Sep 17 2008
About
The virtual industry was completely unknown to me just a few years ago. I have spent the past 10 years of my life as a Military Spouse supporting my husband in all his endeavours. Trying to find a reliable job in remote communities isn’t the easiest thing to do. Finding a career you can take with you on the run isn’t so easy either.
After spending 5 years in the manufacturing industry as a labourer… it was time for a change. I attended a local college and studied Computerized Business Systems and graduated with honours. I remember the brochure for the course advertising a 97% job placement rate upon graduation. Only 2 out of the 30+ students in my course got a job. One found a job at the local Burger King, and the other moved to Inuvik to become an Office Manager. This wasn’t what I was hoping for. My job application pile was growing…. The phone wasn’t ringing. It wasn’t until I applied for a part time job at a local convenient store that I truly realized how hard it was going to be to find a job. More than 60 people applied for that same part time job. The lucky winner was related. Go figure. From what I hear, that store has closed… maybe they could have used my expertise after all!
The story continues… I was willing to take ANY job I could get my hands on just to say “yes, I work”. I finally got a call from a local business looking for a bookkeeper. I was extremely excited. This was going to be my big break. I got the call at 8:00am and was to start that afternoon. Looking back, I should have known that seemed fishy. When I arrived, the gentleman introduced me to his dining room/office. There were boxes and boxes full of papers, invoices, receipts. He said, “I have to go for lunch, can you sort this all out and set me up in Simply Accounting. I’m being audited in 7 days”. Now, everyone knows it took God 7 days to create the world, but it was going to take a lot more than that to pull this mans business together after neglecting his bookkeeping for 3 or more years. I wasn’t afraid to admit he hired the wrong person. I gracefully referred him to my accounting Professor, her husband owned an accounting firm in town.
So that leads me to here. Here being several years later. Knowing if I just sit idle and let all my skills go to waste was never an option. To keep myself going, I started to dabble with website and graphic design as a hobby. I have always been the type of person to “DIY” and not sit back and let someone else do the math. So, the question is, how do you get from there, to here. It is who you know! A friend of mine who mentioned to me years ago that she was a “Virtual Assistant” was going on maternity leave, and they needed someone to fill her shoes. I had no idea what a VA (virtual assistant) was, but I was willing to give it a whirl. Turns out… I loved it. Absolutely LOVED it! What on earth could be better than being able to work from home, raise your family, support your husband, AND be able to pick your job up and take it anywhere you go? I can’t think of one!
I cannot stress enough how much I LOVE my career, and when you love your job, you excel! This career has taken me to new heights. It has enabled me to learn, practice and implement the skills I thought I would never get the chance to utilize. Every day is new and exciting! What more could I want!
Jodie Ferrie
Virtual Assistant