You may have already noticed that the Philippines is our go-to place to get virtual assistants, and you may be wondering why we keep on doing that when we have to option to hire from anywhere in the world? Okay, we’ll tell you why we chose to outsource to the Philippines?
Proficiency in the English language is one reason why the Philippines have become an attractive outsourcing destination. In the Philippines, English is used as a medium of instruction in schools, and it’s also used in print and broadcast media, and business.
Here’s a fun fact. Not all Filipinos can communicate with each other using their national language. That’s right. People in Manila and parts of Luzon speak Tagalog, but it’s not as widely used in other parts of the country because those places have their own dialects. Now, here’s the interesting part. Filipinos who speak different dialects have no problem communicating with each other because they know how to speak English. This is especially true with the younger generation.
What about India? Yes, there are indeed a lot of good workers in India, and English is one of their official languages, along with Hindi. However, work done there isn’t always great because of communication issues. If you’ve never worked with a virtual assistant from India, you’ll be surprised to learn that some English words have a different meaning there.
Filipinos are some of the most hardworking people around. They are honest, loyal, intelligent, and they’ll read between the lines and try to solve problems in your business for you. They’re capable of learning everything about your business, and since they can easily do tasks that require thinking, you can let them do other things aside from the mundane tasks that are usually associated with outsourcing.
Also, most of them are not entrepreneurial, so you don’t have to worry about them stealing your business idea. Once you hire someone, they’ll do anything to keep their job for you. You’ll see them go above and beyond what you tell them to do to make you happy.
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So how much does it cost to outsource to the Philippines? Well, it happens to be one of the most affordable places to hire a virtual assistant. You can even get a full-time virtual assistant for as low as $200. Of course, someone who’s asking for $200 likely doesn’t have much experience. The average salary of a general virtual assistant from the Philippines is around $500. Take a look at this salary guide.
You can see that it’s super affordable. So here’s a little tip when you want to outsource to the Philippines. You should be aware that different regions of the country will demand different salaries. If you’re hiring someone in Manila, they are likely to ask for more because they have the highest cost of living in the country. You may want to consider hiring someone in outlying areas if they have the same skills as the candidates from Manila. Of course, Manila has a huge talent pool, so you shouldn’t just avoid the applicants from that area.
You should be aware that sometimes, you’re going to get what you pay for. If someone is saying they have a lot of experience, but their salary asking price is low, that’s a red flag.
Now, people often ask us if we feel bad for paying “that little.” We always tell them, “No, I don’t.” You have to understand that the cost of living in the Philippines is much lower than in the United States. So $500 is more than enough for them to pay their bills, and have fun. Just don’t be a cheapskate and pay them what they are worth. You can’t get an experience web developer if all you’re willing to pay him is $400.
Despite being in Asia, American culture actually has a huge impact in the Philippines. You’ll find that your Filipino virtual assistant has a lot in common with you. Chances are you are watching the same shows and movies, listening to the same music, playing the same sports, and eating the same food. The Philippines just has an affinity to American culture, so it’s easy for Filipinos to adapt to our sensibilities.
Aside from that, Filipinos are also very flexible. They can easily adjust to different time zones, and they are even willing to move their rest days to cater to clients’ needs.
Based on a report by the United Nations, the Philippines has the highest literacy rate among Southeast Asian countries at 97.95 percent. That means you won’t have a hard time finding college-educated virtual assistants with a desire to learn more.
We get most of my virtual assistants from OnlineJobs.ph, and we have been using their website for at least 10 years now. They have the largest database of Filipino virtual workers, and our experience hiring from the site has been mostly positive. Of course, we’ve also had our share of misses in the hiring process, but that’s few and far in between.
OnlineJobs.ph is easy to use. Just go to their website, create a free account, and write a job posting. The free account allows you to view applications and browse the resumes. However, you need to upgrade to a paid plan if you want to hire or communicate with the applicants. The purpose of the free account is to allow you to take a look at the talent pool that is available on the website.
There are two pricing plans available on OnlineJobs.ph: the Pro plan for $69 per month and the Premium plan for $99 per month.
With the Pro plan, you are allowed to communicate with up to 75 candidates per month, and you also get to access their in-house virtual assistant tracking software and the payment system. The Premium plan is great as it gives you the ability to contact up to 500 candidates per month. However, this is sort of overkill unless you’re running a large corporation and you’re planning to hire a lot of people.
The Pro plan will do if you’re just looking for a few virtual assistants. Once you’re done recruiting your preferred candidate, you can simply cancel your subscription so you don’t have to pay the monthly fee.
Another option is to hire a virtual assistant through an agency. These agencies will do the recruiting for you, so you can get that out of the way. However, they will be marking up the virtual assistant’s salary so you will be paying much more if you choose this route.
* Disclosure: The link above is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To find out more about our view on affiliate products, please see this page.
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