GUIDE: How to Become a Virtual Assistant—Even With Zero Experience

(SPOT.ph) Chances are, you know someone who is either working as a virtual assistant or is seriously thinking about becoming one. The job has only gotten more popular since the pandemic—in fact, one recent survey found that being a VA has overtaken traditional careers like doctor and lawyer as the top dream job among Filipinos.

The appeal is pretty easy to understand. In a country where commuting can eat up hours of your day and the peso has weakened against the dollar, becoming a VA can seem like a practical career move. It also seems relatively easy to get into—at least on paper. You often hear that all you really need is a laptop, a stable internet connection, and a willingness to learn, but is it really that simple? What does it actually take to land your first client?

To find out, SPOT.ph spoke to Gell (@gelibelibiz on TikTok), a VA with over 15 years of experience who now teaches aspiring VAs how to get started. From picking a niche and building your first portfolio to finding clients and setting your rates, here’s everything you need to know if you’re starting with zero experience.

• What is a virtual assistant?

• What do you need to become a virtual assistant?

• How to become a virtual assistant

  • How do you choose a VA niche?

  • Direct client or agency: Which is better for beginners?

  • How do you build a VA portfolio with no experience?

  • Where can you find VA jobs?

  • How much should you charge as a beginner?

• How to stand out as a virtual assistant

A VA is essentially someone who works remotely to support a client or business. The work can range from admin and customer service to social media, operations, or more technical tasks, depending on the role you were hired to take on.

While many Filipino VAs traditionally work with US-based clients, Gell said opportunities now also come from places like Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Technically speaking, yes. Working students, fresh graduates, and career shifters can all get into VA work, but the more important question to ask is whether being a VA is even right for you and your lifestyle. Working from home sounds ideal until you realize you’ll be doing it every single day. Gell said this is something aspiring VAs tend to overlook: the setup has to match your personality, not just your career goals.

“Working from home is a personality thing,” Gell said. VA work is best for people who are comfortable with creating their own routine without much face-to-face interaction, often staying home for weeks at a time. If you get your energy from chatting with coworkers or leaving the house, the isolation can get difficult—Gell has witnessed firsthand how some VAs become depressed over time.

“I really do know people who’ve gone through the pressure because of this. If it gets there, that’s your whole life affected, right? It’s not worth it,” Gell said.

Some clients may also ask you to follow US, UK, or Australian business hours, especially if your job involves calls or frequent coordination. Others are more flexible as long as you finish the work. Beginners usually have less room to negotiate, so check the schedule before saying yes to a job.

Another thing to note: Don’t expect the usual employee benefits. Depending on the setup, paid leaves, sick days, and Philippine holidays are rare in VA work. In fact, Gell said don’t expect them at all: “As an expectation, expect mo na wala.” Some clients may offer them, but in many cases, taking time off comes down to whatever arrangement you and your client agree on.

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At the most basic level, you need a desktop or laptop plus a stable internet connection.

“Here’s where I’ve seen extremes in aspiring virtual assistants talaga. Some of them think na puwede nang cellphone maging VA. Hindi. Then the others think naman na kailangan super high-end yung laptop mo. Hindi din,” Gell said. “Think of a laptop that a student can use. That’s it.”

A noise-canceling headset and webcam can also be useful for interviews, check-ins, and meetings, but Gell said they’re more nice-to-haves than absolute requirements for most roles. In fact, once you’ve been working with a client for a while, you may not even need to keep your camera on during calls.

Then there’s another common worry: Do you need to be fluent in English? According to Gell, not necessarily. What matters more is knowing the language enough to understand and be understood.

“In terms of fluency or accent or perfect grammar, it’s not necessary unless the role is client-facing or customer-facing, like CSR roles or sales roles,” Gell said. “The important thing is that you are able to put your point across, that the client understands you.”

Still not convinced? If there’s one thing Gell has realized after years in the industry, it’s that clients already know English isn’t our first language—and in some cases, it isn't theirs, either: “Lagi silang nagkakamali din sa grammar, nahihirapan din silang i-express ‘yung sarili nila.”

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One of the first problems you’ll run into as an aspiring VA is not a lack of information but having too much of it. Gell said almost everything you need to learn is already available online for free. The more important thing is figuring out what’s actually worth learning for the kind of work you want to do. Without that direction, beginners can spend months studying without ever feeling ready to apply.

That said, Gell’s top advice for those starting out: “pick a niche and then learn the skills for that niche.”

“It gives you direction; therefore, it narrows the stuff that you need to do... It doesn’t need to be forever naman. You can change your niche at any point in time. You just need one thing to give you direction while you’re starting.”

This is where paid courses or coaching can help—not because the information is impossible to find for free, but because someone else has already put the lessons in order for you.

But perhaps the biggest reason to pick a niche is money. The more general the role, the more competition you’re likely to face—and the less you may be able to charge.

“Because of the saturation of the VA industry these days, it’s no longer advisable to just be a generalist. People think it’s a low barrier to entry, so there’s more competition, which equals lower pay.”

Lower pay isn’t the only downside. Being a generalist can also mean wearing too many hats. A general admin VA might be tasked to handle social media, website maintenance, and operations all under one role. The problem is that you may still be paid like a generalist even when the work you’re doing already requires more specialized skills.

“If the tasks that you are getting are actually specialist tasks, then you’re not getting what you’re worth,” Gell said.

So, what’s the easiest niche to get into? There isn’t one answer that works for everyone. Gell suggested starting with what you already know and what you’re already interested in because that will be the easiest for you.

If you’re wondering which niches tend to pay more, Gell pointed to technology-based work (to no one's surprise) like AI automation and funnel building. These roles usually require more specialized skills, which means fewer people can jump into them immediately.

There are two common ways to land VA work: apply directly to clients or go through an agency. Neither is automatically better—it depends on how much support and control you want at the start.

For beginners, Gell said agencies can be an easier entry point because many are willing to hire new VAs, with some even offering training. The trade-off is lower pay plus less control over which clients you get. If you don’t like a client, saying no can also be trickier since you risk losing the agency altogether.

On the other hand, going direct gives you more say over which clients you take, but you’ll have to navigate the application process on your own. Gell’s advice: if you’re confident enough to go direct, do it. If you want more structure and don’t mind earning a little less while gaining experience, an agency can be a good starting point.

“You lose a little bit of control when you go the agency route, and it’s lower pay, but the benefits might outweigh it. Depende na lang ’yan sayo,” Gell said.

Just because you're starting from zero experience doesn’t mean your portfolio has to be empty. Gell recommended creating sample projects that show potential clients what you can actually do.

“The only way you can stand out in an application before you get to the interview is your portfolio. It’s the only way that you can show what you can do,” Gell said.

Come up with a fictional business that fits your niche, then give yourself a realistic task that a client might assign. Build around three to five sample projects. If you’re not sure what to make, artificial intelligence (AI) can help you with a brief. Gell suggested prompting it with something along the lines of: “I am this VA. Give me a realistic client that would hire me and a realistic task that they would give me.”

According to Gell, there’s nothing wrong with filling your first portfolio with fictional projects—as long as you’re transparent about it.

“They don’t necessarily look at, ‘Okay, sino specific company ‘yung ginawaan mo niyan?’ What matters more is proving that you can do what you say that you can do.”

There’s no secret website where all the successful VAs get hired. According to Gell, the usual platforms—LinkedIn, Indeed, Upwork, and OnlineJobs.ph—are still the easiest places for beginners to start.

“Wala ka nang kailangan aralin. It’s just a job board. Just apply.”

Once you’re more comfortable, you can branch out into direct outreach through Facebook groups for entrepreneurs or small business owners or even businesses you find on Google. These take a little more finesse: instead of immediately asking someone if they need a VA, Gell recommended interacting with them first when possible. “Don’t just DM someone na, ‘Hey, are you looking for a VA?’ You’re not gonna get a lot of good results from that.”

Whichever route you take, don’t expect an instant hire. This process of job hunting can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months—there’s really no fixed timeline. Even with 15 years of experience, it took Gell more than a month to find a new client after losing both of hers. Her sister had the opposite experience: even with no social media experience, she found a client in around a week and a half.

“You have to be willing to wait,” Gell said. “Kung walang mag-reply, send ka lang ulit bukas. Kung wala, send ka lang ulit. It may take a week, two weeks, two months, but dadating ‘yan. I don’t know of anyone who continued trying and never got a client.”

That doesn't mean saying yes to every opportunity that comes your way, though. As you send out applications, you'll want to avoid certain offers.

The clearest red flag is being asked to pay just to get hired. If a client asks for an activation fee, equipment fee, or any similar payment before you can start, don't even bother.

“Not one legit client will do that,” Gell said.

Some clients will also ask applicants to complete a test task before hiring them. That isn’t automatically a red flag—but there should be a limit to how much free work you’re giving away.

For Gell, that limit is around four hours: “If the task is going to take me more than four hours, I will not do it unpaid,” she said, adding that she’d give beginners the same advice. “You need discernment here. Look at the instructions of the sample task. Does it seem like they’re trying to see your skills or does it seem like they just need you to finish the thing?”

Offers that sound too good to be true deserve a second look too, especially if the pay is unusually high for very simple work while accepting complete beginners. At the same time, a low rate doesn’t automatically mean it’s a scam.

“Puwedeng lowballing lang siya talaga,” Gell said.

One of the hardest—but also most exciting—parts of becoming a VA is finally putting a price on your work. For someone with zero experience, Gell suggested starting with a floor of around $3 to $5 per hour—“anything below it is not worth your time anymore.”

From there, look at what similar jobs are paying across different platforms to get a better sense of the going rate for your niche.

“Look at different platforms para makita mo kung ano ‘yung range ng rates na acceptable para lang you’re not shooting too high and you’re not undervaluing yourself naman. Anything in between the range that you see, that’s the self-assessment part,” Gell said.

According to her, how you price yourself also depends on the setup. If you’re applying for a full-time VA job with eight hours on the clock, the client usually sets the salary, so you’re deciding whether the offer is worth it. If you’re freelancing, you have more control over your rate because you’re pricing a specific project or scope of work.

Once you start gaining experience, don’t let your first rate become your forever rate. If you’ve picked up new skills, need less help from the client, or can point to actual results, that’s your cue to charge more.

“Don’t be complacent in just accepting kung ano na ‘yung natatanggap mo,” Gell said.

Contrary to popular belief, cover letters still matter—especially when a client is sorting through hundreds of applications. For Gell, skip the long “Hi, I’m...” introduction. Your first few lines should immediately show why you’re relevant to the job.

Start by referring to something specific in the listing, then connect it to what you can offer. If the company has a website, check that, too, as it can give you a better idea of what they actually do. Keep it short—Gell puts the sweet spot at around three to five paragraphs—without sounding too salesy.

“Show that you read the job description, and then show that you did a little bit of research,” Gell said. “Anything just to show that you put in some thought to your cover letter.”

If a client has already invited you to an interview, that’s a very good sign—“pumasa na ’yung skills mo, kaya ka na ini-interview,” Gell said. What they’re trying to figure out next is whether you’d actually be a good fit to work with.

So instead of treating the interview like another test, focus on having a natural conversation. Answer the question, but don’t be afraid to add context, explain how you think, or talk through an example. You want to sound professional without becoming stiff or overly rehearsed.

“The point of having an interview is to get to know you as a person. How will you fit in their current team, in their current culture, ganyan?” Gell said. “Be natural in how you talk. Kasi if you’re too rigid, hindi ka makakasagot nang maayos because you’re limiting yourself.”

Say you got the role. Congratulations! Now comes the part where you have to show you can actually work well with a client when you're continents away.

That’s where communication becomes just as important as whatever hard skills got you there. The tools you need will change depending on your niche, but Gell said good communication is non-negotiable across the board. That matters even more in remote work, where there’s no supervisor hovering over your shoulder.

“It’s the only way for clients to know that you’re actually doing the work,” Gell said.

After managing VAs for more than 10 years, Gell said she’s noticed one communication habit come up often among Filipinos: going quiet when there isn’t a positive update to give. It’s not just a newbie thing—or even a Gen Z thing—she’s seen it across different kinds of VAs.

“We tend to ghost,” Gell said. “I think this is a Filipino thing na kapag tinanong tayo tapos our answer is not positive yet, we tend to not answer. For example, “Tapos mo na ba ‘yung ganito?” Hindi ka na lang sasagot. Why? Hindi ka naman pinapagalitan, tinatanong lang ‘yung update. Most beginners would go silent until they’re actually done with the task.”

So if you’re delayed, confused, or struggling with a task, don’t wait until you’ve fixed everything before replying. Your client would rather know what’s going on.

In a way, that sums up the whole process of becoming a VA: you don’t need to start out knowing exactly what you’re doing. You just need to be willing to figure things out as you go. Good luck!

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