The short version: Virtual assistant vacancies are plentiful right now, paying anywhere from £12 to £45 per hour depending on your skills and the client. Most job boards list the same recycled roles, so knowing where to look and what to say in your application is the difference between landing work and wasting months.
I hired my first virtual assistant in 2019 and I have been on both sides of this market ever since. I have hired VAs, referred VAs to clients, and watched people I know build six-figure VA businesses from scratch. I have also watched smart people apply for 40 vacancies and hear nothing back, purely because they did not understand how this particular hiring process works.
So this is everything I know, laid out plainly.
What a virtual assistant vacancy looks like in 2024
The job title "virtual assistant" covers an enormous range of work. A vacancy posted by a small UK e-commerce brand might need someone to handle customer emails, update Shopify listings, and schedule social posts. A vacancy posted by an American executive coach might need diary management, travel research, and CRM data entry in HubSpot. Same job title. Completely different skills required.
This matters because too many people apply for VA roles as if they are all the same. They send the same generic cover letter to every listing and then wonder why nobody responds. The vacancies that pay well are specific. They are looking for someone who knows their tools, their industry, or at least sounds like they have done their homework.
Broad pay ranges you will see right now:
- Entry-level general VA work: £12 to £18 per hour (or $15 to $22 in the US market)
- Executive or specialist VA (tech-savvy, specific tools): £20 to £35 per hour
- High-end EA-level virtual roles with strategic involvement: £35 to £50+ per hour
- Retainer packages for ongoing support: typically £500 to £2,500 per month depending on hours
Platforms like Belay and Boldly in the US market pay their VAs a set hourly rate and match them with clients. In the UK, agencies like Virtual PA London and Time etc operate similarly. These routes pay less than going direct but they handle the finding-clients problem for you, which is worth something when you are starting out.
Where to find virtual assistant vacancies that are not total time-wasters
Most people start with Indeed, Reed, or LinkedIn and stop there. Those platforms have real vacancies but they are also full of roles that pay £10 an hour and describe 27 different responsibilities in the same bullet point. Here is where I would focus:
LinkedIn, used correctly
Not just the job board. Search for business owners in your target niche who post regularly. Comment meaningfully. When they post about being overwhelmed or launching something new, that is your cue to reach out directly. More VA work is hired through LinkedIn DMs and referrals than through formal job postings. I have seen this happen repeatedly with people in my network.
Virtual assistant-specific job boards
- Fancy Hands (US, task-based, good for beginners building speed)
- Time etc (UK and US, vetted clients, steady work)
- Boldly (US-focused, higher pay, competitive application)
- VAnetworking.com job board (free, community-run, underused)
- Upwork (competitive but not dead if your profile is strong)
Facebook groups
I know. Facebook feels like 2014. But the group "UK Virtual Assistants" and "Virtual Assistant Savvies" still post genuine paid vacancies every week. Business owners post in these groups because they want someone who is already plugged into the VA world. Worth checking twice a week at minimum.
Going direct to agencies and retainer services
If you want consistent work without the feast-and-famine cycle, apply to be a sub-contractor for established VA agencies. Virtalent, Assistantly, and Pepper VA in the UK are worth approaching. Yes, the rate is lower than direct clients. But the pipeline is managed for you and the clients are vetted.
What puts your application at the top of the pile
I read a lot of VA applications over the years and the ones that stood out all had a few things in common.
They named the tools
Not "I am proficient in various project management platforms." That sentence tells me nothing. The good applications said "I use Asana for task management, Notion for documentation, and I have been running Dubsado for two clients since 2022." Specific tools. Specific context. That is what gets you shortlisted.
They showed they understood the business
Even two sentences. "I noticed you are launching a course and your Kajabi setup could use a VA who understands the tech side." That level of observation tells a hiring business owner that you read their content and thought about their problems. It is rare enough to be memorable.
They had one clearly defined specialism
The VAs I have hired who worked out best were not generalists who would do anything. They had a main skill and offered adjacent support around it. One was primarily a launch manager who also did email list management. One was a social media VA who also handled the blog uploads. Having a centre of gravity in your skill set makes you much easier to place mentally for a client.
Red flags to watch for in VA job listings
Not every vacancy is worth your time. Some are exploitative. Here is what I flag immediately:
Want AI doing the heavy lifting in your marketing?
I build the systems that handle the boring 80 percent, so you get your week back. Done properly, with the human kept in.
- Pay listed as "experience based" with no range given. Ask upfront. If they will not tell you, that is the answer.
- Listings that require you to buy software or tools before starting. A legitimate employer covers tools or uses tools they already pay for.
- Trial tasks that are extensive (more than an hour of work) with no pay offered. A short paid trial is reasonable. Ten hours of free work is not.
- Any listing that mentions multi-level marketing, affiliate team building, or "grow with us through referrals." These are not VA jobs.
- Vague phrases like "exciting opportunity" and "join a growing family" with no specifics about the actual work. Every sentence of a job listing should tell you something real.
The thing nobody says about building from VA vacancies to a VA business
Most people treat a VA vacancy as a job application. The smart ones treat it as a business development conversation. You are not an employee begging for a position. You are a service provider with skills that solve a specific problem. That framing changes everything about how you write your pitch, how you price, and how you handle the negotiation.
When I started working with VAs and referring them to colleagues, the ones who grew fastest were the ones who treated every client relationship as a portfolio asset. They asked for testimonials. They documented results. One of them kept a simple Google Doc showing her clients' before and after metrics (inbox zero maintained for 14 months, social scheduling time reduced from 6 hours a week to 45 minutes). That document got her three referrals in one quarter.
A VA vacancy is a starting point, not a ceiling. The market for skilled virtual support is not shrinking. If anything, the rise of AI tools has made organised, tech-comfortable VAs more valuable, not less, because someone still has to set up the workflows, manage the outputs, and hold the client relationship together.
Start with the vacancy. Build the relationship. Document the results. That is the whole playbook.
Frequently asked questions
What qualifications do I need to apply for a virtual assistant vacancy?
There are no formal qualifications required for most VA vacancies. Clients care about your tools knowledge, communication skills, and reliability. A strong application that names specific software you know (Google Workspace, Trello, Calendly, HubSpot, etc.) will outperform a generic CV with a list of A-levels every time.
How much do virtual assistants get paid in the UK?
Entry-level VA work typically pays £12 to £18 per hour. Specialist or executive-level VAs with specific tools knowledge or industry experience earn £25 to £45 per hour. VAs working on retainer packages often charge £500 to £2,000+ per month for a set number of hours.
Is it better to find VA work through an agency or go direct to clients?
Agencies like Virtalent, Time etc, and Boldly offer steadier pipelines and handle client acquisition for you, which is worth the lower rate when you are starting out. Direct clients pay more but require you to market yourself consistently. Most successful VAs start with an agency, build their portfolio, then transition to a mix of direct and agency work.
How do I know if a virtual assistant job listing is legitimate?
Legitimate VA vacancies include a clear pay range, describe specific tasks, and do not ask you to pay for tools or complete large unpaid trial projects. If a listing is vague about pay, asks you to recruit others, or requires you to buy into a system upfront, treat it as a red flag and move on.
Related reading: How to Start a Virtual Assistant Business in 2026 (Without the Burnout) and Work From Home as a Virtual Assistant: What You'll Earn and How to Land Clients.
Related reading: Vacancy Virtual Assistant: The Real Money, Real Requirements, and Why Mo.
Related reading: Virtual Assistant Vacancy: The Honest Guide to What Hirers Need (And Why.
