Media Coverage Articules

IMAGE MAGAZINE ........May Edition 2005
Get Help by Sarah McDonnell

What? Virtual Assistants: personal assistants who work remotely from you or your office.

Who are they? Highly-skilled workers, mostly female, who have left the mainstream workforce to work more flexibly or fit in work around family. Margaret McKillen, a VA with a background in insurance, finance and university administration set up AVA Ireland (Association of Virtual Assistants) last year. She works around 15 hours a week, at weekends and in the evenings to allow her to look after two small children.

No face time. Location is not an issue when hiring a VA. Clients may be based anywhere in the world. Margaret, for instance, has a cyber relationship with her London-based client, having worked for her for over a year. "We have never met: At first it was all business but now our emails are very friendly".

Full Service A VA does not just provide secretarial services: depending on her specialisation, she will build a database, proof-read documents, make travel arrangements, book restaurants, do book-keeping, organise events, manage a diary, answer telephone calls, deal with your mail. The only thing she will not do is make you a cup of coffee.

Money Matters Hiring a VA is cheaper than having a full-time employee (no PRSI contribution; no overheads associated with owning or renting an office; no maternity pay). VA rates are usually in the region of €15 - €25 per hour (each VA decides her own rate). She will look at the project, estimate the time involved for its completion, then invoice the client. When you need her, a VA can work with you on a one-off project, once a month, once a week or all the time

Your secrets are safe Discretion is assured. According to Margaret: "There is no less trust than if your PA was in the office with you".

A new internet service promises to transport home-based workers virtually into any office in the world.

The new breed of home worker, known as a Virtual Assistant (VA), claims to be able to do all the work of an in-office secretary, without the overhead costs.

The VAs rely on e-mail, telephones and fax machines to respond to orders from time-pressed managers on an 'as required' basis.

Already well established in the USA and Canada, and quickly on the rise in England, the concept was a natural progression from the virtual office service where office-based assistants answered phones and handled mail for absent business people.

Margaret McKillen, who runs a VA service in Belfast, has now established the Association of Virtual Assistants of Ireland (www.avaireland. com) to promote the concept more widely.

"A VA is really an extension to your office, a professional who completes work to a high standard," she said.

"I've been running my own home-based VA business - Just Write Secretarial Services - since 2000. After the success of this business, I decided to set up an organisation to promote the VA industry to employers, and to provide an all-Ireland directory."

She said VAs are experienced office administrators who work from their own premises, and don't require holiday pay, sick pay or pension provision.

A full range of services, which includes book-keeping, desktop publishing and word processing, is available on her website www.jw-ss.com.

The Association of Virtual Assistants of Ireland (AVA Ireland) has been established to bring about a further awareness of the profession of virtual Assisting and to make it easier for overloaded business people to find a Virtual Assistant (VA) quickly.

A VA is a new breed of home office worker. They are highly skilled office administrators who have cut their teeth in big corporations and who offer to get you out of an administrative jam by providing a variety of specialist services on a pay-as-you-go basis.

VAs claim to offer a wide range of services to meet business needs - including everything from travel arrangements to transcription, bookeeping to desktop publishing, word processing to web design. Because they are freelancers working from their own premises, there is no need to worry about providing equipment or office space. They also do not require pension provision, holiday or sick pay.

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A new breed of home worker is coming to Ireland, according to a recently formed organisation set up to promote its offerings in this country. A Virtual Assistant (VA) might sound like something out of a futuristic Sci-Fi movie, but you might find yourself working with one sooner than you think.

According the The Association of Virtual Assistants of Ireland (AVA Ireland), founded last month by Antrim-based Margaret McKillen, VAs are highly skilled office administrators who have cut their teeth in big corporations. They work for themselves as freelancers but unlike regular home-based secretarial support or typists, they are capable of taking care of specialist services such as travel arrangements, transcription, bookkeeping, desktop publishing or web design.

McKillen is a member of the Alliance of UK Virtual Assistants, and wanted to set up a similar organisation in Ireland to provide support to VAs, as well as establishing a VA referral service for businesses interested in hiring them. The VA idea is big in the US and Canada, with several trade groups representing workers in existence. The concept has also taken off in the UK.

"In Ireland the idea hasn't taken off yet; the job isn't that well known in this country", says McKillen. Although AVA has only four active members at the moment, she believes that there are many home-based workers in this country carrying out what is essentially VA work. "The organisation can give support in areas such as promotion, and setting up a website to members as well as referring along work," she continues.

The VA concept is possible thanks to technology such as broadband internet and email, which allows clients transfer large files easily to the assistant, who can then return the completed work by email. Digital transcription work, whereby a client transfers voice files via email to the VA for transcribing, makes up a large part of VA work in this country at the moment.

Using a VA appeals to small businesses and sole traders that want to create a good impression with their clients by having someone else take care of their administration and secretarial support work. "A sole trader can benefit by making it appear to their clients that they have staff working in the background," emphasises Karen Scolard, who runs her own VA service, Ametrine Business Support Services, from Dublin.

According to Scolard, anyone interested in becoming a VA should have experienced business and management skills, as well as secretarial skills as they will be running their own business in conjunction with taking on additional administrative tasks for the client. "Hiring a VA is a possible alternative to a temp for bigger firms," she adds.

A new organisation - The Association of Virtual Assistants of Ireland (AVA Ireland)- has been established to promote the virtual assistant sector. A VA is a “new breed” of home-office worker

AVA Ireland said its goals are to bring about a further awareness of the profession of virtual assisting in Ireland and to make it easier for overloaded business people to find a Virtual Assistant (VA) quickly

VAs are “highly-skilled office administrators” who have cut their teeth in big corporations.

They provide a variety of specialist services on a pay-as-you-go, when-you-need-it basis.

From travel arrangements to transcription, book-keeping to desktop publishing and word processing to Web design, VAs offer a wide range of services to meet a business’ needs.

Because they are freelancers working from their own premises, there is no need to worry about providing equipment or office space. And they don't require holiday pay, sick pay or pension provision.

The market for VAs has grown large enough in recent years that today there are several trade groups that represent workers in the field, including the International Virtual Assistants Association in the US, the Canadian Virtual Assistant Network and the UK Alliance of Virtual Assistants.

The VA industry in Ireland is still in its infancy but more and more office professionals are choosing to quit the commuter life and go it alone.

"The term virtual assistant is one that the general public is still not familiar with," said Margaret McKillen, founder of AVA Ireland.

"They tend to think ‘home-based secretary’ – or something similar. But in fact many VAs are experienced office professionals who can offer a valuable service to businesses and individuals who are in need of administrative support."