“With technology and globalization moving at the rate that it is now, there is a push for leaders to acquire new skills and best practices to lead their organization to the next level,” shared John.

In his upcoming speaking engagement on Next Practices in Workforce Leadership, John will be talking about how to effectively utilize virtual teams and resources for companies to face the global efficiency challenge.

Related: Why People Turn To Virtual Personal Assistant Service

A report by the Global Workplace and Analytics and Telework Research Network, published in Forbes Magazine, reveals that although big companies such as Yahoo and Best Buy have removed the option for their employees to work from home, many companies continue to offer this, because they have found that they can get more high-quality work done quickly, without the need for in-house employees to complete the tasks onsite.

“The latest developments in communication, project management and other collaborative tools, as well as the ease of internet access worldwide, have made virtually any place in the surface of the earth an office.” John pointed out.

“It doesn’t matter if you are working with a team of outsourced individuals working in another country or local employees working from the comforts of their own home.

The key to becoming a globally effective leader is how to bring your virtual team together.
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…and knowing how to utilize the virtual resources that are available.” John will be sharing his knowledge and experience in managing a Virtual Team in replacing basic administrative tasks to critical work in the areas of marketing and other niche specific tasks in his presentation about Virtual Teams and Resources.

Interested parties may visit the GlobalBusinessNews conferences page for more information about the event.

About GlobalBusinessNews

GlobalBusinessNews is owned and operated by COMARKETING PARTNERS, an independent management consulting firm that owns and operates communications channels and is also actively involved with a variety of partners who are expert in their respective practices.

About Executive Next Practices

Executive Next Practices Forum is a unique organization comprised of mid to large market C-level to functional leaders and trusted advisors (Board members, CEO, CFO, HR, CMO, COO, and ICO). This ongoing collaboration, conducted in a non-traditional format, is focused on the latest “Next Practices” leadership and business strategies. Conducted in major corporate and academic “safe havens” the sessions are non-solicitation and formatted to deliver fresh, innovative and relevant approaches to leaders and their executive teams.

About John Davern, Jr., MBA

John Davern, Jr., MBA is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Virtual Assistant Talent, LLC (VAT), a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company that provides professional services to businesses, entrepreneurs and professionals through the use of Virtual Assistants (remote & home-based workers).

With over 18 years of experience in corporate human resources, working for Fortune 500 companies such as General Electric (GE), Harris Corporation, The Home Depot, and a Toyota/GM Joint Venture, John has acquired extensive knowledge and hands-on experience through the various human resources and recruitment positions he has handled.  In his career, he has recruited and trained thousands of office-based employees and hundreds of home-based/remote workers.

John holds a M.B.A. in Human Resources from Duquesne University, an internet Technology Webmaster Certification from Illinois Institute of Technology, Certificates in Business Practices/Problem Solving & Toyota Production System, and a B.A. in Labor & Industrial Relations from Pennsylvania State University.

The video interview has in not any way replaced the traditional face to face interview and employers are embracing this new trend in technology.

Here is an excerpt from Wowzer on how to ace on your video job interview.

Wowzer’s own CEO, Rodrigo Martinez, pointed out Business Insider’s recent article, “28 Top Executives Share What They Look for in Hires” to give jobseekers a hint of what leaders at top employers like Google, Facebook, and Amazon look for in an employee.

We’ve identified some recurring themes among the executives’ selection criteria and noticed that many of them are qualities that jobseekers can convey over video much more effectively than over the phone. If you’re given the opportunity to interview over video, use these tips to help you stand out as a great match.

Sincerity: Video interview platforms help recruiters make more accurate assessments of candidates in the early stages of the hiring process. How seriously are you taking this preliminary interview? You should be dressed appropriately, in a well-light space and eliminate any chance of distraction or noise. Sure, you’ve led with your resume but this is your true first impression.

Good attitude: These execs stated over and over again that a positive attitude is the key to getting your foot in the door.  Fully concentrate on staying upbeat and positive. Just make sure that you use the opportunity that this technology lends to your benefit by concentrating on your delivery throughout the interview.

Personality: Video interviews give you the opportunity to showcase your personality. A resume can’t smile, and there’s only so much that can shine through a phone. Face-to-face interviews via video give you the opportunity to show the hiring team your interpersonal skills and stand out from the crowd. The interviewer is able to actually picture how you will fit in to the culture of their company.

Preparation:  Obviously there is always the chance for a curve ball, but let’s get real. We know, for the most part, what questions we need to be prepared for. You should already have down your strengths, weaknesses, failures and successes. A video interview isn’t going to sneak up on you. You can prepare, or you can even take a practice round. Best of all, if your video interview is recorded, you will most likely get thinking time to organize your answer.

Cultural Fit:  Keep in mind what you want from a prospective company.

Many employers are now taking advantage of the fact that they are able to showcase their company culture from starting with the dynamic and interactive video interviewing process. These employers have put a lot of work into creating a culture that they can be proud of. It’s worth it to take that into consideration.

Passion and Values: If your research reveals that your values align closely with those of the company you’re targeting, think of a unique way to communicate that to the hiring team by working it into one of your answers.

Enthusiasm:  Sheryl Sandberg , COO of Facebook recalls an interview in which the perspective hire flat out asked, “I want to know what is your biggest problem and how can I solve it.” The hiring process is so much more than writing your resume, sending the resume, and talking about the resume. Use every opportunity to set yourself apart. The lesson here is that it isn’t always by stating your strengths and achievements. There are other ways to set yourself apart. (wowzer.com)

Points where you are likely to lose the job during interview:

• Not attentive to the question
• Losing focus during the answer
• Using unsuitable language
• Lack of enthusiasm
• Not prepared
• No idea of the background of the company

Hire your virtual assistant from Virtual Assistant Talent and see the difference. We have all the services you are looking for and the best and experts in their field Virtual Assistants in town.

We are proud to be a Better Business Bureau Accredited Company (bbb.org).

Virtual job interview is done online using Skype and other VoIPs. Some entrepreneurs or interviewers would interview an applicant using voice only but there are some who prefers video call wherein both parties use video camera in addition to voice call to see the applicant.

Just like having a face to face interview, you may be nervous too on phone interview. There is not much of a difference except you are interviewed via phone or video call.

How to prepare for an online interview:

• Job description: Prior to that anticipated phone interview, read and understand the job description carefully. You need to assess the type of person the company is looking for. From there, you can focus your interview and prove to the recruiter that you are best fit for the post.

• Resume: The interviewer might ask you something that’s on your resume so better be prepared than get some surprise questions. You may open your resume from your computer or print it out so you can refer to it during the interview.

• Notepad and pen: You may think pad and pen is not necessary, but having a ready available notepad and pen for taking down notes during the interview is a fundamental to success.

• Disturbances: Choose a room in your house where no one can disturb you and as much as possible no background noise like dog barking, TV programs, loud music, a baby crying or children fighting and screaming. Even though it’s a phone interview you may want this to be as professional as possible so be sure your family is aware so they can at least minimize interruptions. Also, avoid a room that has an echo or makes you sound as though you’re in a well or something during your phone interview.

• At Office: Work isn’t the best place to have a phone interview for a new job but sometimes, the only possible time for a phone interview is during the day when you are at work. You have to notify the recruiter if you’ve preferred to conduct your phone interview in your office about your work situation and the preferable time to call you. Some people use their break time or lunch time to accommodate the phone interview.

• Telephone: Shun the idea of using a speaker phone unless you have a hearing problem. If using a headset, test the sound quality and the microphone if working or not. Have your mobile phone or a battery operated phone fully charged before your interview should your interview last longer than expected.

• Relax: You can get butterflies in your stomach even with a phone interview. Relax and take a deep breath minutes before the phone interview. Find a comfortable chair to sit and not on your bed with your laptop. You want to be calm and relaxed so you aren’t distracted during your interview. This will allow you to give the interviewer your undivided attention during the entire phone call.

• Water: There are times that we really get nervous during the interview and we tend to chew gums to ease the tension. Forget the gums or candies and just have the water readily available once your throat dries out.

• Who leads the interview: Let the interviewer lead the interview – don’t interrupt him, listen to him carefully before answering. Don’t talk much and into details especially if it is out of context unless you are applying for sales and marketing post wherein you are required to talk and talk.

• Be yourself: Yes, you want to get the job but never try to impress the interviewer that you know everything. Be honest about your knowledge and skills. If you do not know something, acknowledge and propose or recommend instead on ways to solve the situation.  If you try to pretend you know something that you really don’t know, it will backfire to you once you are hired.

• Humor: It is not bad to break the ice and crack some humor. Just relax and smile.

Hire your virtual assistant from Virtual Assistant Talent and see the difference. We have all the services you are looking for and the best and experts in their field Virtual Assistants in town. Visit our website and sign up your no obligation request now.

We are proud to be a Better Business Bureau Accredited Company (bbb.org).

Here are some careers that one can work remotely from home office.

• Administrative Assistant to Virtual Assistant –Tasks of a virtual assistant is no different with that of an administrative assistant. The only difference there is that a VA is working remotely from home. If you hate waking up early in the morning and get caught up in heavy traffic, you might consider this work from home job.
• Marketing Specialist to Social Media Marketing Specialist – With the growing number of social media, businesses are utilizing the impact this can bring in to their business. In order to do so, a business owner needs to have someone who is tech savvy to promote the business online and reach as much market as possible. A social media marketing specialist can help boost your business and generate more income if he knows his how to create marketing gimmicks and his way around the social media.
• Fine Arts to Graphic Artist – Graphic artists are quite in demand in the virtual industry. Video games are getting bigger and bigger as well as the demand for graphic artists who are responsible in the creation of the characters and design for the games.
• Teacher / Tutor to Virtual Teacher / Tutor –If you are a classroom teacher who wants to have your own time or wants to have an extra income, you could be an online teacher or tutor. Many students from around the globe need an English tutor to help them with the language and/or with their assignments. Technology allows teachers to go beyond the limit of classroom to the World Wide Web.
• Accountants and Bookkeepers to Virtual Accountants and Bookkeepers – A few decades ago, accountants and bookkeepers do freelance job from one company to another and deliver it to their offices. As technology advances, one can now provide services online and can even cater to clients across the globe. You only need to build your company and create a website to promote your products and services.

Hire your virtual assistant from Virtual Assistant Talent and see the difference. We have all the services you are looking for and the best and experts in their field Virtual Assistants in town. Visit our website and sign up your no obligation request now!

We are proud to be a Better Business Bureau Accredited Company (bbb.org).

While most virtual assistants specialize in web developing, SEO, graphic design, business strategy, there are virtual assistants whose niche is assisting business owners reach customers from other parts of the world in different language and they are called bilingual virtual assistants.

There are businesses that get the service of not only an English speaking virtual assistant but also who can speak two or multiple languages. They are like hitting two birds in one stone.

A bilingual virtual assistant’s tasks are same with most of the multi-skilled virtual assistants we find everywhere but the only difference is they can speak another language.

A bilingual virtual assistant’s tasks:

1. Transcribe documents in two languages.
2. Global customer service representative
3. Translator
4. SEO specialist
5. Lead generation specialist
6. Inbound / outbound specialist
7. Bilingual online tutor
8. Graphic Artist
9. Web designer
10. Web developer
11. Business strategist
12. Phone and Email support
13. Accounting and bookkeeping
14. Article / content writer
15. Internet Research
16. Blogger
17. Travel specialist
18. Calendar management
19. Social Media Marketing
20. Marketing campaign
21. Data entry
22. Newsletter and email campaign
23. General virtual assistant tasks

The many benefits of hiring your bilingual virtual assistant are:

1. No need to provide a physical office
2. No need to pay employee benefits such as taxes, paid sick and vacation leaves, health insurance and other bonuses.
3. No need to supply office equipment and software
4. You can minimize your overhead expenses
5. You can focus on productivity
6. You can focus on increasing your sales and income
7. Free up more of your time to focus on the more challenging tasks of your business
8. You will have more time for your family and yourself

Bilingual virtual assistants are professionals who provide services at the comfort of their home office. They are virtual assistants with years of experience and are comfortable with the home office environment rather than with a physical workplace and colleagues.

Most virtual assistants are capable of multi-tasking unlike in an office environment wherein a staff can only do what his department has to offer. If you are an administrative assistant in a company, you expected to do tasks as admin assistant. But with a virtual assistant, one can be your general VA, graphic designer, article writer and travel specialist – all in one.

Hire your virtual assistant from Virtual Assistant Talent and see the difference. We have all the services you are looking for and the best and experts in their field Virtual Assistants in town. Visit our website and sign up your no obligation request now!.

We are proud to be a Better Business Bureau Accredited Company (bbb.org).

English as the universal language is the widely spoken language in the word. This makes English an important part of the day-to-day activities of students, job hunters and businesses to name a few.

Decades ago, learning English was a bit of a problem. English teachers were scarce not to mention the cost of hiring a tutor is quite expensive and only those who have the means can afford to hire one. But with today’s fast-paced and technologically advance world, English tutorial is just a click of the mouse. One can now hire the service of an online English tutor anywhere in the world at a fraction of the cost of hiring one – physically.

Online English tutors are best for students who wish to have tutorials and school assignments at the comfort of their home, university students and those who are taking units in masters but don’t have enough time for additional paper works and thesis, businessmen for their business correspondence and more.

When having online tutorial you need to have the following:

• Computer or laptop
• High speed internet connection
•  Good quality webcam for screen sharing (if needed)
• Good quality microphone for voice calling.
• Skype or any other VoIP software.

Most of the English online tutors are English native speakers or have a degree in Education major in English or a relative degree and are TOEFL / ESL passers. These tutors assist those who are beginners or have little knowledge in English to advance students.

Duties of tutor are the following but not limited to:

1)   Tutor shall to create a lesson plan and fun activities to student.

2)   Tutor is done through Skype or any other VoIP software.

3)   Tutor is expected to submit evaluation / progress of the student to parents.

4)   Record the session so the student can replay the lessons if something was not clear during the lesson.

5)   Review the student of the previous lesson.

6)   Assist with homework.

Other duties:

7)   Assist in creating thesis and other school term papers.

8)   Online projects like PowerPoint presentation, graphs, etc.

9)   Redesigning the curriculum vitae of a job hunter.

10)  Building compelling business plans for entrepreneurs.

How to be an English tutor:

•  Must have a degree in Education major in English or relative course.
• Must have an exceptional command in the English language.
• A good written and oral communication skill is a must.
• Must be proficient at Microsoft applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and online tools.
• Friendly, approachable but professional.

Well, travelling is not only exhausting but pocket draining too, especially if you are really on a tight budget. On the other hand, travelling is not all that expensive if you plan your dream vacation ahead of time and stick to the budget.

In the meantime, while you are still saving every penny for that escapade – tour, trek, enjoy the breathtaking views of seascapes and landscapes on the Internet so you have a bird’s eye view of the place that you want to visit.

Since the evolution in the world of computing, almost everything under the heat of the sun is searchable and most of us rely on the Internet and the help of reviews, blogs from those who have been to places around the world – at the tip of your finger. Not only that, there are travel agencies who are available to assist you to get your way around.

Most travel online sites offer deals that are just too good to resist and businesses took this as an opportunity to give assistance to travellers through the service of a travel virtual assistant – 24/7.

A travel specialist is a person that can assist you in planning and creating a package or a trip that is designed according to your need and requirements.  By planning a trip with a travel agent, you can begin and create your dream vacation without the need to leave your house to visit a travel agency and waste precious time on finding information that many times does not fit your requirements.

What a travel specialist does?

• Assistance in travel bookings
• Research about the place
• Presentation of a tour package
• Preparation of travel quotes for clients
• Preparation of travel itinerary booklets for clients
• Sales and marketing
• Ticketing, refunds, exchanges
• Ticket rejects and airline schedule exchange
• Billing and settlement plans (for airlines)
• Content write / blog

Advantages of planning a trip with a travel specialist among other things:

1. Save cash – a best choice if you want to save extra money but you will still enjoy your vacation because he or she is aware of your budget and preferences, can find good vacation locations, lodging and attractions, current discounts and other great deals.
2. Valued time saved – will do all the hassles for you while you wait for the detailed summary report of your travel.
3. Accurate plans – will customize your dream holiday exactly according to your plan to the last detail of your specification.
4. Worry-free – with the support of a travel specialist, you need not to worry about things left undone because all details are taken cared of.  You are supported until you arrived back to your home from your trip, safe and sound.

Don’t you think it’s the right time for you to get the support of a travel specialist or travel virtual assistant in your next vacation and free yourself of the burden of scouting and calling just for you to get a good deal? Virtual Assistant Talent, LLC can provide you the right VA according to your needs and requirements.

If you have a travel site, a travel specialist can do creative writing / blog to generate traffic to your website.

We are proud to be a Better Business Bureau Accredited Company (BBB.org).

In this tough economy, we try to find ways and see all sides of the box and even going out of the box to find what is available that can bring food to our tables and pay bills. We find tons of enticing offers and advertisements about employment opportunities, including those works at home. However, do these internet ads, classified ads, TV and radio ads you see provide what they promise? Are these jobs really legitimate?

We have all seen the ads of work from home jobs posted on the internet promising you’ll make ridiculous amounts of money which sounds really too good to be true. Be informed that most reputable staffing and employment services, recruiters and job sites usually charge employers and NOT job hunters.

How will you know if the offer is legitimate? How can you protect yourself from these scammers and their modus operandi?

Some but common bogus offers:

1. Accepts anyone and everyone with no skills and experience required
2. Offers a job in exchange of an amount for application and processing fee
3. Requires you to pay in advance for a starter kit or manual before you can start working
4. Overstated wages, benefits and bonuses
5. Ambiguous job openings and job descriptions
6. Pyramiding type of opportunities
7. Just sign up and nothing to do schemes
8. Receiving and then re-shipping stolen properties
9. Job offer sent to your email with email addresses like abc@hotmail.com, xyz@yahoo.com, etc. (even if they use a reputable company name)
10. No phone number/s listed where the owner/s or contact persons can be contacted or can’t be identified

While there are legitimate prospects to make money while working at home from companies with offer that sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.

Legitimate offers:

• No upfront fees for jobseekers
• Client representatives or human resources personnel are available for queries.
• Employer or company will actually call you for an initial interview via Skype and other online tools
• Requests work samples to back-up the credibility of your skills and work experiences.
• The employer is a reputable and established company.
• The ad includes the company name, email address, link to the website and does not have applicants reply to a suspicious e-mail address.
• There is a detailed job description, expectations and bonuses (if there are like benefits, vacations, health insurance, etc.)
• Legitimate websites with contact numbers and all the information needed by a job seeker.

Sad as it may sound, but scammers are getting high-tech these days creating websites that looks so legitimate and even duplicating websites of reputable businesses. One will not doubt on the credibility of the company as you can actually call them for some verification. Don’t fall prey to these bad guys. Research about the company or call BBB to verify the authenticity of their business. At the end of the day, it is still you who will decide if you go for the job or not based on your investigation and or gut feeling. If you get scammed, don’t get discouraged. Pick up yourself, learn from the experience and move on.

As more entrepreneurs and businesses understand the significance of leveraging the marketing power of social media, small businesses as well as large companies are creating thousands of at-home jobs with the main reason of – having huge savings in the cost of employing physical staff.

Have you ever heard of online project managers, online game developers, appointment setter, managing social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Google+, customer relation management, blogs, general transcriptionist, web developer, web design, article writer, ghost writer, e-book, proof reader to name a few a decade ago? I guess not as these jobs were totally nonexistent but are now quickly repositioning to the forefront of the virtual world of BPOs and work from home.

According to surveys, work from home not only in the Philippines and India where most hubs in Business Process Outsourcing are situated, are on the rise and interestingly, also in the US where 10% are regularly working from home. UK, Europe and other countries are not spared too.  Notably, there is a 200% increase in virtual jobs posting in the last 18 months through social media according to one study. Employers are constantly on the search through reputable outsourcing agencies for the right people who are more proficient on specific or multiple skills with credible work experiences to back up their work application, more so with tech savvy individuals, to work for them.

This is also a wake up call to those who wanted to work from home. It is not an easy hunt for jobs where, after posting your curriculum vitae online, you just have to sit there and relax and clients’ will just pop-up in front of you to get your service. You have to work your way up, as the competition for this kind of career is tough. There are a thousand and one skilled professionals out there, in the other part of the globe, and are experts in their field who are also on the look out for more rewarding online opportunities. Update and upgrade your skills to be on the top of the competition and get the best clients there is.

If you are interested to be a Virtual Assistant, follow this link virtualassistanttalent.com/careers/ to apply.

To hire a virtual assistant from the best virtual assistant company in town with Virtual Assistant Talent.

We are proud to be a Better Business Bureau Accredited Company (BBB.org).

Medical transcriptionist virtual assistant is one of that work from home job that a home base assistant can add to his / her portfolio and offer to clients in the medical field. Medical transcriptionists should take advantage of today’s available resources to guarantee that their work is being completed with accuracy and at the highest possible level. The accuracy of a medical transcriptionist can affect patient care and well-being as this will be stored permanently in the archive of patient’s medical record. It is very imperative for those working in the field of medical transcription to stay well informed and up-to-date of trends in medical care and terminology. If you have a good typing speed, a keen sense of hearing, can decipher medical terminologies and want to work in the medical field, then the medical transcriptionist career may be for you.

What is a medical transcriptionist?

A Medical transcriptionist is an allied health profession dealing with the process of listening to audio recordings dictated by physicians and other health professionals. They create, and transliterate them into medical written reports. They decipher medical terminology and abbreviations in preparing patients’ medical histories, correspondence, discharge summaries, and other documents and materials associated with medical care.

Medical transcriptionists work for physicians’ clinics, hospitals, third-party transcription service providers, or as self-employed and are working remotely from home. Many transcriptionists work from home offices, receiving dictation and submitting written reports electronically. Those who work in this field often meet strict targets and deadlines, have a comprehensive understanding of medical terminology and operate dedicated digital equipment. If you wish to join into this field with no experience, you have to work hard to learn all of the medical terminologies.

Equipment /Tools used by medical transcriptionists

• High speed internet connection
• Up-to-date computer
• Mp3 playback software
• High quality headset – order to accurately hear the recordings.
• Microphone
• Word processing program
• Foot pedal – is necessary for the job of transcription. The foot

Pedal allows the transcriptionists to pause, reverse or fast forward recordings, stop, rewind and can also control the speed of the recordings while keeping your fingers free to type.

• Voice recognition software
• Digital voice software
• Drug/pharmaceutical reference guide

In this modern medical practice, physicians, nurses, and medical assistants are often tangled down by enormous amounts of paperwork and reports. Instead of occupying your valuable time recording medical findings, creating reports and so on, it may be wise to hire a medical transcriptionist so you can devote more time with your patients and spend quality time with yourself and family.