are drawn to the Philippines due to the large college educated workforce available, good communication skills, and the ability to connect with US consumers.

Services include consumer services, credit card verification, loan processing, and back office work. BPO is the fastest growing sector in the Philippine economy and is projected to be a 10 billion dollar industry by 2010 based to CBS News.