Why INTEGRITY is the #1 Trait of Filipino Virtual Assistants

Welcome to the Secret Sauce of Outsourcing podcast that's dedicated at making you better at outsourcing to the Philippines. This is episode 368. Integrity is important to your ofs. So today I want to tell you a story about an OFS that doesn't work for me. She works for someone else. She agreed to tell her story. Her name is Irene and her story is not like super unique at all. It's really just the common story of people in the Philippines and not completely. Irene is a Spanish. She's a Spanish virtual assistant. She works as a Spanish speaking. She had call center experience. So when the pandemic hit in 2020, it wasn't very difficult for her to find an online job. She speaks Spanish and she has call center experience and so those two things are pretty in demand. But in a lot of ways she's just typical. Like, she's good at her job, she's really hard working, she likes watching TV and eating out. She has a family, she cares about the work that she does. And most importantly, she values integrity. And that's something you'll find in a lot of ofs. They care. You don't have to micromanage them and their work. Yeah, there might be times when things aren't going great or perfectly or exactly how you wanted them to, but saying something will usually fix it. They're not trying to cheat you. Not all ofs, but most. And they'll do their jobs because they know that doing a good job and providing for their family while working from home is. Is a really, really big blessing for them. Again, not all OFs, but most and most of them, they do not want to jeopardize their livelihoods or their jobs when hard work and doing their best is just better than trying to cheat someone. Again, not everyone, but most. So let's watch Irene's video. If you're watching this on YouTube, you'll get to see Irene's video. If you're. If you're listening on the podcast, you'll get to hear what she has to say. Pretty interesting how she values integrity and. And again, not super uncommon.

My name is Irene wee. I am 40 years old from Tanazaca Vita, Philippines and I'm a Spanish speaking online Filipino specialist. My employer is a real estate and construction company based in Houston, Texas. I do bookkeeping, project management, collections, and general virtual assistants in Spanish. Being honest at work. Well, I believe in the value of integrity, wherein even though my employer is not looking for me, not messaging me, I make sure that I'm Very much responsive. I give them updates as to what I'm doing. I give them all the information that they need. I submit them on time. So basically just doing your job. I'm originally from Zamboanga City. During that time, there weren't a lot of opportunities there. When I was in college, my older sister moved to Manila to work at call centers. I saw that she was doing well, so I decided to take the risk as she did. My mom and my daughter came with me when I decided to move to Manila right after graduating. Our local dialect in Zamboanga is Chavacano, one of the few Spanish creoles in the Philippines. The average Filipino can usually speak three languages. Tagalog, English and their provincial dialect such as Kapampangan, bisaya, Ilocano, Chavacano, etc. Even though our country was colonized by Spain for more than 300 years, Spanish is not spoken in the country. Today. Chavacano can be understood by Hispanics since the base words are the same. But for someone to work professionally, a native Chavacano speaker still needs to take formal lessons in Spanish. When I started in the call center industry, I was offered around $250 per month. And during that time it was 2008. For me it was okay, but of course you look for something more. When I transferred, being a Spanish customer service representative, there was a really big difference when it comes to the salary. The Spanish agent would receive a basic salary of around $250 and in addition, there will be a language premium of about 400 to $450. I was with the company in BGC for about three years until pandemic hit. The first month of pandemic, I already felt the difficulty because the bills are very much consistent and there's no income coming in. So I decided to to look for extra income online and I found another platform. The only thing that I didn't like from that platform was that the point system wherein you have to earn them or buy the points so that you'll have your profile on top. The thing that I like about OnlineJobsPH is that they don't have that point system. I am free to look and search for jobs that are available and it's really an advantage for the employees and the employers. I was very lucky that when I made the profile within less than a week, I was able to have a client. That's where everything started. I no longer had to do the daily travel like I used to. I can spend more time with my daughter. My daughter would like to pursue tourism because she would like to be a flight attendant and with the income that I am earning in online jobs at peace, I am very much ready to provide her college. The income right now about four times I would say from the salary that I have in the call centers, I'm able to buy whatever we need. Extras are there. It's no longer a struggle wherein I have to wait for the payday to pay the bills and all that. Right now, income comes on a weekly basis and that is what I'm very much thankful for. When not working, I love watching Korean novellas on Netflix. My favorite shows are Coffee Prince, Jangyum, Crash Landing on youn, and the classic Winter Sonata. Right now I'm watching behind you'd touch episode 17 and I'm so fond of it. Another thing that I love to do is eating out. I love dining out with my family. I love trying new dishes from Filipino to Japanese, Mexican to Korean. I would like to say that this is what I would like to do for the rest of my life.

So then, just so you know, your chances of finding someone like Irene are actually better than not. Most people who go and look for an OFS find someone really great like Irene, and you can find that person at onlinejobs Physical.