Virtual Staff Philippines Service

Tips for Online Job Hunting

By Leave a Comment

Job search significantly changed over the past few years. In this digital age, searching for a job is simple and faster with the use of technology. Here are some tips you can follow when applying for jobs online.

 

Have separate resumes for your recruiter and the employer 

 

You need to have a generic resume that you send out to your recruiter and another resume for your possible employer; this is one practice that we highly recommend as it serves different purposes. 

The generic resume has basic information about you as the other resume would include an in-depth focus on you wherein you highlight your skills and experiences. A great example would be instead of saying, “I have experience with Graphic Design”, you would say “I have a 6-year experience with graphic design using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, with projects dealing with advertisements, posters, and posts on social media”. You can also bridge the interest of your employer into reading your full resume by adding more details about your skills and experience to your cover letter.

Another great thing to follow is to tailor your in-depth resume to the job that you are applying for. Adding a personal touch, explaining your skills and why you would be fit for the job will make a big difference in how your application would go. For example, the details about your graphic design experience might not be a good highlight if you are applying for a writing job. You should highlight the parts of your resume that are best suitable for the job application. You can include personal experiences about the job itself and how you go about fulfilling your role.

 

Search and study information about the companies that you aim for 

 

Sending resumes to multiple recruiters and employers will give you more opportunities and indeed give you more chances of getting hired. But, instead of sending it out to just about everyone you can think of can also waste a lot of time. Why not just choose companies that interest you? Choose companies that target the skills and experience that you have. You have the power of the internet at your fingertips, best to utilize it to your advantage. Search about the companies that would most likely hire you. In this way, the chances of getting hired are high and, you do not have to wait for several companies to respond to your application. It also gives you fewer but good quality applications at hand. 

Another thing we recommend is to research the company you are aiming for. Researching the company is an extra step but, it can go a long way. A good way to start building your resume for a company’s job application is knowing their history, social media presence and, maybe understanding their mission and vision. It will give the company the impression that you are committed to your application. It is always a good way to market yourself to your possible employer by customizing your resume to help them see that you are a good fit for their company. 

 

There are a lot of jobs out there. The power of the internet is at your fingertips. Make sure to use the information wisely and to your advantage. Use these tips so you can land the job you are aiming for. 

 

We can help you land your new online job here.

 

4 Proven Steps to Become a VA

By Leave a Comment

With our previous article, we shared all about what a Virtual Assistant does, and why online jobs are the way to go.

Now that you understand what a Virtual Assistant is, and have decided to become one, what is the next step?

Let us go through the checklist of the things you need before embarking on being a Virtual Assistant.

 

1. Make Sure You Are Work-From-Home Ready 

Just like when you prepare for regular office work, you have to make sure you have the right attire, are not late, and are familiar with the tools needed for the job. With work from home, it’s the same. You need to make sure that you are all set before starting your online career.

Here are the things you need to prepare to be work-from-home ready. 

  • A computer/laptop. 

We recommend getting a computer rather than a laptop if you are a first-timer. With desktops, you can update your system unit if a higher specification is needed or if you need to add peripherals to your computer set-up. They are also cheaper than laptops. If there is any downside, that is, it won’t be portable. However, you can easily upgrade to a laptop once you have stable employment.

  • A stable internet connection.

If you are to spend money on your new work-from-home set-up, we highly advise that you invest more in your internet connection (if at all possible). A fast and stable internet connection is a must if you plan to work from home. It helps with your productivity and saves you from the nightmare of a buffering internet when you need to attend online meetings or interviews.

Another tip is to get a reliable backup connection like a pocket-wifi – this is a lifesaver when your primary internet connection suddenly becomes unstable. 

  • Noise-canceling headphones

There is hardly a zero-noise environment unless you are in a soundproof room. And most times, you need a quiet space to have a peaceful and focused conversation with your client or even when you are just working on your tasks. Investing in affordable but decent noise-canceling headphones will help you greatly when working.

 

2. Make Sure You Are Interview Ready 

In one of our articles, we shared Five Ways To Impress Your Recruiter Even Before The Interview. Here is a summary of that article: 

  • Have an organized resume that showcases your skills, talents, and employment history. 
  • Have a prominent online presence and ensure that your social media accounts or online profiles have professional content (if public).
  • Research your prospective employer’s business. It is always a plus if you put a lot of effort into knowing the company you are applying for because this shows your future employer that you are interested in working with them.
  • Go through some possible questions and practice answering them. 
  • Make sure your computer, headset, and video cam are working, and the internet is stable before the interview. If your internet is unstable, tell your interviewer or client and advise on how long it would take you to get back online or to reschedule it all together. Sometimes technical difficulties are unavoidable even if you made sure that everything is ready. With the right response to your interviewer or client, you might get a second interview or meeting. 

 

3. Make Sure You Are Training Ready 

It makes a good impression and shows commitment to being a Virtual Assistant if you have undergone Virtual Assistant training/courses. 

There is a lot of free and paid training for Virtual Assistants that you can go through. However, if you can’t afford to buy training yet, you can probably use your existing skillset and leverage it. 

In our article, “How To Make Money From What You Know,” we explained how your previous office-based experience could help you land a work-from-home job without an online course.

 

4. Make Sure You Are Payment Ready 

With PhilTeamFinder, once we have placed our candidate with an employer, their trial period is already paid. It is in your best interest to set up a PayPal account, the most popular online payment platform used by overseas employers, to get paid without hassles.

 

Starting from scratch may be difficult, but remember that anything worth having will require some work. Do what’s needed, work smart, and stay focused on your end goal.

Now that you have more information about the steps to being a Virtual Assistant, are you ready to become one? Our team can help you get started here. 

 

What does a Virtual Assistant actually do?

By Leave a Comment

Ever dreamt of working anywhere you want? Like your living room while in front of the TV in your PJs? Or, using your laptop at your dining room table while having breakfast with your kids? Or maybe you just don’t like working in an office? 

Is this even possible? 

You may have seen posts on social media and on various job posting sites about a job called “Virtual Assistant.” This may be new to you, but, Virtual Assistants or VAs have been a real thing for quite a while. It became highlighted with job hunters when the pandemic started because people are opting for a safer option.

 

What is a Virtual Assistant?

In case you are wondering, a virtual assistant is a self-employed worker who provides support or administrative services to businesses and entrepreneurs remotely (as in, not in the same physical location).

Virtual assistants are in HOT demand. This applies to small businesses and for big companies. Virtual Assistants can do many different tasks without the need to be in an office.

 

A Typical Virtual Assistant Job Description

 

Some tasks that a Virtual Assistant does might be:

 

  • Support Services, like customer support, email support, and chat support. They can handle simple customer inquiries through email or chat. 
  • Bookkeeping, orders, and refunds. 
  • Administrative Services like managing appointments, bookings, calendars, and contacts. 
  • Content Creation Services are content creation, ghostwriting, editing, proofreading, transcription, content research. 
  • Other services specific to your skill sets include website design, WordPress website maintenance, graphic design and layout, editing videos, digital marketing tasks, social media management, and lead generation. 

 

As we shared in our previous article, How To Make Money From What You Know, these skills might be something you already know or have vast experience working in an office. 

 

Why Become a Virtual Assistant? 

So the next question is, why become a Virtual Assistant? It was covered in our article:  Why Working from Home is Here to Stay, and to give you a summary, it is just more flexible and rewarding to work from home. 

 

Work anywhere. This is a luxury most people dream of. Working anywhere you want might be working from a different zip code every week. Some would look at this as spending the whole day working at the comfort of their bed. Being a Virtual Assistant allows you to have the freedom to do things to make a living but still feel like you’re living. 

A study showed that people with a comfortable working environment had increased work productivity.  ² Experimental research conducted over the last 30 years has found anywhere between a 2.7% to an 8.6% increase in productivity.  

Without the toxic commute and the pressure of office-settings, you can focus on working and performing. 

 

Rewarding. Rewarding is getting satisfaction or gratification. If you ever feel dissatisfied or unhappy with your work because of pressure and not being appreciated enough for your work, being a Virtual Assistant might be for you. VA’s have the freedom to work and get satisfaction because they are not motivated by the pressures of an office-based environment. They are driven by comfort and convenience. 

³ Another research by Flexjobs in 2019 found that 65% of professionals think they would be more productive working remotely than in a traditional office, with 49% saying they go to their home or home office when they really need to buckle down and get work done.  

 

If you want a type of career that can rid yourself of safety concerns, the pressures of office-based work and the convenience of working from the comfort of your home, going for a VA job is possibly the best fit for you. 

 

PhilTeamFinder can help you be the next Virtual Assistant HERE. 

 

² The Comfy Team. “The Comfort Productivity Connection”
³ Emily Courtney. “The Benefits of Working From Home: Why The Pandemic Isn’t the Only Reason to Work Remotely”

The Secret To Landing Your Dream Online Job

By Leave a Comment

The Secret to landing your dream online job

 

The internet is an excellent place for job hunters and has massively changed the job-hunting game.  In the old days, you would need to check the newspaper for job ads or directly walk-in to the company to check for job vacancies. The power of technology has made it easier and faster to check for job availability. But the competition is tight, so you need to have a gameplan to get a job online successfully. 

 

Here are a few things to prepare to successfully get that online job: 

1. Identify Your Career Goals 

There are over a million job postings online, and going through them without any clue what kind of job you are looking for is going to be overwhelming. So before you start searching, find out what career path you want to pursue. 

 

It helps to list down all your skills and credentials and then narrow down the possible career you can search for job listings online. It also helps to go through the categories on the job listing sites to have an idea of what kind of jobs are available online. Be sure to match the skill requirements for the job categories. This will help you leverage your resume once you build it. 

 

2. Build Your Resume 

Before you start searching for a job online, you also need to update your resume. Make sure to showcase your skills and experience to make your resume stand out so you can impress your recruiter even before the interview. 

 

Have a cover letter ready and customized for each job application. You should always include a cover letter when applying for a job online. 

 

 

It would also be best to create a LinkedIn profile. You can attach the link to your profile whenever you reach out to possible employers or see posts of job vacancies online. 

 

3. Search Job Using Job Keywords or Hashtags 

A keyword or hashtag is a word or phrase related to the type of job you are searching for. You can use this on Facebook or Instagram. Nowadays, companies and recruitment companies use social media to find possible employees.

 

For example, when you go to Facebook and are looking for a work-from-home job, you search for the phrase “Work From Home,” and all posts with this phrase will come up. Same goes for Instagram, just search using a hashtag like “#workfromhome” and all posts using that hashtag will come up.  

 

Using keywords and hashtags will help you to find that online job that you specifically want effectively quickly. 

 

4. Build a Network 

Get connected to recruiters and headhunters online. Most of the time, headhunters and recruiters are related to not just one but several employers. Besides helping you prepare for the interview and a bit of the company background, they can get you connected to several job opportunities that cater to your skills. 

 

Finding a successful job online will be easier with these pointers, but always remember that perseverance is the key to success. If you can’t find a successful career online in the first try, then keep on trying. 

 

 

When you are ready to start your online career, Philteamfinder can help you get started.