VA Wanna B - Virtual Assistant Forums

Tammy72 · #1 (**permalink**) 01-15-2008

Hello, I am a 35 year old stay at home mom, for 10 years now. Youngest will start School this August. So ready to go back to work.. But my spoiled lifestyle and of course being the Boss for so long now, not sure I want to go back to a J O B and be bossed!

Researching and thinking about becoming a VA. Not yet qualifed to go on my own. I came across VOT Virtual Office Temps website. Was hoping someone could give me some input about them?? I really want to become certified w/ them but not sure if this means anything in the VA World. They also require that I buy and use these books to study: Professional Office Procedures 4th edition by Susan Cooperman and Virtual Assistant by Diana Ennen.

Thanks in Advance.

vainparadise · #2 (**permalink**) 01-15-2008

Welcome to the forums Tammy! What really helped me decide was reading everthing I could find on VA's. I have to say too that this forum is quite informative and I think I must have read every post before I registered!

Good luck to you, and the above books are great resources to read as well.

Modern Marketing Support · #3 (**permalink**) 01-15-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tammy72

Hello, I am a 35 year old stay at home mom, for 10 years now. Youngest will start School this August. So ready to go back to work.. But my spoiled lifestyle and of course being the Boss for so long now, not sure I want to go back to a J O B and be bossed!

Researching and thinking about becoming a VA. Not yet qualifed to go on my own. I came across VOT Virtual Office Temps website. Was hoping someone could give me some input about them?? I really want to become certified w/ them but not sure if this means anything in the VA World. They also require that I buy and use these books to study: Professional Office Procedures 4th edition by Susan Cooperman and Virtual Assistant by Diana Ennen.

Thanks in Advance.

Hi Tammy! Welcome to the forum. I hear you about the spoiled lifestyle and being the Boss. (That's me!)

I know nothing about VOT and I'm not sure which certification you are thinking about getting but I do know that Diana Ennen's books are highly regarded in the industry and that it is required reading at Red Deer College in Alberta, Canada. They have a VA course that you take on campus not online.

It's not necessary to have certification but it couldn't hurt. If you are strapped for cash then maybe you could just get Diana Ennen's book and read that first. Of course, I would first read all of the posts at this forum. It's free! That's just my 2 cents.

Good Luck Tammy!

Tammy72 · #4 (**permalink**) 01-15-2008

Thank you Dawn and Shari. After posting this I spent about 2 hours reading forums "Wow" there is a lot of great info. Kind of overwhelming. Thank you for taking the time to help me out.

Tammy

Modern Marketing Support · #5 (**permalink**) 01-15-2008

No problem.

There is so much great information here. It's overwhelming sometimes. I find stuff I never knew existed before.

VBP · #6 (**permalink**) 01-15-2008

I learned soooo much from reading the forums! Another great thing about belonging to a forum is that many times, there are educational teleclasses offered to forum members at no charge! They pop up all the time so keep your eyes open!

Tess · #7 (**permalink**) 01-15-2008

Hi Tammy, welcome!

There is alot of info here and I understand it can feel like a lot all at once - the nice thing is you can read and interact (ask questions, etc.) at your own pace.

I'm not familiar with VOT - there are wide and varied opinions on whether or not certifications are important. I've never pursued one and it's not affected my practice or my ability to contract clients over the long term negatively, but I know other VAs who have and are glad they did.

I think if the material they offer is worthwhile to you as a business owner, as a VA, etc. then it may well be worth the investment - but don't pursue it just for the certification - your potential clients are not likely to even notice or know what it is. A learning experience should be about increasing your skill set, your knowledge, your confidence more than anything else. If VOT offers something along those lines then go for it

Office Goddess · #8 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008

I agree w/Tess about certification not being necessary. I hold a CPS (Certified Professional Secretary) designation through International Association of Administrative Professionals (the folks that brought us Secretary's Day!) but none of my employers had ever heard of it!

permalink · #9 (**permalink**) 01-16-2008

Hey, Welcome and have a great time here..I am a member of some other boards and this is the most active and most informative ...sad to say about the others I have not been to them since..I too have a certification from 4C- College a Secretary and Accounting School that no longer excites..and no one has hear of a Certification of Secretarial and Accounting..It is not necessary for you to be certified as a VA's just need to have experience under your belt and good at services you want to specialize in.

Good Luck and have fun here

Elaine

permalink · #10 (**permalink**) 01-17-2008

Hi Tammy - welcome to the forum. You'll find a great deal of support and info here !
Carol