Over the last 4 years, our team at Persona has spoken to thousands of founders and entrepreneurs about their assistant needs, as well as their past experiences working with virtual and executive assistants.\u00a0<\/p>
Through those conversations, as well as our own experiences building a remote executive assistant service (where we assess thousands of assistant candidates every week), we\u2019ve developed a deep understanding of both the executive and virtual assistant landscapes. <\/p>
Today, more than ever, differences between these two types of assistants have become less clear. This is largely because many services position their virtual assistants (VAs) as the equivalent of remote or virtual executive assistants (when in reality, they\u2019re not). <\/p>
So, if you\u2019re a business owner or entrepreneur who\u2019s looking for an assistant and weighing these two options, it\u2019s become more difficult to tell which of these types of assistants would be best for you. <\/p>
That\u2019s what we\u2019re going to discuss and help you figure out in this article. Below, we\u2019ll cover: <\/p>
If you\u2019ve been wanting an assistant but haven\u2019t had the time to hire one, <\/em>click here to get started<\/em><\/a>. You can try an assistant for a month or two and see how you like it. For testimonials from our clients, check out our <\/em>homepage<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p> When you look around online to learn about the differences between virtual and executive assistants, people tend to place too much emphasis on obvious differences that aren\u2019t that useful. <\/p> For example, VAs are typically part-time, 100% remote assistants, while EAs have traditionally been in-person, full-time employees. However, today it\u2019s possible to hire 100% remote executive assistants<\/a> (as well as part-time EAs)\u2014so the distinctions of part-time versus full-time and remote versus in-person have become less useful for understanding how the two types of assistants differ. <\/p> The same goes with whether they\u2019re an employee or a 1099 contractor. Traditionally, VAs have been contractors and EAs have been in-house employees. However, staffing agencies and executive assistant services<\/a> like ours offer the ability to hire full-time EAs as easily as hiring a contractor\u2014so that difference has become less relevant as well.<\/p> In our experience, the two factors that matter most for executives making this decision are:<\/p> Let\u2019s look at each.<\/p> There is some overlap in what VAs and EAs do, but there are distinct differences as well. <\/p> In general, VAs are best suited for executing time-consuming, repetitive administrative tasks that don\u2019t require a high level of skill. For example:<\/p> EAs (when<\/em> they\u2019re thoroughly vetted for the right traits and skill sets) are well suited for managing and executing these types of tasks in addition<\/em> to more complex projects and responsibilities. For example:<\/p> We\u2019ve written previously<\/a> about why EAs are better suited for these types of more complex responsibilities. The primary reason has to do with the criteria on which EAs and VAs are hired.<\/p> Generally speaking, companies and services who hire EAs have more strict hiring requirements than those that hire VAs. These requirements often include having a bachelor\u2019s degree, past years of experience in an assistant role, and other criteria that indicate applicants are smart and capable candidates. <\/p> For example, applicants for our EA service are rigorously vetted through a series of quantitative assessments, structured interviews, work sample projects, communication exercises, and reference checks (more on this below). Candidates are required to prove their capabilities before they\u2019re hired.<\/p> In contrast, whether you find them through a freelance marketplace like Upwork or a virtual assistant service<\/a>, VAs typically have much less stringent hiring requirements, and thus their talent level is less consistent and generally less suitable for more complex responsibilities like those listed above.<\/p> This is not obvious when evaluating assistant services online. Many VA services, for example, feature things like email, calendar, and project management as services their VAs offer. <\/p> However, outsourcing key functions like email and scheduling\u2014things that are often high stakes and involve a nuanced understanding of an executives\u2019 preferences, important business relationships, and overall business operations\u2014is not where we\u2019ve seen founders successfully use VAs. <\/p> In fact, trying to rely on a VA for these types of things often does the opposite of what executives hope. It creates more work and headaches, not less. <\/p> As you\u2019d expect, these differences in capabilities come with (in some cases significant) differences in price.<\/p> In our previous article\u2014how much does it cost to hire an assistant<\/a>\u2014we provided a cost breakdown of the four main types of assistants (administrative assistants, personal assistants, specialized assistants, and executive assistants):<\/p> The Key Differences Between Virtual and Executive Assistants<\/h2>
1. The Types of Tasks That Virtual and Executive Assistants Are Best Suited For<\/h3>
2. The Costs Associated With Hiring Virtual and Executive Assistants<\/h3>