Virtual assistant class offered to spouses on base

  • Published
  • By Jim Snyder
  • Barksdale Airman and Family Readiness Center
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Military spouses face unique career challenges resulting from a lifestyle that often involves frequent relocations--sometimes to remote, isolated posts, high-cost areas, and areas where the prospects for employment are less than ideal.

These moves, necessary though they may be, not only impact employment prospects and family income, but the spouse's career progression as well.

It is a difficult situation for many, but thanks to the growth of the Internet and the emergence of the virtual assistance industry, military spouses with expertise in administrative support and related areas are finally finding it easier to spread their entrepreneurial wings and develop viable, portable careers.

Virtual Assistants (VAs) are self-employed individuals who provide off-site business support services to their clients. These services vary from one VA to the next, based on their experience and expertise, and can include day-to-day administrative tasks, competitive research, Website design, resume writing, accounting, bookkeeping services, marketing support, translation, and graphic design. Work assignments are communicated through e-mail, phone, fax, mail, diskette transfer, and real-time online messaging. The virtual nature of these relationships lends itself easily to the transient or "nomadic" lifestyle that is so much a part of military family life.

Jim Snyder and Stephanie Reyes at the Airman and Family Readiness Center have been certified by Staffcentrix, LLC, a company that specializes in training military spouses to become virtual assistants, to deliver their exclusive Portable Career & Virtual Assistant Training Program™. As the name implies, this program is designed to teach military spouses to launch and grow their own virtual assistant businesses, and thus embark on a rewarding, challenging, and truly portable career.

The Program is delivered in a series of several workshops and is scheduled for 15-17 April 2008 (application deadline is 25 March 2008). Participation is limited to 20 participants who will be selected based on the information they provide in their training application.

Candidates for the Program should have a minimum of two years of administrative support experience, Internet access, a good working knowledge of basic software, a computer with a Windows 95 or newer operating system, and--above all--a strong desire for employment or employment change.

If you are an active duty military spouse who would like to participate in this free training program, please complete and submit the online application form at www.msvas.com/application_barksdale.htm or contact Jim or Stephanie at 456-8400 for more information.