Pros
It was fun, at first. Working from home, getting to set your own schedule, and having some flexibility.
Cons
Zero employee development, zero structure. The entire thing is a hot mess. It’s pretty much, here’s your client, good luck. There are no policies for time management or the division of work between clients, which leads to every client thinking they’re your boss, and that they are your only client. If you get too many client complaints, instead of coaching you and helping you improve, the company will take away your salary, without any notice. So your employment status is never secure (not too fun when you rely on your salary to live!). Every time there was an issue with a client (which was often, considering many of them believe you are a robot, not a human being who deserves respect), you had to provide a body of proof to defend yourself against whatever the client said you did or did not do. We didn’t get paid for so much of the extra BS that we had to put up with. On $1,500 per month before taxes, it was extremely difficult to live on this salary - if you actually adhered to office hours, clients would be unhappy and always expecting more. There are no standards in place or best practices - do what you feel... until they decide they don’t like it. If you need job stability and sanity, this is not the place to work. The entire structure is off and not realistic. One person cannot have so many clients and leave room for the continual (urgent tasks or emergencies); while taking care of all clients to a high level of quality. Yet, monetary incentives encourage assistants to take on more than they can manage, so that they have enough money to live on. Clients come in with no expectation of what Zirtual is - and they have no problem asking you all kinds of personal, invasive, and demeaning questions. Some of them were even surprised and sometimes annoyed that most assistants work from home. What is work life balance if your clients are always calling you after business hours, and expecting you to answer?
