Hiring A Virtual Assistant in Asia

Delegating tasks to a virtual assistant will allow you to focus on other areas of your business. Hiring virtual assistants in Asia is a common practice among business owners.

Here you’ll find some information about how virtual assistants can help you, the cost of hiring one, and the best way to hire virtual assistants in Asia.

What Can Virtual Assistants Do?

Virtual assistants can do more than handle administrative tasks.  You can find a virtual assistant for almost any task you can think of delegating.

Other tasks virtual assistants can do include:

• Bookkeeping
• Customer service
• Online store management
• Data entry
• Data analysis
• Research
• Social media management
• Content writing
• Technical writing

Virtual assistants in the Philippines and India are proficient in English. As such, they are in demand for tasks like customer service and social media management which involves a lot of writing and communicating.

For web development, employers usually look for virtual assistants in India or Vietnam. Both countries have talented IT professionals. Many businesses delegate technical tasks to the virtual assistants in these countries and other parts of Asia.

How Virtual Assistants Can Help You Expand to Emerging Markets in Asia

When expanding to other markets, it will help to have a virtual assistant who is based in the market you wish to enter. There are a number of ways that a virtual assistant will be beneficial to your business.

Conduct Market Research Before Setting Up A Company

Instead of booking flights and accommodations to do research in a new market, hiring a virtual assistant is a more cost-effective option. And beyond saving money, hiring someone local will save you time as well because they already have prior knowledge of the market, so they’re not going in blind.

A virtual assistant can help you figure out if there’s an interest in your product or service. They can also look for places to set up your business. A good virtual assistant can help you prepare everything you need to set up a company.

Build Relationships with Local Business Contacts

Virtual assistants can also facilitate business relationships with local contacts. An assistant can introduce your company to possible clients. They can also look for suppliers on your behalf. Think of it as having an extension of your company in the country.

Translate Documents and Other Materials

There are some countries where English is not widely used. In such places, having a virtual assistant who can translate things will make processes easier and move them along much faster.

For example, a lot of people in Indonesia speak English but official documents are in Indonesian. Having someone who can translate and explain documents on the fly will make processes less complicated. Vietnam is similar in this aspect where most documents are in Vietnamese. In fact, contracts in Vietnam must be in Vietnamese if ever needed in court.

How Much Do Virtual Assistants in Asia Cost?

The most common countries from which employers hire virtual assistants are the Philippines and India. In these countries, the standard rate for virtual assistants handling purely administrative tasks is USD 3 to USD 6.

However, if your virtual assistant does more specialized tasks or acts as your local representative in the market, the hourly rate is higher. The starting hourly rate for these kinds of virtual assistants is USD 10.

Finding Virtual Assistants in Asia

Using Virtual Assistant Companies

Most virtual assistant companies use a subscription model. Depending on the plan, you get a set number of hours worked by a virtual assistant for a given period of time. The company employs virtual assistants to work on clients’ tasks.

You don’t assign tasks directly to the assistant, instead, you have an account manager. The company assigns tasks to virtual assistants in their roster. It’s unlikely that the same people will work on your account so the quality of work will vary each time.

This is a cause for concern if you’re dealing with sensitive data. Even if the company has policies in place for the privacy of its clients, there’s still a level of risk involved. The rotating nature of task delegation will also affect the consistency in style for creative tasks like content writing and graphic design. The workers’ personal style will influence their outputs.

One good thing about a virtual assistant company, though, is that a lot of them operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This is especially helpful when you have urgent tasks. 

Hiring from a Freelancing Platform

A popular option is to post jobs on freelancing platforms. It’s common practice for these platforms to verify the identity of freelancers. However, they do not typically verify the credentials of the freelancers. Some platforms offer internal certification tests so users can prove the skills and abilities.

Freelancers generally work open-hours so this is not the best option for those who want someone to work on a fixed schedule. Note, also, that a lot of freelancers prefer short-term contracts to free themselves up for other projects. So while you may find the perfect fit, they might not be around very long.

For the most part, the agreement between freelancers and employers is informal. If any issues come up, it will be hard to hold the freelancer accountable. Additionally, like working with virtual assistant companies, there’s a level of risk involved when sharing data with a freelancer.

Hire Virtual Assistants in Asia Using An Employer of Record

An employer of record is a company who hires employees on behalf of another company. Employers of record, like Emerhub, can help you with the hiring virtual assistants in Asia.

Find Highly Qualified Candidates in Asia

We will source candidates based on your specific requirements. We won’t just look for candidates who meet the skills and qualifications you need, we will also find candidates who can work with your desired schedule. On top of that, we will screen and interview them so you only need to meet with the top candidates. 

Additionally, if you want the candidate to take any tests, we can monitor them for you. We will also verify their credentials to ensure that their profiles are accurate.

Local HR Support for Your Virtual Assistants

Beyond the recruitment process, we will also prepare an employment contract ensuring that you are compliant with local employment laws. We will also take care of payroll management for your virtual assistants.

Through this method, you will have a dedicated virtual assistant, there’s no switching around different workers. And you can be sure your data is secure because you have an employment contract. You get all the benefits of having a permanent employee without having to worry about HR work.

Want to hire virtual assistants in Asia? Our team is ready to help you find virtual assistants in the Philippines, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Get in touch with us by filling out the form below.