Personal Assistant

Hiring A New Assistant?

Are you considering hiring a new administrative or executive assistant? Maybe you should think twice.

The online service industry boom may be a viable alternative for your apparent human resource needs. More and more small businesses and even larger companies are turning to virtual office assistants to handle their administrative tasks.

Does it sound too complicated or new-fangled? Well, there are good reasons to at least consider the option.

Let's take a look at a few of the benefits that a cyber employee has over their in-office counterpart.

-Insurance, taxes, and other benefits do not apply to most online service providers. They provide services as a contractor or freelance provider.

-Your relationship with the provider you choose is just that: service provider to client. Imagine having all your employees treating you as their favorite client all the time, doing their best work each time to ensure your repeat business Conversely, have you ever been dissatisfied with a project you asked your assistant to complete. It probably, wasn't feasible(or legal) for you to fire that person on the spot. Online you determine whether to continue that relationship by allowing them to work on future projects for you or not.

-It may not seem like a lot, but take a moment to think of all the capital you invest in each new employee you hire. Every extra phone line, data port, software license, cubic foot of office space, furniture, and anything else a person would need to sit in your office and conduct business reduces your bottom line.

Obviously, virtual assistants have some limitations. Online providers can handle just about any need that could arise. Consider that you may miss the personal aspects of working side by side with someone you know and trust. It's the human and spatial aspects that are difficult to duplicate online. Extraordinary technology exists for communication and collaboration. However, none of that can ever guarantee you that if you stick your head around the corner and ask for an opinion or some help, you'll get it immediately. Most likely they won't attend your office holiday party or join the softball team!

There are many different types of companies online that can help you run your business more efficiently. You can hire on a project basis. You can put an assistant on retainer. If you have administrative needs that aren't being met, you may want to consider your options before running into your local classifieds office, ad in hand.

Article Source: http://www.articlenorth.com

Dana Wallert is the owner of DW Office Solutions. Find out more about Dana and her virtual assistance solutions and sign up to receive her free monthly newsletter at www.dwofficesolutions.com

Make life easier with the help of a personal assistant

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Before, a personal assistant or "Girl Friday"/"Man Friday" is only common to the people in the business world especially to business people who have high positions in a certain company. For instance, a personal assistant is hired by a prominent businessman or businesswoman to assist him or her in everything that he or she needs to do.

These things not only refer to those that are covered in the workplace such scheduling for meetings, accepting or declining phone calls, mail matters such as daily monitoring of mails—either snail mails, emails, or other correspondence, documentation reviews, research works, booking and reservations for meetings locally and internationally and so much more.

But now, the term "personal assistant" is not only applicable to the people in the business or corporate world but in other fields such as in healthcare, communications, and the like. Surveys show that more and more personal assistants are being hired to assist older people or people that have certain medical conditions and restrictions. These personal assistants are also being called "personal aide" because they specifically assist in maintaining stable medical condition.

In the field of communications, personal assistants also take the job of the secretary for doing exactly the latter's job. In this field, personal assistants are more popularly called "PA," its abbreviation. Since they are in a more complicated industry, they have more responsibilities, duties, and tasks.

Today, the responsibilities of a personal assistant doe not only involve work in the office setting job but also include some menial tasks asked by their employers. These tasks even include ordering and delivering food, laundromat services, dealing with stylists and photographers for photo shoot and other matters that their bosses can no longer take care of.

And since the responsibilities are heavier, more and more qualifications are being required for the applicants for this position. They must be able to represent their employer in more important roles such as meetings, company and business negotiations, briefing of people who will face the boss and the like.

Why is there a need to hire a personal assistant?

Hiring a personal assistant is common to people who have high profiles in the society such as politicians, celebrities, entertainment moguls, professional athletes, and business executives. This is because these people have a handful to do and needs a helping hand in all the things that they need to do. They also need personal assistants so they can accomplish more things in a shortest possible time. Since "time is gold' for these people, they would rather pay someone to do menial jobs instead of them doing those things on their own.

They also need personal assistants so they can concentrate more on the bigger things that they need to do instead of worrying over simple things that can be done by other people with their specific instructions.

But now, with the times changing, even people who don’t belong to the sector of high profile individuals need personal assistants to make their life easier. In fact, over the years, personal assistance for the middle class has an increasing demand because more and more families need it. Personal assistants in middle class families usually serve as nannies who take care of the children or the family's personal secretary who takes care of all the documentation needed for the internal affairs.