While proofreading this article, I thought to myself that hey, this new employee spotlight series could actually help describe what it’s like for someone to work as a virtual assistant at a virtual assistant agency. That would be beneficial for those thinking of applying as one? Though during the interviewing process I had to deal with quips and randomness and out-of-topic babbles. You just can’t escape them when it’s Patrick.
Oh right, Patrick! Let’s finally talk about him.
This self-proclaimed clown of the group can be serious when he’s in the mood, but most of the time, lucky for us, he’s not. Basically, Patrick is made of 90% of hilarity, 7% of food, and 3% of angst (but this one is off the record).
Patrick started his career at Virtary almost nine years ago, starting out as a full-time virtual assistant himself. He recently landed a position as the Operations Manager due to the company restructuring program that the agency launched just before fall this year.
Deets
- Name: Patrick Kaligis
- Position: Operations Manager at Virtary
- Hobbies: Watching movies, listening to the jingle of a food travel program, reading random articles suggested by Google or MSN
- Favorite Spotify Playlist: It’s a Hit!, Songs to sing in the Shower, I Love My ’00s R&B
Dive Deep into the world of Patrick Kaligis
How did you hear about Virtary? Why did you want to work here?
At first, I was looking for a market research-related job back then as my previous experience before Virtary had been in a position related to market research. Then I found a position as an admin and research staff as suggested by the job board, so I applied for it, and the rest is history.
As a Virtual Assistant working under a Virtual Assistant Agency, what is your favorite thing about working at Virtary?
When starting as a virtual assistant, I could work on various projects like graphic design, social media management, basically those that I have a great interest in. I also got to develop my existing skills like Microsoft Office, Google applications, which made me realize that I actually had very little knowledge about these applications before actually implementing them in a real working environment.
If you could pick one title for Virtary to turn into a movie/book about the company, what would it be?
“The Assistants”. Hey, on second thought, this title sounded like it could be a spinoff of The Office series.
What do you find the most challenging at Virtary?
Working in Eastern time/US time zone, since the time difference is a whopping 12 hours at the minimum! It’s like experiencing jet lag without the actual jet lag and traveling, you know, since I need to stay up late till morning and sleep in the morning till noon, lol. Oh and additionally, managing people who are working Eastern time–which totally is not an easy feat.
And then there are projects related to field surveys/investigations since we need to operate undercover. To think of it, It’s great to work as a virtual assistant; you get to expand your skillset, constantly experience and learn new things, which I don’t think you’d get from working at a company with a specific job description. You get to know so many people around the world with various cultures and backgrounds.
What has been your favorite project so far?
Customer support for a startup, which, at the time, was working on a very popular Islamic application. We were working directly with the founder himself, and it was apparent that the founder had a huge potential. I was impressed by their teamwork and company culture which greatly inspired me.
Do you recall any embarrassing moments at work?
Err… I don’t have any, I think.
If you were an online tool/software, what would you be? Why?
Adobe Photoshop. If you’re in good hands, you can be very useful and look like a million-dollar.
If you could do another job for just one day, what would it be?
I want to be a singer. Bruno Mars, maybe?
That’s quite a jump from our current industry. Any specific reason?
Haha, aside from singing being a hobby of mine, it’s because my marketing skills could still be useful. The product itself, music, is already accepted by the general masses. You can’t escape music basically, you will encounter it one way or another, whenever and wherever.
What’s something you’re planning on doing in the next year that you’ve never done?
Working on my project to become a restaurant owner, either Indonesian or Japanese cuisine.
What advice would you give to recent new hires, as a virtual assistant?
For our new hires, if this is your first time working as a Virtual Assistant at a Virtual Assistant Agency, try to increase your curiosity as well as the courage to make decisions, either when problem-solving or when faced with confusing choices. You also need to train yourself to speak up if there are things that you want to know about or disagree with. Hone your critical thinking skills as it’s not only valuable in your career, but also in every aspect of your life.
What would you like to ask our CEO?
When will we visit our client’s head office in Michigan?
What’s the best thing you’ve learned working at a Virtual Assistant Agency like Virtary?
Being the best is not good enough.
How would your family or friends describe you in three words?
Kind, soft-hearted, patient.
How do you define success?
Success is when you can help, or be helpful to other people, especially family and friends.
That was a really fun interview with our colleague Patrick. Stay tuned for more Virtary Employee Spotlights!
