Whenever I see those overseas 'outsourcing' companies charging $2 per hour for virtual assistance, or job posts on sites like Guru.com or Odesk looking to hire for $1, I want to cringe. It's not that the services aren't valuable, it's just difficult to differentiate our services when it all comes under the umbrella of 'virtual assistance.'

There's a big difference between hiring an experienced, trusted resource and getting generic or one-off services from someone with little to no corporate experience working for an agency's stable. Most of us here know that, but as a budding industry, it's important to educate the general population about what we do. I've written a bit about this here: http://www.fluxappeal.com/what-is-virtual-assistance/

I hate to think of virtual assistance being thought of as a low wage factory for third world workers. Skills are skills and if you're comparing apples to apples, wages should be commensurate (and I don't really believe that $1 per hour is a sufficient hourly wage for any corner of the world!).

What I'm hoping to do is open up a positive dialogue about overseas or out-of-region hiring of virtual assistance in a manner that highlights the quality of skills and professional benefits, rather than merely the economy of hiring third world. I'd like to see the industry elevated for all involved.

I would love to hear what other Virtual Assistants feel on this subject. I've written a new article on hiring abroad: http://www.fluxappeal.com/hiring-vir...stance-abroad/ If you have a moment, please stop by and add your voice to the comments and if anyone else has written on this subject, I like to check it out.

Cheers!

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Michele Alise ~ FluxAppeal
Solutions to Fit the Evolving Needs of Your Business

As your article says, we're virtual! But a large part of the outsourcing issue we run into is quality. A low-wage VA in another country may or may not have the skills of their counterpart in the US (most likely not). As our world 'shrinks' and our economies come more into line with each other, I believe US businesses will pay less and overseas businesses will pay their employees more. In the meantime, those who opt for excessively low-wage services generally 'get what they pay for' for the most part.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

@OfficeGoddess, Agreed! Of course, there are plenty of overseas VA's who are educated and qualified, bringing great value to businesses who need resources abroad. This is totally different from low-wage workers without qualifications who call themselves VA's. These types of agencies give a bad name to overseas outsourcing.

I'm just trying to figure out how to share the 'Virtual Assistant' terminology, while making a clear distinction about the differences.

Thanks for your intput.

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Michele Alise ~ FluxAppeal
Solutions to Fit the Evolving Needs of Your Business

I make a point of saying I am a 'professional VA with over 30 years of experience', which pre-qualifies me as knowing what I am doing. Any time I am seeking assistance I ask for qualifications and experience from the other person or firm. This has saved me some serious potential problems in the past.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

@Lily, absolutely agreed. Of course, a VA's qualifications are readily available from the VA, their materials, or from past clientele making referrals. I'm thinking about the Virtual Assistant distinction in general.

My desire is merely to start conversations that shed a different light on the benefits of hiring overseas that don't particularly focus on cheap assistance, but rather highlighting the actual merits of having assistance in a different region, and also about getting trusted referrals from places like Virtual Assistant Forums and other VA networking sites.

Thanks so much for your input.

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Michele Alise ~ FluxAppeal
Solutions to Fit the Evolving Needs of Your Business

I have no problem working with a qualified person in another region/country/whatever. The key being 'qualified.' And what I'm saying is that the only way to distinguish from the low-ball overseas so-called Virtual Assistants to the well-qualified ones is a combination of using the word professional and showing their experience. There is currently no oversight body to prevent non-qualified workers from using the Virtual Assistant appellation.

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Lily Chambers, The Virtual Office Goddess, LLC
Author "How to Do Your Own Small Business Bookkeeping"

I have to say I never refer to myself as a VA as I really think there's a negative connotation with the phrase (not to mention the fact that peoples' eyes glaze over and they have no real idea what you're talking about). I guess it would be hard to have some sort of registration body that ensures people are properly qualified as the VA area has so many different skillsets. But I agree, I hate seeing people only offering to pay $1 an hour... everyone, no matter what country they are from, if they are properly able to do the job they should be paid a fair rate.

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Bridie's Typing Services - specialising in transcription services
The professional's choice

Michele,
I am very glad you started such an interesting thread.
I my self am based in Pakistan and looking to start VA bookkeeping business serving clients in the USA. I have lived in USA for quiet some time also.

I agree their is some low quality work, however it is an area where people should do some research on the qualifications of the candidate.

I myself am an ACCA finalist(equivalent to CPA in the USA).

I believe if business their would want to subcontract overseas they should take the time
to research the attributes and skills of the candidates, if enough time is not spent on this then this will translate into wrong decisions which would lead to non serious workers.

Regards

looking forward to hearing your intake

By the way I had the time to read your article, very interesting.

Thank you for your comments @Birdiej and @Offshore VA.

@Offshore VA, I'd be interested to know whether you'll be working with an offshore VA company? or on your own as an independent contractor?

It seems that most of the low pay offshore VA's are with organizations that bid out the work and take a commission. This is what, I believe, leads to the disconnect between the actual VA's and the people hiring them, with the outsourcing companies in the middle. Unfortunately, as this becomes the standard for hiring offshore, it makes it even more difficult for the more qualified offshore VA's to get work for reasonable pay.

Of course, businesses like the idea of getting high quality work for low cost, and as long this is the norm, there's no reason for anything to change. It seems to me that pay rates should commensurate with experience and skill no matter where you're from.

What do you think about this? Also, you suggest overseas businesses conduct research on VA's credentials, how do you think they would go about this?

Thank you for taking the time to read the article and comment.

Cheers,

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Michele Alise ~ FluxAppeal
Solutions to Fit the Evolving Needs of Your Business

Michele,
I am working as an independent contractor, My goal is to subcontract bookkeeping services to small bookkeeping businesses in the USA.
I have lived in the USA for 15 years, I have worked in a outsourcing company here in Pakistan for Unigroup agents in the USA which comes under the network of United Van Lines that provide freighting all across USA and Canada.

I agree with you Michele rate should be based on experience and skill however,
Living in a country like Pakistan a dollar has much more worth than in USA due to currency being stronger than Pakistani currency. So I believe their should be an incentive given to companies their to subcontract here, however I do not believe in extremely low rates which people on elance and Odesk are charging. I am differentiating myself from them as I understand the culture of people in USA , and have effective communication skills.

Regards