Virtual Assistants: 7 Things You Need to Know About Hiring One

In a recent survey, nearly 43 percent of Americans claimed to have spent some time working remotely at their job. Businesses in a variety of different industries are starting to embrace the power of remote workers.

Having an assistant, a good accountant and hardworking employees are just some of the key components of a successful business. For years, business owners have used virtual assistants for a variety of reasons.

In short, a virtual assistant is a remote employee that helps a business owner handle a variety of online tasks. Using virtual assistants will allow you to adequately manage certain parts of your business without having to be so hands-on.

If you are on the fence about whether or not a virtual assistant is a good fit for your company, be sure to read more here. With this helpful information, you will be able to make a decision regarding whether or not to hire a virtual assistant.

Are you in the process of hiring a virtual assistant? If so, check out the helpful tips below.

1. Wait Until You're Ready to Hire Virtual Assistants

Some business owners think that hiring a virtual assistant is the first thing they need to do when opening a new company. The fact is that hiring an assistant is something that needs to come a bit later.

If you jump into hiring a virtual assistant, you may find it difficult to keep them busy. Waiting until you have a definite need for an assistant can save you a lot of trouble.

The last thing you want to do is spend the majority of your day thinking up ways to keep your new assistant busy.

2. Have Set Expectations Before Hiring Them

Before you go out to hire a virtual assistant, you need to set some expectations. Knowing what you will need a virtual assistant to do ahead of time can help you narrow down the selection of candidates.

Once you have a list of expectations, you can relay this information to the people you are hiring for the position. Not only will this help you, it can help a potential virtual assistant better comprehend what is expected of them.

In some cases, a candidate may get this information and decide this is not the right move for them. When this happens, avoid taking it personally and keep your eye on the prize.

3. Budget and Time Zone Restrictions

The beauty of using remote workers is that limitations like where they are located do not really matter.

However, you want to choose a virtual assistant that will be able to meet on a weekly or daily basis. Staying in constant communication with your remote employees is the only way to keep them on task and productive.

You need to also have a budget in mind before hiring a virtual assistant. Many people who do this for a living will have set rates. Trying to skimp on the quality of a virtual assistant hire to save money will usually end up backfiring in spectacular fashion.

4. Which Virtual Assistant Candidates are on the Same Page?

During the virtual assistant interview process, you need to find out whether or not the candidates are on the same page as you.

Hiring a virtual assistant that can't follow instructions will usually lead to a lot of problems. Taking the time to interview each of the candidates is important.

Generally, you will be able to get a feel for how well they listen and take direction during the interview process. The time you invest into interviewing each of the candidates will definitely be worth it in the long run.

5. Find the Right Place to Post Your Job Openings

Spreading the word about the virtual assistant opening your company has is crucial. Ideally, you want to inform as many people as possible about this opening.

The best way to do this is by using online job boards and the power of social media. There are millions of people on social media, which means you can attract a lot of virtual assistant candidates by using this medium.

When posting the listing for your virtual assistant opening, be as descriptive as possible about what the position entails. Doing this will allow you to avoid misunderstandings throughout the hiring process.

6. Developing a Formula For Sorting Through Applications

You will undoubtedly have a lot of people applying for the virtual assistant job you have open. While this is a good thing, it can also be a bit stressful going through all of these applications.

This is why you will need to work on developing a formula for going through the applications. Knowing qualifications, skills and educational background you are looking for can help you narrow down a large stack of applications in a hurry.

7. Get Crafty With the Interview Process

Since you are going to be interviewing people who are in different parts of the world for your virtual assistant position, you need to get crafty with how you will conduct these meetings.

Utilizing the power of video-conferencing technology is a great idea. Programs like Skype or even Facebook Messenger allow you to talk face to face with applicants.

Conducting these face to face meetings is a great way to get a feel for who a person really is. If a person does not have a webcam on their computer, you can always call them instead.

Finding the Right Virtual Assistant is Not Easy

When hiring virtual assistants, you need to be prepared to do a lot of work. Rushing through this process will lead to the wrong hire being made.

Are you interested in furthering your career or becoming a CPA? If so, check out the helpful information on our website.

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