As a virtual assistant, you’ve gained skills and experience that make you an effective source of administrative support. You have technical abilities that ensure you excel in your tasks and a unique combination of soft skills that boost the workplace culture. Yet, it’s worth considering what else you can do to maximize your skill set.

One of the areas many employees overlook is tech literacy. This is often because people tend to mistakenly believe these abilities are only valuable for those in tech roles. Yet, having a solid understanding of various software and hardware tools can enhance your experience as a virtual assistant and in pushing toward your ambitions.

Let’s examine some of the reasons tech literacy should be part of your office skills toolkit and how you can gain these abilities.

Improving Your Prospects

Your current success as a virtual assistant is likely a result of you developing a solid set of skills in your key tasks. Nevertheless, it’s important to recognize how competitive the roles in the industry are today. Developing greater tech literacy in a range of areas can help you stand out from the crowd who may only have relatively basic skills. This can significantly improve your career prospects.

Firstly, your tech literacy will tend to make you more valuable to your current employer or clients. After all, you’ll be more agile in your virtual assistant role. This is particularly invaluable when you’re working with growing companies whose needs can often change and you can offer them solutions. Not to mention that it boosts your resume when applying for work with businesses in other sectors or more senior roles

When upskilling, it’s important to consider that small businesses are prioritizing a range of advanced IT solutions at the moment. This includes using artificial intelligence (AI) software for lead generation and customer service. There’s also a trend for digital marketing management tools and virtual project management software. By identifying what types of tools are popular in your target sector for employment, you can focus on training courses that best match.

Boosting Your Efficacy

One of the main reasons for gaining greater tech literacy skills is that it makes you a more functional part of a business. As a virtual assistant, your position is already likely to be a wide-ranging support role. Your employers and clients will have high expectations for you to adapt as their needs change and develop. This means that you need to be effective in addressing a variety of challenges. Tech literacy can be instrumental in boosting your efficacy.

This is because, in an increasingly digital business climate, many of the challenges in business tend to be technological in nature. A greater level of tech literacy often results in you having a better understanding of the underlying structure and functions of the systems being used. You can, therefore, not just be effective in using software and hardware. Rather, you are a source of effective problem-solving and troubleshooting. This helps you excel both in your key tasks and in assisting clients with their issues.

Often, gaining skills to boost your efficacy doesn’t just involve taking formal courses, although this can help. It’s also a matter of doing deep dives into the software and hardware you interact with daily. Get to understand how the platforms are constructed and what the common issues people have with them are. There may also be YouTube tutorials that help provide you with a more thorough understanding of common administrative, management, and communication software platforms. 

Bolstering Cyber Risk Management

Any business is subject to risks, one of the most prominent of which is cybercrime. Unfortunately, employees are one of the main contributing factors in cybercrime. A recent study found 47% of business leaders stated that employee error was the cause of a data breach. Gaining greater tech literacy skills can help you to be a positive component of your employer’s cyber risk management strategy.

This isn’t just a case of minimizing the risks you present. You can also be vigilant for issues during your interactions with company software. For instance, an account takeover occurs when fraudsters gain unauthorized access to an online account by using the owner’s information. There are various ways this arises, from criminals gaining passwords on the dark web to phishing. Your greater tech literacy could empower you to recognize phishing emails and spot the insecure working practices that could leave your employer vulnerable to such issues. 

Building skills in this area is usually a case of taking basic cybersecurity training. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to gain the kinds of cybersecurity certifications that make you an expert in the field. Much like the virtual assistant course, there are eLearning modules you can take that provide you with the essential working knowledge you need. However, it’s important to remember that cybercrime is constantly changing, therefore you should take occasional refreshers in this area.

Conclusion

Tech literacy can enhance your working experience in a range of ways. It can make you more valuable to your employers and give your resume a boost when applying for new roles. It helps to make you a more effective contributor to workplace challenges, Not to mention that gaining a better understanding of cybercrime could empower you to be a valuable contributor to risk management. It can take some extra effort and focus, but tech literacy is a key to great opportunities as a virtual assistant.

Author Bio: Katie Brenneman is a passionate writer specializing in lifestyle, business, education, and fitness-related content. When she isn’t writing, you can find her with her nose buried in a book or hiking with her dog, Charlie. To connect with Katie, you can follow her on Twitter.

Tags: tech literacy, tech literacy for virtual assistants, virtual assistant