Part-Time vs Full-Time Virtual Assistants: Which One Fits the Job Title for Outsourcing?

Eric

If we could talk a little bit about the first one because I know that I have a little bit of experience working with project based assistants and you’ve had a little bit of experience using permanent assistants. Maybe we could talk about that.

Francis

Actually, it’s the other way around. I have had almost only project based assistants. Well, not project, but non-permanent assistants. So, on oDesk, what will define project based assistant and permanent assistants?

Permanent assistants are like a full time position from an assistant in the Philippines. For example, I’m saying that because I believe they are for full time assistant positions because often they are looking for that.

So, someone who really has a contract – has 40 hours paid work time even if you don’t come up with ideas for them to work. So, they still get paid like a real employee. That’s, in my opinion, are personal assistant.

And then a project based assistant, or how I understood it, was someone from oDesk or Elance or any other hourly billed service. And then you just tell them what you would like to do and they work on that. If they don’t work, they don’t get paid.

Eric

Okay. I get what you’re saying. I get you.

Francis

So, I have most experience with oDesk based assistants who are working on one project after another or several at the same time. Except for my main assistant who’s working about 30 hours a week for me, so almost full time; I have had no full time assistant for long.

Eric

Yeah, yeah. Most of the time, I’m just doing specific projects, specific things that I need done and then call on those people when I need those things done.

Francis

Okay. So in principle, we are on the same page based on our experience with the assistants. So, perhaps let’s change the topic to “In what ways do I believe a full time assistant is better or worse than a project based assistant?”

Eric

Okay, that will work.

Francis

So, obviously, I know the advantages of a project based assistant. And only if you sort of have a project based assistant and really feel okay, he’s working 30-40 hours regularly; I might just as well have a full time assistant.

Eric

Now here’s the thing, I didn’t feel like I had enough work or enough tasks because I would like to have somebody working full time. Because, where I am right now, I could pay to have somebody working full time.

But, I just don’t feel like that I have enough things for them to do. And it might just be me who was thinking that, you know I’m not willing to give up certain parts of my business here. You know what I’m saying?

Francis

Yes. That’s true

Eric

Because, I think that there are certain things that I could give to a virtual assistant that I’m just not ready to give away at this point. I think that’s where we have to kind of bear ourselves as employers and be like okay:

• what are the things that we don’t want to do?

• what are the things that we shouldn’t be doing?

And then give those things off because it’s going to free us up for more time, free us up for more opportunities to do more high level tasks. You know what I’m saying?

Francis

Yep. I totally get that. But, there’s also a slight difference between going back to high level maintenance and being sort of the inspiration guy and just giving away the business. So that the assistant sort of works to make the money for you while you don’t care.

Eric

Yeah, right. Yeah. I know what you’re saying.

Francis

And the second option is I think what many people associate it with when you have a full time virtual assistant. Also, there is some marketing into that direction which perhaps gives people the wrong perception.

Like, “Okay, I have this business in a box idea.” You just hire a full time virtual assistant then you just give them the idea and then they’d find out the rest and you get tons of money.

I do not really believe that this works, at least not on a long term, stable and fulfilling basis. Perhaps, it does technically work. But, I think one of these factors is then not meant.

So, I have the same problem of finding a list of tasks, especially for a beginning virtual assistant, that will fill 40 hours.

But, from the experience with my full time VA, the beginning was so rough with discussions going back and forth and I was not really habituated to having so many questions anymore. Because, working with my main assistant has been so long already that I’m used to that.

Also, that assistant is helping me in managing the full time assistant. So, I think it makes sense to first start out with hourly based assistant until you have reached a certain experience with the outsourcing thing. And then have a person to help with training the next person.

Eric

Yeah, and you can almost promote that person who is your general assistant to kind of be more like a team leader or a management type of position, I guess you could say.

Francis

Exactly. That’s actually what I’m doing. So, I try to do everything on my own when, or mostly on my own, my assistant did some research for the candidate.

But, then when I was interviewing and getting to know that person which was my last full time assistant from the Philippines, I was involved too early.

I was personally involved and I really felt connected to that person. She’s fun and was interesting to talk to and I had almost all these ideas ready. And then when it didn’t work out like I wanted it to, I was not able to give up easily.

My assistant had to get very, for his standards, very drastic in his rhetoric to tell me, okay; perhaps my approach is not the most efficient one to just continue doing what does not work.

And because I did not only give that assistant (the full time assistant) one second chance; I gave her like 4 second chances. And really there were many people who were giving me advice to say “Okay, just try someone else. Perhaps, someone else will make you much happier.”

And I do not think my previous virtual assistant (full time assistant) was a bad person nor did bad quality work. But, we really had problems with the internet connections and they just weren’t solvable. So before, I’m technically stuck.

It’s better to switch to another assistant and go away in peace. And then find someone where it really clicks. Right?

Eric

Right, yeah.

Francis

So, those are obviously the disadvantages of the full time assistant. You have to set them up and then you probably need support to keep them going. So, in the beginning, I had all these ideas and we were just talking about SBI! sites and my ideas in how the content management system feeds then this system.

Then there’s an auto-responder who delivers traffic which can be split test optimized to monetize, you know. Right? Then I just lose them.

But then I said okay, if there are any questions, please first talk it out with my sort of Hiring Manager assistant. And then if both of you can come to the conclusion that there’s something you don’t know then come back to me. This filters out 95% of the questions.