Businesses decide to hire virtual assistants mainly because it is cost-effective and is a big time saver.
The main advantage to hiring a virtual assistant is that you pay them by the hour for every task they complete, allowing you to manage more critical elements of your business.
The hourly rate you pay your virtual assistant depends on several aspects, such as how experienced they are, where in the world they are located, and their level of experience.
This article will explain the overall costs of hiring a virtual assistant.
What’s The Average Hourly Rate For A Virtual Assistant?
You can expect to pay around $7.5-$40 per hour to hire a virtual assistant with average experience and depending on the work they are responsible for.
The virtual assistants with average experience will have some experience working within your business sector, for example performing data entry duties.
The more experienced and skilled the virtual assistant is, the more they will charge per hour.
A virtual assistant with ten years experience can command up to $25 per hour for highly skilled work. Still, these virtual assistants will have a lot of expertise and knowledge of the industry within which your business operates.
Despite $25 seeming a lot to pay per hour, it is still only a fraction of what you can expect to pay for a fully salaried staff member.
Calculating The Value Of A Virtual Assistant
1 – Level Of Education
Education, education, education. It counts for so much but so does experience.
The level of education a virtual assistant requires often depends on the type of duties they are expected to perform.
However, all virtual assistants must have an excellent command of the English language, both verbally and written.
Unlike most other professions, no specific professional qualification is required for virtual assistance work.
Basic on-the-job training will be provided but having professional qualifications would be advantageous.
However, experience counts for everything, as do excellent references that prove the level of the person can perform.
Virtual assistants who are excellent touch typists will always stand out over other candidates. The bare minimum requirement from companies is that all people working as virtual assistants excel at general IT skills.
All virtual assistants should want to progress their careers, but to do this, they will need job experience in their chosen field. Nevertheless, such virtual assistants can prove invaluable to your business.
Experience counts for little if the knowledge they have is not in your business field, and they cannot display a can-do attitude and excellent people and time management skills.
2 – Previous Experience
They say experience counts for everything in life, and it certainly proves invaluable when applying for a job as a virtual assistant.
It is always advantageous if the candidate you are interviewing has at least some experience in your company’s business sector.
It stands to reason that if you own a marketing company, you will be seeking to employ a virtual assistant with an excellent grasp of all things related to online and social media marketing.
The virtual assistant hourly rate will increase depending on the amount of experience virtual assistants have doing specific job roles.
However, even the most experienced virtual assistant commanding a high hourly pay rate will still prove more cost-effective to hire than employing a fully salaried staff member.
Virtual assistants charge far less per hour for project management duties than it would cost to employ a full-time project manager, but ideally, you would want the person you hire to have plenty of relevant experience.
Most virtual assistants have their own business, which means they will have several clients, which in turn means they will have the relevant experience you need to help your business thrive.
3 – Hours Worked A Week
When hiring a virtual assistant, the payment structure depends on how many hours a week they work.
Business owners can be put off because they do not understand the value of virtual assistant cost structures. This is because they fail to calculate the correct number of hours they need and are not basing their budget on the appropriate payment structure.
Hiring a virtual assistant is about allowing you that flexibility to manage the hours you hire them for during different periods.
For example, if you want specialised skills, you will have to pay an hourly hire rate, but you may only need these specialised skills at certain times of the year.
In this case, hiring someone on a paid trial period and then on a part-time basis is advisable. This allows you the flexibility to utilise their skills as and when they are required.
However, if you are hiring a virtual assistant to do essential administrative work and scheduling appointments, you will be required to hire them on a full-time basis but at a lesser hourly rate of pay.
Small businesses worry that they can’t afford the hourly rates every month. Still, even the average virtual assistant can prove valuable in doing admin tasks for a fraction of the cost a fully salaried employee would end up costing.
4 – Technical Skills
The VA industry is full of professional individuals with various specialised skills that can benefit your VA business.
You may need to hire someone with advanced lead-generation skills. In this instance, you would have to be prepared to hand over responsibilities to them for marketing and research so that they can focus on strategies to target potential clients.
Most companies use social media as a way of increasing their client base. Virtual assistants with excellent knowledge of social media platforms and digital marketing research can help your company get to the next level.
The virtual assistant you hire will have to take on tasks that involve writing engaging websites and social media content to attract new customers.
The virtual assistants who perform these tasks and provide additional marketing services will command more money.
Don’t be put off by the increased hourly rates; always remember you are paying for technical skills essential to your company’s growth.
You may need to hire different virtual assistants with unique skills to provide additional services monthly, but always remember the overall cost of hiring will be less than employing an in-house staff member.
5 – Country Location
Virtual assistants provide various types of services from their homes, which could be based in any city, town or village in the world.
When you hire a virtual assistant, you must ensure they communicate to an excellent standard in English, both verbally and written. They will also need IT tools such as a computer and a good internet connection.
The rate you pay the virtual assistant will be determined by where they are based worldwide. So, for instance, a remote worker providing their services for administration tasks while based in the Philippines will cost you far less than someone in Australia or America.
Opting for a virtual worker in the Philippines can seem very attractive due to the lower cost. Still, you must evaluate the worker’s skills compared to someone on a higher hourly rate in Australia.
Another consideration is the person you hire may work in a different time zone than your business. There can be advantages and disadvantages to a worker providing services in a different location to your business.
The advantage is that they can carry on with tasks outside your standard working hours, but on the flip side, the time difference means you can only have live video calls with them at a set time during your office hours.
How Much Time Does Managing A VA Take?
One of the main reasons businesses hire virtual assistants is to save time. Therefore, it is ironic that business owners don’t realise how much time it takes to source, hire, train and manage a virtual assistant.
There are a range of things to consider. First, you must consider the proper payment structure when hiring a virtual assistant.
For example, do you need them on an as-and-when basis, or do you require them to look after your social media accounts full-time? If it’s the latter, you need to ensure they have the right skills and experience to perform the tasks the role demands.
Always ask the candidate to do a paid trial before committing to a long-term agreement.
Trust is paramount when employing remote workers because they will always work independently, so use software tools like Time Doctor to track their time management and overall task performance.
If you can hire a virtual assistant through a recommendation from a trusted source like a business client, do so. Alternatively, you can search for potential hires through verified agencies and freelance websites.
keep in mind that the process as a whole can take a considerable amount of time and effort.
How Virtual Assistant Services Save You Time?
Hiring virtual assistants and using the proper payment structure that suits your business model is vital. This is the reason many business owners use virtual assistant services.
Most business owners are happy to use freelance websites to hire virtual assistants to perform repetitive data entry tasks. Still, when you require your virtual assistant to provide more specialised services on an ongoing basis, it is advisable to use a VA agency.
A VA agency will have instant access to a wide range of highly skilled workers and can easily match your requirements to a worker’s skill set.
Hiring with the help of a VA agency will help you quickly determine which workers are suitable for the jobs you are advertising.
For example, suppose you want to hire someone with advanced skills in accounting and dealing with balance sheets on a monthly basis. In that case, the VA agency has all the data of suitable accounting candidates available to them quickly.
The workers on the agency database will already be verified as having the right skills and trustworthiness.
Also, using a VA agency means your company directly pays the VA work the worker does for your company to the agency via popular payment platforms, and the worker gets paid by the agency.
Depending on the services the virtual assistant provides, and the experience level they have will determine the rate they get paid.
If you have any worries over the number of hours the virtual assistant has worked or the standard of their work, you can inform the agency, and they will deal with the worker directly, saving you the hassle.
Let Us Help You Find The Best VA
Hiring a virtual assistant is about your business becoming more cost-efficient and tapping into skills you may not already have within your company.
As you have read in this article, there are advantages and disadvantages to hiring a virtual assistant, mainly when you source the person from an unverified freelance website.
Using a VA agency is the standard business practice to ensure you hire the right virtual assistant to suit your business needs.
So save yourself time, money and hassle by calling us for a chat to discuss how we can quickly source, hire, train and manage a highly skilled virtual assistant.
We will also advise you on what virtual assistant hourly rate to expect for the type of work you need done.