It's Virtual Reality

It is the dream of many a personal assistant, especially in moments of stress and other people's incompetence, of being one's own boss. There are times when everyone gets fed-up with the morning routine in front of the wardrobe mirror, the close encounters with sweaty armpits on the Tube, the hanging around in a stale office when there isn't enough work to do. There are times when you dream of telling the person who makes the coffee just what he or she can do with the sugar lumps.

Fortunately, being your own boss is no longer just the preserve of plumbers and financial consultants; there is a way of leaving the work-place while sticking with the work, of picking and choosing who you work for without having to become intimate with their preference for sweetener or whitener. It involves becoming more virtual, less personal, and taking a giant click away from the office door. The concept of a virtual assistant is American but it arrived on these shores about 10 years ago. Hundreds of PAs have since told their bosses to put the coffee request where the sun don't shine.

The VA does what a PA does, but from home, via a mouse or a phone, for a range of clients. Usually these clients are themselves self-employed and don't have the turnover or inclination to set up an office and employ the staff to run it. Some are regularly on the road and need to have someone to take care of their business while they are away, responding to calls, writing letters, putting together presentations, chasing invoices and managing their bank accounts. Working like this, if the boss has BO, the VA doesn't even need to know.

For 43 year old Geraldine Skinner, shifting from PA to VA was a chance to progress a career which otherwise seemed to have reached a plateau. Skinner had worked as a corporate personal assistant for 20 years, largely for big US companies both in New York and London, but in the end it wasn't enough.

'I was looking for a challenge of doing my own thing, managing my own time,' she says. 'I see this as providing a more positive future than simply going into an office.'

She resigned from her job two years ago and, through a combination of word of mouth and advertising, she now provides assistance to four major clients from her home in Weybridge. It hasn't been easy though.

Skinner feels as if she is working harder than ever before, particularly in providing an overnight service. One of her clients is on the road all day and does his administration in the evenings, which is when he puts in his calls to Skinner. And her income is only half of what she used to make when she was employed, although the graph is steadily moving upwards.

Skinner believes there's no way you can become a VA without several years of office experience and considerable familiarity with the necessary technology. 'You have to be very confident of your skills, because there's nobody to ask and nothing to hide behind. You also have to have a stable home life.'

It was an involuntary period of home life which convinces Zita Robinson, 31, that she too needed a radical workplace change.

Robinson was a medical insurance broker in a small office near her home in Slinfield, West Sussex, when a visit to the doctor caused her to take stock of her career so far.

A position of considerable responsibility, combined with company restructuring had meant she was working increasingly long hours, sometimes starting at 7 a.m. and not finishing until 10 p.m. She had been feeling ill for months and says, 'My GP was very concerned and sent me to hospital for tests. It was quite alarming.'

She was forced to take sick leave and during the first week she fretted about how work would be coping without her. In the second week she suddenly thought: 'I am not doing this any more.'

She resigned, took the summer off and started to research the possibility of becoming a VA, meeting local business associates, attending courses on running your own business, doing market research and assembling the equipment she needed for an office at home. Her clients have come gradually through networking, word of mouth and even through an advertisement in a newsagent's window. Several have been life coaches and training consultants, an industry she didn't set out to target but which she has found very interesting. So far most of them have come from within a 30-mile radius of her home but, ultimately, she would like to take on international business too.

For Robinson, the link between what she did as an employee and what she does now as a self-employed person is not immediately obvious, but that doesn't seem to bother her clients. 'I can provide my CV on request, but mostly they are not interested. What matters is how you come across and the preparation you put in. I always go to meetings with clients and potential clients armed with ideas.'

Like Skinner, the financial rewards are still to be reaped, but Robinson believes she will eventually reach the same level of income she had as an employee and that the VA business is going to grow as we all become more familiar with the concept. Not earning as much as she did doesn't particularly bother her, now that she has her life back. 'I would not take a full time job ever again,' she says.

Return to Article Main Page