Subnostr

I’m looking for a career change.

I’m flexible but thinking maybe part-time work from home so that I can do more of the volunteer work I’m passionate about.

I’ve been hearing about virtual assistants as I have general database and Microsoft Office skills.

Anyone have experience or thoughts about this type of work?

Or other suggestions I should look into to? TIA

#asknostr #plebchain #advice #career #jobs

Dr. Hax 1y ago

Good virtual assistants are extremely valuable, but also frequently undervalued and as the same time the job is very demanding (e.g. expected to have quick responses at all hours). So watch out for that and have a plan on how to bring it up if it's a problem and be prepared to walk away if necessary.

It's hard to know of the boss is going to be reasonable, and hard for them to know if the applicant will be able to just handle stuff without detailed instructions.

One thing that I see a lot of need for is connecting up people who make cool stuff with people who want to buy it. I'm not talking about modern advertising of trying to convince people to buy something, but finding the people who would really appreciate it.

For example, woodworkers can make amazingly beautiful things, but they don't want to go trying to find a buyer. They just want to do the fun stuff (make stuff). And who can blame them or that?

It's the same with tech projects too. I make open source, encrypted hardware password managers. I don't want to come up with and execute an entire marketing plan. I'd be down to be on a privacy podcast, but I'm just like everyone else: I want to do the fun parts. So today I worked on the code instead of trying to find a show that might want to tell people about #signet.

The same would also apply to people who grow, dehydrate and sell fruits & vegetables (or pickle or preserve in some other way, but dehydrating is good for shipping).

Maybe that's just another type of remote assistant?

The big problem is that none of these examples are high volume or high margin products. They're all a bunch of hobbiest, or tiny businesses at best. If they were big enough to hire someone, they'd have already done it. So it'd likely be commission based or profit sharing or something, at least in the beginning.

Anyway, if you want tips on how to distinguish yourself as a remote office assistant, let me know. I ran a software security practice for years and know exactly what people in that position struggle with and would be happy to have someone to "just deal" with so they can focus on the big picture things.

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Discussion

Cindy 1y ago

Thank you for the reply. I really appreciate it. Lots of food for thought. I’m introverted and like being given a task to complete. You have an interesting idea on finding buyers, I like it. However, that task would be outside of my wheel house. A podcast you might reach out to though is Flirting with Bitcoin to advertise signet.

Dr. Hax 1y ago

Normally I'd suggest the tech sector since they're more likely to be cool with remote workers, but they've been generally laying people off lately, so that might be a rough right now.

When interviewing, make sure it's clear that you can run tasks to completion as long as the objective is clear. This will make sure they understand they need to give you a clear task and not expect you to "just know" what they want from you. This seemingly small detail will make things work out better for everyone! Eventually, it would be better if you can just see what people are going to ask for and get it started (or competed!) before they even have to ask.

Expect to start on the low end for pay in the beginning. Keep track of how well you are doing, ideally in measurable ways. Things like "can handle XYZ reports with minimal oversight" and "get XYZ reports done in 30 minutes instead of the 90 minutes it took when I started" are some generic examples. These will be useful in making the case that you're doing more work in the same amount of time and so you have earned a substancial raise. If your boss doesn't schedule a check in about how well you're doing after 6 months, request one. See if they agree with your assessment. Listen to what they say they would like to see in the next 6 months.

I suppose these are probably good tips for many roles, but they're especially important for an assistant.

And thanks for the tip about Flirting with Bitcoin. I'm checking it out now. 🙂