VA's from the Philippines treated like a shiny object?

by Jomvie
(from Philippines)

Working as a VA in the Philippines and being the apple of my friends’ eyes

My employer, Francis, asked me if as a VA from the Philippines I am treated like a shiny object due to my job. In fact, that is the case. Most of my friends are often excited when they hear about working for a foreign employer.

Why? I am clueless, but I will give you my best answer based off of my friend’s questions.

I was a clinical instructor from a prominent nursing institution before I decided to work full time online. But, what makes my online job interesting is the people that see me like I am a shiny and sparkling object.

Whenever they ask me, “What is your present job now that you’ve retired from teaching?”

My answer is, “I work as a virtual assistant—similar to an office secretary, only virtually.”

And they’re always like, “Woooow…How did you get into that? Can I do part time also? Can you tell me how’d you do that?

And the much awaited question always followed:

“How much do you get from working online?”

And I was like, “Okay, slow down and we’ll talk about it in a step-by-step manner.”

But, the question here is, why do we always get that kind of impression? And why do they see virtual employees in such a high regard?

Filipino with a foreign employer

Most Filipinos look up to such people with much respect, as if they are above them—especially foreigners. And when they hear you are working for a foreign employer, they think you are:

Intelligent

Capable of communicating in the English language fluently and with confidence

And the monthly salary is in dollars ($)

It is very rare for a Filipino, especially one just working at the comfort of their own home, to be working for a foreign employer because if you don’t have the qualities to speak and write in English, it’s just like you don’t have the right to such work.

In my opinion, they are just not confident in communicating with English speakers.

If they only delve into the topic, they will know the difference between a regular and virtual employee.

Coffee Shop get-together

Let me take, for example, a friend I met recently and had a chat with at a coffee shop—a small get-together to catch up.

My friend is also an online worker who used to work for a London based employer, but he wasn’t happy with the work because it was too demanding and required him to work in the wee hours of dawn. Long story short, he quit and never tried it again.

Comments for VA’s from the Philippines treated like a shiny object?

Jun 25, 2015

Surprising Insights From Behind the Scenes
by: Francis Even after I could meet you Jomvie, personally in the Philippines and after having the opportunity to spend a great vacation there, I still find it surprising that there is such a big difference in respect levels for a virtual assistant working for an employer from a European or a US country.From my point of view, for most people in my country, Germany, if you work for someone, yes, you have respect for your boss. But it doesn’t make any difference if your boss is from your own country or, for example, from the USA. You will not have an additional respect just from the fact that your boss comes from a different country.

This whole concept of idolizing a foreign country is difficult to understand from my perspective. I think this cultural attitude in the Philippines that you are referring to, Jomvie, is something special that any employer looking to hire from the Philippines should keep in mind.

For anyone who is a virtual assistant from the Philippines, I would have the advice to not overdo it with respectful terms of speech and salutations. You risk coming across weirdly to your partners from the US or from Europe, for example.

To make a point, here in Germany, we have the attitude to talk very directly to each other. Something different that surprised me when I read it and even more when I experienced it when I visited the Philippines is that you point out that not most Filipinos are very confident in their levels of English when talking to someone from a foreign country.

Before I visited the Philippines—and I think this is the case for many potential employers looking to hire from the Philippines—I had the conception that the Philippines is a bilingual country where almost everyone fluently speaks English. And I still think that the Philippines really are one of the best English-speaking Asian countries from the little experience I have so far.

But still, it’s easy to over think this. Some people I met in the Philippines didn’t have very good English skills. They had very little accent, yes. But sometimes discussions were difficult. I guess not everyone is coming from a great school or a great university.

And when you look for virtual assistants from the Philippines, you should check for his English skills; best via Skype conversation if that’s a skill you are hiring this person for. But still I believe Filipinos could be more confident than what you are referring to, Jomvie.

As the last advice for potential virtual assistants who are looking to get hired from an employer from the US, for example, how can you get there? We have assembled lots of tips and advice on how to become a better virtual assistant.

The most important advice of all being, “Don’t give up easily as your friend did.” Thanks again for sharing your unique point of view and honesty. I’m looking forward to our interesting discussion with anyone who took the time to read my lengthy response.

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