It’s no secret that we prefer to outsource to the Philippines. Most of our staff members here at Awesome Outsourcing are from the Philippines, and we have helped a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs find virtual assistants (VA) who took a load off their shoulders. Now, you may be wondering why we hire from there when we have the option to hire from anywhere in the world. Well, I’ll tell you why we chose to outsource to the Philippines.
One of the reasons why the Philippines has become among the top outsourcing destinations in the world is because of its English-proficient talent pool. For most Filipinos, English is not seen as a foreign language but a second language. In fact, English is used as a medium of instruction in schools, and it’s used in print and broadcast media, and business.
Here’s something you may not know. While Filipino – which stemmed from the Tagalog dialect – has been adopted as the official national language of the Philippines, it is not as widely used in parts of the country with their own dialects. And there are over 170 languages and dialects in the country! However, Filipinos who speak different dialects have no problem communicating with each other using English, and it has become the nation’s lingua franca. This is especially true with the younger generation.
The Philippines is ranked 2nd in Asia (behind Singapore) in terms of English proficiency, according to the 2020 EF English Proficiency Index.
Do you know that the Philippines is one of the most affordable places to hire a VA? You can even get a full-time VA for as low as $350 a month. Of course, that is the rate for a beginner, so you will have to take the time to train them. An experienced VA will likely ask for a salary of $400 – $900 a month, while an expert in the field is expected to earn $890 – $1190 per month. Take a look at this salary guide.
As you can see, hiring someone from the Philippines is super affordable. And these are college-educated Filipino workers we’re talking about. In the Philippines, a college degree is required if you want a good job, so most of the applicants you find there should be highly skilled.
According to UNESCO, the Philippines has the highest literacy rate among Southeast Asian countries at 97.95 percent.
The Philippines was a former colony of Spain and the US at certain points in its history, and you can see traces of their influence on Filipino culture. So despite being an Asian country, the Philippines is actually a bastion of Western culture in the region.
Due to 333 years of Spanish rule, the country has more in common with Mexico than with any other place in Asia. 48 years of American colonization also has a lasting effect on the country. Filipinos prefer to watch American TV programs and films. They listen to the same music you do. They play the same sports. They even eat the same food. The Philippines has an affinity to American culture, so it’s easy for Filipinos to adapt to our sensibilities.
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Filipinos are hardworking people. They take pride in their work, and they will do whatever it takes to get the job done. They are committed, honest, loyal, dependable, and proactive, so they will do their best to solve problems in your business for you. You don’t even have to worry about them stealing your business ideas because most of them are not entrepreneurial. They’re just happy to keep their job for you as long as you take good care of them. You’ll even see them go above and beyond what you tell them to do to make you happy.
We get most of our staff members from OnlineJobs.ph. We have been using the website for over 10 years now, and our experience hiring from there has been mostly positive. Yes, we do have our fair share of misses, but they are few and far between. Besides, they don’t mark up worker salaries, so our team members get every penny we pay them.
In any case, OnlineJobs.ph is by far the largest online job board in the Philippines, with over a million resumes available. It’s easy to use the site. Just create a free account, write a job posting, and wait for the resumes to start rolling in.
The free account allows you to view applications and browse through resumes, but 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 give you a closer look at the talent pool available on the website. So if you don’t like what you see, you can leave and search elsewhere.
There are two pricing plans available on OnlineJobs.ph: the Pro plan for $69 per month and the Premium plan for $99 per month. The Pro plan allows you to communicate with up to 75 candidates per month, and you’ll also get to use their in-house tracking software and the payment system. The Premium plan is excellent since it lets you contact up to 500 candidates per month. However, you won’t be using the site that much unless you’re running a large corporation and you’re planning to hire a lot of people. The Pro plan will do if this is your first time hiring a VA. Once you’re done hiring, simply cancel your subscription so you don’t have to pay the monthly fee.
* 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.
If you don’t have time to do the recruiting yourself, you can always hire your VAs through an agency. They’ll do the vetting and let you know if anyone fits so you don’t have to sift through dozens of resumes. However, you will be paying much more if you choose this route.
Now you know why we choose the Philippines. What about you?
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