Virtual Assistant Course

Did you know that thousands of people make up to £25 an hour working from home as a Virtual Assistant?
A VA is very much like a PA except they work from home using the internet and telephone to help clients all over the world.
If you have experience of office work and good communication skills then this is an excellent way to either build a business or supplement your income.
UK Open Learning will show you how to become a VA and what’s more once you have completed the VA course we can help you with your other skills such as using Microsoft Office Programmes, Bookkeeping and Web Design.
To assist you with your studies we have included the ECDL with this course which will either teach you new skills or brush up on existing skills. Please see below for more information on the course.
For more information on becoming a VA why not visit www.allianceofukvirtualassistants.org.uk
Qualification
On successful completion of the assignments you will receive a UK Open Learning Diploma. Also if you decide to complete the ECDL exams then you will gain a nationally recognised qualification.
Tutor Support
You can contact your tutor by e-mail or post. This will last for one full year from the day you receive the course, to complete this course it will take in the region of 90 study hours which can be spread over a 12 month period to suit the student.
Course Guide
We advise students to read through the full course before attempting any assignments. After you have completed one assignments you send that off to your tutor for marking by e-mail/post and wait for your results.
Assignments
Students can gain a pass, fail or re-submit.
A pass means that you can move onto the next section, a fail asks you to submit another answer as there was not sufficient information included and a re-submit will ask you to include a little bit more information (your tutor will give you a few pointers as how to improve your work.) There is no word count for these assignments however you must prove to the tutor that you have fully understood the question asked.
ECDL Information:

What is ECDL?
The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) is the world’s most successful IT skills certification programme. Almost three million people are participating in the programme today in over 60 countries worldwide. Outside of Europe the programme is known as the International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL). The ECDL establishes a standard for everyone who uses a computer in either a professional or personal capacity. It is a certificate that verifies competence in computer use, making the holder readily mobile within England and internationally. Employers and job seekers all agree on the importance of this standard definition of practical competence in Information Technology.
How this Course works
This is a self-study course which comprises of the Approved CD Interactive Learning which covers the entire ECDL syllabus which can be run from your PC. You can start and stop the course and complete it at your own pace. When you have completed the course you can then sit the exam in one of the many assessment centres across the UK.
Course Content
This course is for students who want to know the basics of Computers, Windows and the most popular Microsoft software. It covers fundamental concepts of information technology and the use of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook. Students will also learn about basic file management with Windows XP and browsing the Web with Internet Explorer. This course is certified by the ECDL foundation to cover all ECDL Syllabus 4.
Assessment
Each Module of the course is tested separately and each test generally lasts 45 minutes. The seven tests can be attempted in any order. Exam fees are not included in the course fees.
Exams are completed at an Assessment Centre. Centres are located all over the UK – visit www.ecdl.co.uk for details of Assessment Centres near where you live.
Exam Fees
Log Book (Purchased before you complete your first exam) £25.00 approx.
Each exam costs around £10.00 and there are 7 exams for you to complete.
Accreditation
Following successful completion the exams you will receive the official 'European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL)'.
As you do each exam, your log book will be stamped in to prove you have completed that module.
Course Syllabus – Virtual Assistant Section

Unit 1:  What is a Virtual Assistant?

• 
  What is a Virtual Assistant?


• 
  Who uses a Virtual Assistant and Why?


• 
  What tasks can a Virtual Assistant do?


• 
  What skills will a Virtual Assistant need?


• 
  Issues to Consider When Setting up a Home Office


• 
  What organisations are available to Virtual Assistants?

• 
  Tips on where to Market your Business


• 
  How to write a Marketing Plan


• 
  Marketing in other Countries

• 
  How to succeed with your business


• 
  How to start up your new business


• 
  Getting the right mindset

• 
  Why start a Business from Scratch


• 
  Buying an Existing Business


• 
  Buying a Franchise

• 
  How to Recruit Staff


• 
  The Process in Recruiting

• 
  Introduction to Dealing with Staff


• 
  Paying Staff


• 
  Training & Development


• 
  The Law


• 
  Discrimination


• 
  Health & Safety


• 
  Trade Unions


• 
  Taxation

• 
  Protect Your Business: Stop Fraud before It Starts


• 
  Theft of money...


• 
  Theft of inventory or equipment...


• 
  Theft of intellectual property.

• 
  Understand the role of the business plan


• 
  Reasons for developing a business plan


• 
  Identify sources to get help in developing a business plan


• 
  Identify the type of information to include in a business plan


• 
  Prepare an outline of a business plan

• 
  What is Customer Care?


• 
  Defining Customer Care


• 
  Characteristics of Effective Customer Care

• 
  Increase in profits


• 
  Customer loyalty and long –term profitability


• 
  Fewer complaints


• 
  Staff know what is expected of them


• 
  More pleasant work environment


• 
  Customer integration and specialisation

• 
  Who are our current and potential customers, their characteristics and needs?


• 
  Staff interfacing with customers


• 
  What tangible or intangible assets does the company currently have?


• 
  Competitor Characteristics


• 
  Improvements and Additions To Customer Care And Service

• 
  The Right Attitude


• 
  Looking and Sounding Right


• 
  Having the Right Information


• 
  Keeping Control


• 
  Working within a Team


• 
  Customer Complaints


• 
  Answering the Phone


• 
  A Checklist

• 
  Contents of The Plan


• 
  The Advantages of Planning


• 
  Objectives, Strategies And Tactics


• 
  Forecast or Assumptions Of Outcomes


• 
  A Simple Case on Customer Care Planning


• 
  Company Polices


• 
  People Make A Plan Work


• 
  Current Customer Care and Services

• 
  Internet Basics


• 
  How the Internet Works


• 
  Internet Access


• 
  Understanding Email


• 
  About the Web


• 
  Internet Safety


• 
  Learning about Viruses

• 
  Introduction


• 
  Graphic Design


• 
  Web site Content


• 
  Navigation


• 
  Key Points to Remember

• 
  Introduction


• 
  Why do we have meetings?


• 
  Important things to know about meetings


• 
  How to plan a meeting


• 
  How to run a meeting

• 
  What do organisations use conflict management for?


• 
  Important things to know about 'conflict' and 'conflict management':


• 
  How to identify signs and stages of conflict


• 
  How to build teamwork and co-operation


• 
  How to manage and resolve conflict situations


• 
  Outline for a Mediation Session


• 
  Mediation Guidelines

• 
  What do you use planning and evaluation for?


• 
  Important things to know about planning and evaluation


• 
  How to ensure planning is useful and contributes to effective results


• 
  How to plan – 8 basic planning steps

• 
  Introduction


• 
  What is Proof Reading?


• 
  Tips on Proof Reading

• 
  Introduction


• 
  What is Stress?


• 
  Symptoms of Stress


• 
  Causes of Stress


• 
  How to Reduce Stress

• 
  Introduction


• 
  Managing Time step 1


• 
  Managing Time step 2


• 
  Schedules

• 
  Introduction


• 
  Three Steps to Keeping Your Books


• 
  Bookkeeping Systems, Software and Method


• 
  Accounting Terms Every Business person Should Know

• 
  What type of Business are you?


• 
  Registering as self-employed


• 
  How to pay your Class 2 National Insurance contributions (NICs)


• 
  Basic Tax Records you must keep.

• 
  Input and Output Devices, PC components and data storage


• 
  Computer software. Computers in daily life. Information networks


• 
  IT and society


• 
  Health, Safety and the environment


• 
  Security, copyright and law

• 
  Introduction to windows


• 
  Working with Windows


• 
  Folder and File management


• 
  Windows control panel. Using the Computers Desktop. Working with Compressed files. Viruses.    

• 
  Introduction to Word. Editing documents.


• 
  Formatting text and paragraphs. Bullets and numbering


• 
  Spelling, thesaurus and grammar


• 
  Finding and replacing


• 
  Tables and tabs


• 
  Page settings


• 
  Templates and wizards


• 
  Styles


• 
  Mail merge


• 
  Pictures, images and charts


• 
  Using help. Advanced features

• 
  Introduction to Excel


• 
  Selecting cells and ranges. Formatting cells and their contents


• 
  Building simple formula. The autofill tool


• 
  Modifying a worksheet and sorting data


• 
  Charts and graphs. Importing texts and graphics


• 
  Printing and page setup. Using help in Excel

• 
  Starting Access


• 
  Manipulating tables and creating tables


• 
  Table relationships


• 
  Queries


• 
  Forms and Reports


• 
  Printing and page setup

• 
  Introduction to Powerpoint


• 
  Working with slides. Laying out slides. Slide design and animation


• 
  Master slid
  Guide Price: 325