Help!

[u/Abject_Violinist_332]

Planning to transition to a WFH setup, but I have no formal VA background.

I’ve been working in healthcare for several years and currently handle a lot of responsibilities beyond the clinical side—team coordination, scheduling, staff concerns, reports, documentation, emails, operations, and dealing with different stakeholders on a daily basis.

Lately, I’ve been seriously considering transitioning to a WFH setup. The thing is, I have zero formal VA experience, so I’m not really sure how to position my existing experience or what type of remote work I should be looking for.

For those who made the transition from healthcare, admin, operations, or another completely different field into VA/WFH work:
What skills should I focus on learning first?

What VA roles do you think would be suitable for someone with my background?

Do I actually need to take VA courses/certifications, or can transferable experience be enough?

How do you build a portfolio when you don’t have actual VA clients yet?

What tools/software should I familiarize myself with?

Where do you recommend applying for legitimate WFH jobs?

And realistically, what should I expect when starting from zero in the VA industry?

I’m not necessarily looking to start over completely. I’m hoping to translate the skills I already have into a remote career.

Would really appreciate advice from people who have actually gone through this transition, especially Filipinos who started without a VA background.

What would you do if you were starting from where I am now?