Technological advancements sure have come a long way in its evolution. It has finally touched the realm of our working life paving way for the emerging trend of online work. The virtual community is a fast-evolving one and it is growing at a quick pace, opening up more opportunities to be seized day by day. When full-time office work used to be the only option leaving full-time parents no choice and no chance at developing their careers, the work landscape has now evolved to become more inclusive. Working in a physical office is now simply another option because opportunities are no longer limited to that alone. Growing online careers and having online businesses have become more than just a trend, but a thriving livelihood and lifestyle for many.
Working from home vs. Full-time office job It’s interesting to get a peek on the lifestyle differences of a work that is based from home versus a full-time office-based job. There is much difference to be noted from the traditional office setup to online work, which can answer our questions on why the virtual community has been steadily growing in the recent years. Who better to shed some light on that than Outsourcing Angel’s Virtual Assistant, Pat MaruJedi who has juggled both office job and online work herself. VA Pat shares her experiences working full-time in an office versus working online. She started working online in 2012 and shifted back to a full-time office job in 2014. She swung back to working virtually again in 2016 and is now present at Outsourcing Angel working as a Virtual Assistant for the past two years. For Fatima Indira MaruJedi, an innate love for learning makes her fully embrace the lifestyle of a Virtual Assistant. Compared to the nature of an office work where you still start off learning things and eventually grow the knowledge you have acquired until it becomes a routine, life as a VA is comparably more dynamic and challenging, knowledge-wise. It always begins with the client’s request whether a VA can do a specific task. And VAs will often be subject to this dynamic learning environment when they either know very little to nothing about the task needed from them. As part of the nature of a VAs job, they must always be open to learning new things and being resourceful and proactive in looking for ways. VAs, for the most part, will be hired for the additional help needed by their clients in business but clients may also be looking for some expertise in the VA or an additional thinking head that can help them grow better ideas. Another important aspect that showcases the stark contrast between the nature of an office job vs an online job is social interaction. Office workers are undoubtedly more exposed socially compared to remote workers who are limited to online interaction and feedback from their colleagues. Although we can leave this up to the individual’s working preference and personality, both work set-ups present their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Also, there will always be trade-offs. The Edge As an Outsourcing Angel Virtual Assistant, Fatima cites better learning opportunities, time management, and the support of a growing virtual community as the most invaluable aspects of her job. The freedom to dedicate one’s time to do more things and freedom to work based on one’s preference could possibly be online work’s main edge over the traditional office job. While this freedom presents amazing benefits, it could also be high stakes for many due to the sheer amount of discipline one needs to be able to accomplish work in the midst of a multitude of distractions. But if there’s a will, there is a way. One can succeed in online work and embrace it fully as a lifestyle like many virtual assistants have already done. While we are in the midst of the golden age of technology that espouses such kind of freedom at work, a kind of freedom that is not too available to traditional office-based jobs, it’s time to seize the day. Make sure you follow our Facebook page so you don’t miss out on any updates and click here to read about our other VA blog posts.
