What Training does a Virtual Assistant Need?
This can be a controversial topic. There are those that believe you need to have some sort of formal training before you can call yourself a VA. And then there are those that believe no training is required.
While it isn’t a requirement to go through an official training program in order to start a VA business, if you are interested you can. Do a Google search for Virtual Assistant training and you will find page after page of places that offer training. Just to name a few places available that provide VA training – Virtual Assistance U (http://www.virtualassistanceu.com/) or Virtual Assistant Training (http://www.vatraining.com/). These are the first two sites listed in Google, at this time.
It can be beneficial to go through a training program because you will be mentored / coached, be given learning material, etc. This is also all stuff that you can seek out on your own and don’t necessarily need a VA training program to provide it to you.
The decision to go through VA training isn’t one that someone can make for you, it’s going to be personal preference and whether or not you feel a training program would benefit you and your business.
To be honest, a lot of the qualities you will need to be a successful VA are not things that can even be taught to you. You’ll need to be determined and determination has to come from within, it’s certainly not a skill that can be taught. Perseverance is another quality you’ll need to be a successful VA and again that isn’t something that can be taught to you.
If you opt to go the no training route, you will still need to make sure that you are setting aside a certain amount of time to be brushing up on your skills and learning all the new things that come up with the advances of technology on a regular basis. It’s still always going to be a ‘learning’ industry whether you go through training or not. A training course can only teach you so many things. So you really need to think long and hard about whether or not you will benefit from a VA training program.
Instantly access your guide to starting a VA business.
This post has 3 comments
December 17th, 2008
In truth? In the nearly 12 years since I formalized the Virtual Assistance profession, I’ve met *no one* would wouldn’t have benefited from training.
Those who take the DIY route don’t know what they don’t know–and each one of them genuinely believes she’s just fine having done things the way she has. My experience with those who have later come to us for training is that when they realize what mistakes they’ve made they’re genuinely astonished…and grateful to have learned a better way to run their businesses.
And those who *have* gotten training (from a reputable training company offering industry specific training)from the get-go know that it makes a world of difference–in a reduced learning curve, in having a proven model of success to follow, in not having to reinvent the wheel, in being successful far more quickly, in helping clients feel quickly safe–there are so many ways it matters.
I did it myself (created my VA practice), because, at the time, there *was* no one to learn from. So I know the struggles involved in doing it that way–with that particular model. My goal, in founding AssistU, was to create an entirely new profession, and to help people who wanted to join the profession do things more easily, and with greater success. I didn’t want people to have to struggle. I didn’t want people to have to learn from others who were just figuring it out for themselves, too.
And I suspect that’s the goal of every person in this industry who has since created a training of any kind.
People often see the advantage of training that shows them how to do a certain skill. But what they usually don’t realize is that if they’d done training to begin with, they’d have a more solid business foundation, and that training they take later would serve them (and their clients) even better.
So, do VAs *need* training to become VAs? No. Absolutely not. But if they’re really smart, they’ll do whatever it takes to get themselves in to a comprehensive program and set themselves up right from the start, rather than cobble something together on their own through trial and error.
Thanks for the post, and the opportunity to join the conversation, CeeCee!
December 20th, 2008
Virtual Personal Assistant A small size outsourced business solutions company in India. providing customer care, telemarketing, virtual staffing, transcription, internet marketing/posting and data entry. They have been in this industry for over 2 years now and have catered to clients in different countries. They are involved in providing “A” Class Services to our clients based all around the world. Our main client is based in US, UK and Canada with current expansion in Australia and the Gulf Countries. There is nothing that cannot be done by email, online, or by phone. you can have a virtual assistants At minimum cost $5 per hour.
December 22nd, 2008
Virtual Personal Assistant A small size outsourced business solutions company in India. providing customer care, telemarketing, virtual staffing, transcription, internet marketing/posting and data entry. They have been in this industry for over 2 years now and have catered to clients in different countries. They are involved in providing “A” Class Services to our clients based all around the world. Our main client is based in US, UK and Canada with current expansion in Australia and the Gulf Countries. There is nothing that cannot be done by email, online, or by phone. you can have a virtual assistants At minimum cost $5 per hour. >for more information contact at 1786 837 7526…