Zirtual Announces 300 New Job Openings in its Growing Online Virtual Assistant Service

CHICAGO, Aug. 5, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Zirtual, an online service that matches busy professionals and entrepreneurs with vetted and trained U.S.-based virtual assistants, today announced that it will be actively hiring in Chicago. The company plans to employ an additional 300 people over the next year.

Zirtual offers services from a nationwide network of Zirtual Assistants (ZAs) who perform everything from the traditional duties of executive assistants to competitive market analysis within affordable monthly plans. Each Zirtual client is strategically matched with a dedicated ZA who is highly trained, college-educated, and even in the same time zone.

"We really want to bring jobs to the communities we're serving," says Maren Kate Donovan, CEO and Founder of Zirtual. "Our ZAs love that they're able to work from home, raise their families, live their lives, and be engaged with the workforce in a significant way."

89 percent of Zirtual's employees are women and the majority are stay-at-home moms. Others may have disabilities that prohibit them from leaving the house or simply value the flexibility that being a virtual assistant allows. All ZAs are employees — rather than independent contractors — who receive benefits as well as a target compensation of roughly twice the minimum wage in their respective cities.

With such a rare and competitive compensation package, Zirtual gets thousands of applications but only one to two percent of applicants are finally hired. "We are committed to hiring only people who are absolutely passionate about customer service," says Donovan. "It's a very specific psycho-graphic who is detail-oriented and takes as much pride in serving clients as our ZAs do."

Zirtual uses a rigorous seven-step hiring process that begins with a 60-second voicemail in which candidates pitch themselves as virtual assistants. Next, they take a culture test, allowing Zirtual to gage candidates' personalities and cultural suitability with clients. Prospective assistants are then charged with the task of completing various assignments (such as scheduling meetings, researching travel, and responding to emails) so that Zirtual can evaluate a candidate's accuracy, turnaround time, creativity, and other compulsory skills.

All ZAs are officially vetted and approved by Donovan herself in their final interviews. After being welcomed to the Zirtual team, the new hires complete a thorough and unique training process, graduating from Zirtual University.

"The most important part of our organization is the people," says Donovan. "Finding exactly the right match for not only our clients, but also for Zirtual's community is what makes our team so exceptional and allows our clients to focus on the high-level things that matter most to them."

Zirtual will be hiring immediately in Chicago and is now accepting applications online. For more information or to apply, visit https://www.zirtual.com/jobs/.

About Zirtual
Zirtual is a services marketplace that matches busy professionals and entrepreneurs with vetted and trained, U.S.-based virtual executive assistants ("Zirtual Assistants," or ZAs). From solo entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 executives, Zirtual's clients choose from various monthly plans to have their own dedicated Zirtual Assistant. ZAs offer services to help professionals save time and boost productivity by performing a wide range of tasks, including different forms of online research, responding to emails, scheduling, event coordination, and much more. Zirtual also partners with various services in its Zirtual +Plus network to offer solutions for client needs from housekeeping to bookkeeping, meal delivery to content creation — all at special rates for Zirtual clients. 89% of ZAs are women and are primarily stay-at-home moms who value the flexibility to raise their families while engaging in the workforce. Zirtual is headquartered in downtown Las Vegas, financed by Tony Hsieh (CEO of zappos.com), VegasTechFund (www.vegastechfund.com), and Mayfield Fund, and is now a part of the Downtown Project effort. For more information about Zirtual and its services, please visit: www.zirtual.com.

SOURCE Zirtual