It’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks
When my company closed down, I found that I was looking for something to do to help keep my grey matter active. I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to be a virtual assistant. They say when someone has been in a job for a long time you stagnate, in that you use the same skills all the time and never stretch your brain to its full capacity. Well in the last two years, boy has my brain been stretched!
Who would have thought that I would have learnt so much? I have gone from being an Executive PA in the shipping industry for more than 40 odd years, to now regularly researching topics that I did not even know existed before. Throw is some computer programming and writing up business plans and synopsis’s and all of a sudden there is a serious need for upskilling oneself.
Having been exposed to new fields, I have realized that in order to do a great job for my client and to fly the VA flag high, I have needed to ensure that I keep up to date with all the new trends in specific markets. Before I would have just looked everything up on the internet and been quite proud of my efforts, however, working as a Virtual Assistant, one does not have the luxury of running into your boss’s office with a question at any given time.
Have the right mind-set
Just the other day I was asked to prepare an online survey, my first thought was HELP! The difficulty is that my client is a very busy man and leaves me with set tasks to do within a specific timeline. I had to research and teach myself how to program a couple of online surveys for him, not only the survey but to get the survey to calculate specific responses and tally them thus connecting them to other screens.
If you had asked me to do this before I became a VA I would have looked at you sideways, however, now I rise to the challenge. After completing the surveys I gave myself a pat on the back for upskilling myself, only to find that the next challenge coming hurtling towards me! This time, my assignment was dealing with finance and brochures. So again I needed put my big girl knickers on and upskill myself in the world of Board Meetings and Award Winning Brochures.
Up-skill yourself as a Virtual Assistant
Apart from my regular upskilling I have realized that I need to take advantage of the free courses offered online through webinars and websites such as Alison and Typeform to name a few. They say education opens up doors and the mind. Here’s hoping that my new found skills will lead to more opportunities. My mind is continually being stretched, and because of this I am able to offer more and I am more confident in myself and my abilities.
My new motto is “Bring It On!”