Episode 108: What are Some Red Flags to Watch Out for When Applying to Virtual Assistant Jobs?

Full Episode Transcription:

(00:07):
Welcome back to another episode of Quick Tip Thursday here on the Ditch the Classroom podcast. Today, I’m gonna be walking you through how to identify red flags in potential clients when you’re applying for virtual assistant jobs. So real quickly, I’m just gonna kind of walk you through five signs to watch out for.

(01:35):
So number one, if a client asks you for your phone number, do not give this to them. This is a boundary issue. You should not be communicating with your potential clients on your cell phone number, because then you can never turn work off. So I want you to either communicate with them via email, or you can use a communication app, which is kind of like a texting app, like Voxer V-O-X-E-R or Slack, S-L-A-C-K. I use Voxer myself. It’s a really great tool and you can set it to turn off at certain hours of the week and even turn off on the weekends. So hold that boundary do not work when you’re not supposed to be your clients. Your clients need to be patient with you getting back to them and not expect you to answer them in two minutes like they would, if they could text or call you.

(02:23):
Another big red flag to watch out for is if a potential client asks for your bank info, this is a huge, huge, no-no. This is definitely a scam. Do not give out your bank info ever. And to build on that, f a client offers to send you a check and or send you equipment, this is a scam as well. Nobody’s going to send you equipment or need your bank info or send a check. You should be sending them an invoice that they then pay electronically with their credit card or whatever they wanna pay with, but you don’t need to send them any of your payment info.

(02:58):
Another big red flag for potential clients is if they don’t show up on time to calls, that means they’re not respecting you. And so you don’t wanna work for them if they can’t even show up on time for a call. Now I understand maybe some, maybe they forgot or maybe they have an emergency come up. But if you feel like, no, they just didn’t respect me. Then it’s time to move on. Last one that I have for y’all is look out for any micromanagement tendencies that your potential client has. I want you to remember that you are the professional that is helping them. You are not an employee. They do not get to dictate how you work your business.

(03:37):
So if you get any of those vibes on a discovery call or just in your preliminary messages, when you’re chatting with them, don’t work with them. I promise you, you can find clients who really value and respect you, and you don’t need to work with people who you get the feeling are not going to do that. Now, if you need help with this, I’m gonna encourage you to sign up for the Teacher Turned Freelancer Academy because in there I really help you with establishing your boundaries and landing dream clients that value and respect you. TTFA comes with everything you need, including tutorials, templates, accountability, support, everything you need. So go check that out at teacherturnedfreelancer.com. And if you have any questions about whether a potential job is scam or not, feel free to come and post that in our free Facebook community, facebook.com/groups/ditchtheclassroom. And I’m happy to give you my advice there. All right.

(04:33):
Y’all I hope this was helpful. If you have any other questions you would like me to answer on Quick Tip Thursday. You could also come and drop those in our free Facebook community. Just scroll to the Quick Tip Thursday post, and you can drop them there and I’m happy to answer them for you. All right. I love y’all so much and we will see you next episode.