Pros
Work remotely from home. Started with Z in 11/13 as an IC with FLEXIBILITY and fairly decent pay! Escaped, with ALL 9 of my clients, on 12/19/14 and started my own VA company!
Cons
When forced to transition to an "employee" or "lose my job", things went downhill pretty fast. My pay was cut drastically, was forced to work more than 50 hours per week without overtime pay; had to provide and maintain my OWN equipment; yada yada yada. When I realized my income would more than double if I left Z and started my own VA company, I began to plan and put things in motion while still working for Z and kept my mouth shut. I broke one rule but did nothing illegal. I told all of my clients I was leaving 3 weeks before my planned escape. THEY did not want ANOTHER transfer to a new assistant (most of my clients had 2 or 3 assistants before me) so THEY asked me "where are you going"? I did not coerce them away from Z. THEY asked me to take them with me... so I did! One of the best decisions of my life. And Z was furious!! But could do absolutely nothing about it. When I heard the news on August 11, 2015... 400+ employees laid off and thousands of clients without VA's, I was not the least bit surprised. It was only a matter of time and I knew it was coming. You could say I was lucky... luck had nothing to do with it. I was smart... and got out before Z could hurt me any more than they already had.