5 Virtual Admin Jobs that Don’t Require Experience

English essayist Joseph Addison once said, “No one is more cherished in this world than someone who lightens the burden of another.”

I can’t think of a more perfect description of what it means to be a virtual assistant. You get to bring order to chaos and ease the burden of business owners who would otherwise never be able to get it all done.

And there’s definitely a demand for these behind-the-scenes support roles. This is especially true in the online business space, where tons of small business owners are finding they need to outsource in order to scale.

The best part? Many of these virtual admin jobs don’t require experience.

Can You Really Become a Virtual Administrator with No Experience?

It’s a common misconception that you can’t find a job as a virtual admin unless you’ve done similar work in the past. The truth is, when it comes to finding work as a VA, it’s way more about your soft skills than your resume.

I’m talking about skills like:

• Attention to detail
• A strong work ethic
• Stellar communication skills
• Problem-solving and critical-thinking skills
• Strong organizational skills
• The ability to put yourself out there

If you have these characteristics, you’re all set. Even if some roles require technical skills, those are things you can learn. (Sometimes you can even get paid to learn on the job!)

That said, there are some fields of administrative work that are easier to break into than others. Here are the top five virtual assistant jobs that don’t require experience.

Virtual Admin Jobs Perfect for Beginners

1. Email Management

Many small business owners find themselves weathering a deluge of emails day after day without having the time to sort or answer them properly. As an email administrator, you take the reins on your client’s inbox by organizing inbound emails and providing customer service-based responses.

Even if you aren’t comfortable with common email platforms like Gmail or Outlook, it doesn’t take much training to learn the tools you need to succeed. Provided you’re an organized person who isn’t overwhelmed by an inbox with double (or triple) digit emails, experience is not required.

If you’re interested in this kind of work but lacking confidence in the technical aspects of email management, CareerStep offers a specialized course for Executive Assistants that will teach you how to improve your writing, communication, and computer skills.

One company that hires beginners for remote email management is InboxDone. You must be a native English speaker with excellent written and verbal communication skills. Training is paid and in this role, you’ll work as an independent contractor.

Related content: How to Get a Job With No Experience, 12 Genius Strategies

2. Data Entry

If you’re a skilled typist who can type at least 40 WPM, you can find online data entry jobs without having any prior experience. Take this free typing test to learn your typing speed.

Some reputable data entry companies include Axion Data and The Smart Crowd. Most data entry clerks can expect to earn anywhere from $10-$17 per hour, depending on the company you work for.

One word of caution, though—there are a lot of data entry scams out there, so be wary when researching this type of virtual admin job. For example, any job listing that wants you to pay a fee to get started is a bright red flag!

3. Proofreading

Proofreading is an in-demand administrative task that is the perfect job if you like to read and have an excellent handle on the English language. Not to be confused with the role of an editor, a proofreader finds and corrects misspellings, grammar, and punctuation errors.

There are some technical skills required to be a professional proofreader, but once you’ve learned the skill, there’s a ton of demand for it. Caitlin Pyle has a couple of very popular proofreading courses that have helped scores of people start a successful proofreading business from scratch.

According to Indeed, proofreaders earn an average of $20.99 per hour, but some make as much as $45 per hour.

Speaking of Indeed, you can often find lots of remote proofreading roles on this job board. You can also apply to companies like Domainite, Polished Paper, and ProofreadingServices.com. In cases where experience or education is not listed as a requirement, you are expected to take a proofreading test to demonstrate your skills.

4. Content Admin

Some virtual assistants help small business owners with their content strategy by creating and managing a content calendar and getting articles ready for publication. Properly formatting blog posts and articles and optimizing for on-page SEO can be time-consuming tasks for many business owners. This includes things like adding alt text, images, meta descriptions, headings, and proper pacing.

Another side to content management is handling the back end of a blog. There are several web platforms that businesses use, but WordPress is probably the most common blogging platform. And even if you have zero experience with it, you can learn it inexpensively by taking a class or two on Udemy or Skillshare.

5. Social Media Admin

Social media is a major marketing strategy for most small businesses, but it can be very time-consuming to do correctly, which makes it the ideal task to outsource!

As an entry-level social media administrator, you’re responsible for scheduling and curating content, answering comments, approving requests, and moderating groups.

To be successful in this role, you’ll need to be familiar with all the most popular social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter, as well as social media schedulers like Buffer, Hootsuite, and SocialBee.

You can look on Upwork or Profit Factory for these kinds of roles. You may need to start at a lower hourly rate when you’re first getting your feet wet, but as you learn more about social media strategy, you’ll be able to find higher-paying gigs.

Conclusion

There’s a lot of opportunity for remote administrative work if you’re looking for ways to start a career from home. And you can get hired regardless of how much (or little) history is on your resume.

In many cases, employers even prefer virtual admins with no experience so that they can teach their preferred methods and processes.

And remember, you can always invest in learning new administrative skills!

It’s only things like character and work ethic that can’t be taught.

In other words, what’s going to make you stand out from the competition as a virtual assistant is how much you put yourself out there, how much you’re willing to learn, and how well you show up for your clients.