It disturbs me when I see people complaining that they’d just ‘trained their VA’ only to lose them because they’d been ‘promoted’ to another project or client.   I have to question where they got their ‘VA’ from in the first place.

Virtual Assistants are self-employed business owner/operators, so in general are not placed with clients by an employer or agency, nor moved onto another client or job by an agency or employer.

Through job requests posted at Virtual Assistant Networks the VAs get to tell prospective clients of their experience and what their rates and turn around time will be. Clients can choose who they wish to work with, and then the VA is theirs for as long as they want.   That doesn’t mean the VA can’t or won’t work with other clients.  The nature of running a VA business is that VAs have more than one client – otherwise they’re not running a business, they are more than likely an employee.  Clients can also contact VAs direct via their own websites – so it’s worth checking out who you want to engage. If you found the VA via a network, look at their profile and visit their website.  Or you can simply google Virtual Assistant and the skillset or location you want and you’re sure to find listings of Virtual Assistants per your search criteria.

Clients shouldn’t have to train VAs how to do things, unless there is specialised software at use, or the (client) industry has specific needs that VA has not experienced before.  Generally VAs are already well experienced in the service offerings they provide, and the ‘learning’ involved is more about how the client runs their business and what their business is about.

I have several long-term clients. Some I do work for every week, some monthly, some as a new project arises.  So I will remain the VA for those clients for however long they require my services, or until I retire – whichever comes first.   And this is how the Virtual Assistant industry has been from the start.  So, if you’re someone seeking to engage a VA, it’s probably best to check where you are sourcing them from, and if they are individual business owners or part of a ‘pool’ of virtual workers. It will make a massive difference as to how your business is looked after and how long that VA can be your own virtual support.