Although most teachers believe they are only trained to be a teacher, they possess several virtual assistant skills that business owners love.
A Guest Post by Amber Mangers
Becoming a teacher was never part of ‘The Plan’. I always thought I would go into the medical field ever since I was a young girl. So when it was time to go to college, that is just what I did.
It wasn’t until the beginning of my first semester junior year that I realized I wanted to be a teacher after my oldest niece started preschool and absolutely loved her school and teachers. I wanted to be the reason for a smile like that.
So, I changed advisors, figured out what I still needed for the teaching program, came up with a plan to not prolong graduation, then made the dreaded phone call to my parents to notify them that I have completely changed majors.
3 years later I was a first-year teacher!
I loved all my education classes and the friends I made, but it was nothing like I was expecting. It is so true when they say you learn more on the actual job than in college. My heart grew each year as my students filled it up!
I was only there for 4 ½ years before my husband got a job back home in the middle of the school year. I was on maternity leave at the time, so the transition was a lot easier, and I was able to have my actual dream job, Stay at Home Mom. But I wanted to be more than just a SAHM, I wanted to be a Working at Home Mom!
This prompted me to start a Virtual Assistant business.
But what virtual assistant skills do I have? I’ve only been a teacher.
But really, a teacher is not just a teacher. We have to wear many, many hats every day, which opens up a lot of freelance service options.
11 Skills teachers have that virtual assistants need
#1: Administrative Skills
Teachers might not have the title ‘Administrator’, but we definitely are. We collect money for field trips, schedule activities, input and take data, order things for the classroom, and send things home when needed. A list that could go on forever!
This skill can be used for any freelance job you desire. This skill alone proves our organization and eye for detail!
Check out this post about tasks virtual assistants are often hired for to see how administrative skills can be put to use in the virtual assistant world.
#2: Communication Skills
Do you know the saying ‘The customer is always right’ at restaurants? That’s how it felt as a teacher, but it was the parents who were always right. Parent/Teacher communication is a daily task. Phone calls, emails, in person, even at the grocery store, teachers are trying their best to make ‘the customer’ happy.
Having this skill is so helpful when trying to find clients and interacting with their community.
Most online business owners have social media platforms and will hire a Social Media Manager to interact with their followers. And some clients will hire freelance workers to call other businesses for market research.
Just because your freelance business is classified as virtual, doesn’t mean you won’t be needing this skill!
#3: Writing Skills
I remember spending countless hours trying to find the perfect worksheet, task card, game, you name it. It got to the point where I just ended up making my own. I would also send home a Weekly Bulletin that would go over what we were learning that week and reminders.
Teachers are always writing. Why not put that skill to use as a Copywriter or Content Writer? You can still write, in the form of a Social Media post, blog, email, or even a chapter in an e-book, but this way you get paid for it.
#4: Planning Skills
I want you to think about those rare moments you actually got to sit down during the day. 90% of that time was planning. Lesson planning, to-do lists, sub plans, finding new resources, or creating new content. Teachers are always planning.
Clients love to see a plan come together. Teacher’s days of planning for the upcoming weeks are so helpful when it comes to showing a client a content calendar of what lies ahead.
#5: In-depth Knowledge of Email Management
How many times a day did that little *ding* go off saying you had a new email? Enough to silence it like me? A parent letting you know about after-school arrangements, a reply from the newspaper about your upcoming field trip, a notification about the staff meeting in the morning, or a link to a new product or newsletter from one of your favorite teacher bloggers. Next is to sort through them, reply back, schedule times, unsubscribe from newsletters, deleting junk mail, etc.
A service that is offered when working as a Virtual Assistant is Email Management and Email Marketing, something teachers have been doing since the first day on the job!
#6: Researching Skills
How long have you spent on Google, TpT, Pinterest, etc. looking for the perfect activity? Hours upon hours like me? Teachers are wonderful researchers.
We know which words to search for, which platforms work best, and which search engine will give the best results. This researching skill comes in handy when it comes to actual work, and also figuring out how to do the work. Starting a freelance business doesn’t give you all the knowledge overnight. You’ll have to spend time figuring out how to use all the new applications you’re now hearing of for the first time. We all have to begin somewhere!
#7: Crazy Creativity
As a former Kindergarten teacher, I spent a lot of time creating task cards, crafts, games, the fun stuff. I’m my own worst critic, but the students would always seem to enjoy what I created.
One of the first things you’ll do in the freelance world is CREATE your brand. CREATE your portfolio. CREATE your logo. And you guessed it, clients hire freelancers to CREATE pins, flyers, logos, clipart, even stuff on the more business side like excel sheets, price sheets, courses, etc. This is another skill teachers have and excel in!
#8: Pinterest Knowledge + Skills
I don’t even want to think about all the hours I have spent on Pinterest finding activities, crafts, worksheets, etc. It wasn’t until I became a Virtual Assistant that I found out that some freelancers focus mainly on Pinterest Management.
Everything that you have been doing to organize your own Pinterest boards and pinning all these fun ideas, you can get paid to make the pins, write the descriptions, schedule when pins need to be uploaded, audit accounts, clean up accounts, etc. Why not get paid for something you enjoy doing?
#9: An Eye for Detail
I know I mentioned this above in Administrative Skills, but this one is very important! And this is a skill a teacher most definitely has. Have you ever bought a file of pdf worksheets and on one of the worksheets there are a bunch of grammatical errors that you can’t fix? Or a PowerPoint where clipart is just a little off between each slide? It bothers teachers enough to make sure we pay attention to those little details.
This skill is needed for any job, freelance or as an employee!
#10: Flexibility (i.e. Go with the Flow)
I know for a fact that not every lesson has gone as planned. I can’t even count on both hands how many times a lesson just wasn’t going as planned so I ended it and came up with something else on the spot. Sometimes those lessons were the most memorable ones.
Teachers know that everything does not happen the way we want it to. This is a major skill to personally have. When my husband and I sat down and discussed me starting a freelance business, we came to terms that I might not get a paying client right away, and that was OKAY! I took my time, built up my portfolio, exchanged jobs for testimonies, and found what I really wanted to do with my freelance business. Our lives had been flipped upside down with a recent move and a newborn, so our goal was 7 months. It took less than 3 months to land my first PAYING client, which honestly was a huge win for me. I had taken on several testimonial tasks that showed me what I really wanted to do with my freelance business!
#11: Helping Other Teachers
I had the best coworkers when I was teaching. We would always help each other out when needed, whether it was to keep an eye on the students, help with creating something, checking out a lesson or activity, or just having another opinion or somebody to talk to. And remember all those extra things we do as a teacher that takes away from our ‘me’ time? There are other teachers who do look for extra help! They might need help with making worksheets, task cards, writing a blog, proofreading, editing, everything we are already used to doing without the extra pay.
My first paid job was actually helping out another teacher. She needed help creating Boom Cards! Since then, I have created a price sheet specifically for this service. Doing this fulfills what I am missing from being in the classroom.
We are NOT just teachers! We will forever be teaching and learning and we can do that in so many different settings. I’ve seen so many teachers shine in their freelance business because of the skills they have acquired while being a teacher! And you can, too!
Amber Mangers is a teacher turned Virtual Assistant + stay at home mom. She is the owner of Sunrise Solutions. Check her out on Facebook here.
