The upcoming decades belong to virtual assistants, and we speak with proof.
Almost 60% of the U.S. workforce (or 86.5 million people) may freelance by 2027. The COVID-19 pandemic led to many companies ceasing in-person operations, and some businesses permanently shut down, increasing unemployment. That’s when people pivoted to self-employment, and there’s been no looking back.
The virtual assistant market is set to witness massive competition, so it’s more important than ever to create a stellar first impression through a compelling resume.
Here’s everything you need to know about creating a virtual assistant resume that hits the mark.
But before we dive into details, let’s review a virtual assistant’s roles and responsibilities.
What exactly does a virtual assistant do?
Also called independent contractors (ICs), virtual assistants work remotely. They perform administrative and organizational tasks, such as data entry, email management, market research, and more. ICs typically cater to businesses of all sizes and individual clients.
What to include in a virtual assistant resume?
A virtual assistant’s resume is a formal, structured document that provides information about an individual’s past and present employment, qualifications, and skills. This helps recruiters and hiring managers analyze the IC’s competencies and professional experience, making recruiting easy.
Here’s what a solid remote administrative assistant resume should include:
- Contact information: Virtual freelancers must include a reliable contact method that doesn’t depend on snail mail or international calling. Highlight your email address at the top of the page, include links to your website and professional social media accounts (such as a LinkedIn profile), and add your contact details.
- A summary: Create a concise summary of your hard and soft skills, strengths, and goals. Emphasize your successful projects, the number of professionals you’ve supported, and the skills essential to your career, such as organization and time management.
- Work history: List your work opportunities in reverse-chronological order. Add only related jobs, and scrap irrelevant experiences (like a stint in retail or babysitting). For every work experience, list bullet points highlighting key activities, and stick to action verbs when starting each phrase, such as “Led a team of 12 assistants at a Fortune-500 company.” Include the date range (and location, if non-remote) and job title for each experience.
- Education: Some like to put educational background before work experience, and others opt to put work before education. We’ll let you decide, but if your credentials are linked to your virtual executive assistant work, put them at the top under your summary. In your educational description, include college or postgraduate degrees and a high school diploma if it’s the last credential you received. If you’re enrolled in any higher education or certification courses you’re currently taking, use the following date format: Year started–Present.
- Skills: Provide a brief list of your highly relevant virtual assistant skills. Include software you’re proficient at (such as Microsoft Office or calendar management apps), abilities (like bilingual), and value-adds (such as graphic design or copywriting knowledge).
- Awards and recognitions: Add accolades, including from college-level or higher education programs.
- A pro tip: Avoid the temptation to overwrite. Instead, paint a comprehensive picture of your skills in brief, direct sentences. Use easy-to-read fonts, and try to limit information to one page so the viewer doesn’t feel overwhelmed. Some recruiters won’t scroll to a second page, even if they are interested.
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What about cover letters?
While you’re on the kick of creating documents for your career, making a cover letter is a wise idea.
Draft a template that you can later tailor to specific job descriptions. Start with a modifiable greeting, followed by a paragraph similar to your resume summary highlighting your key achievements and skills. From there, leave space to write about why you’d be a good fit for a particular role as opportunities arise in your job search. Close with a professional greeting and basic contact information in your signature, such as your email address and website.
How do virtual assistants get paid?
As you prepare to receive new leads, ensure you’ve solidified all the information interested parties will ask for, such as hours, availability, and payment structures.
You can decide whether to charge an hourly rate or a weekly or monthly one that covers a certain amount of time or tasks. Alternatively, you can charge by task alone.
Rates for virtual personal assistants vary greatly based on skill level and years of experience, so only professionals can establish the correct pricing for their work. But on average, a virtual assistant’s salary is $76,350 annually (around $25 an hour) at the time of writing.
Excel in your virtual career with Practice
With demand for ICs and virtual assistant jobs on the rise, creating a professional resume to succeed and invite a wealth of new clients is essential.
Head to The Practice Blog to learn how to create handy templates, work with new clients, generate contracts, and find the right insurance to protect your business.
And once you have a solid client base, leverage a customer resource management (CRM) tool to maintain client records and data, store files and folders, and send invoices. Try it today.
