How To Hire The Right Virtual Assistant - Priority VA

How To Hire The Right Virtual Assistant

You’ve decided what you want AND need to outsource, and now the time to hire a virtual assistant has come. But where do you find the right support and ask the right questions, to ensure you’re partnering with the right virtual assistant?

It’s an age-old question, but have no fear! After placing hundreds of entrepreneurs, world-wide, with virtual assistants equipped to get the job done with both the skill set and strong character traits, we have a few guidelines you can follow to guarantee you’re partnering with the right virtual assistant.

Determine Your Non-Negotiables

What makes an “automatic no” for your business?

Prior to posting job descriptions and interviewing candidates, determine your core values. Our founder and CEO, Trivinia Barber, says: “I can teach anyone a skill. I can’t teach them character.” Keep this in mind when a candidate has the skill set you desire yet fails to align with your values.

Priority VA prides ourselves on our core values:

  • Truth
  • Responsibility
  • Commitment
  • Service
  • Integrity

If a candidate doesn’t align with any of the values, they aren’t a good fit us or our clients. 

Where To Find The Right Virtual Assistant

When it comes to finding a virtual assistant, you have a few different options – your personal referral network, freelance platforms, or virtual assistant agencies.

If you are someone that wants complete control when hiring a virtual assistant, you should start by asking your network for recommendations through a LinkedIn or Facebook post. If those posts don’t get you the response you are looking for, consider posting your job description on freelance marketplaces like Upwork and Fiverr.  

If sifting through applications and attending multiple interviews to find your personal virtual assistant doesn’t get your mojo going, considering hiring a virtual assistant staffing agency that takes care of the heavy lifting by screening applicants on your behalf.

No matter which approach to hiring a virtual assistant you follow, be sure to run extensive reference and background checks. Not everyone is who they appear to be. Don’t take the risk and outsource because someone “seems nice” or their resume looks impressive.

Ask The Right Questions When Interviewing A Virtual Assistant

“If you ask the right questions, you learn a lot about people.” – Chirlane McCray

When you’re interviewing a virtual assistant, ask the right questions. Don’t ask basic, “surface” questions. Instead, dig into the details and ask questions that are specific to your business and the role they would be filling.

We recommend asking your candidate situational questions (for example: “A student emails our help desk and can’t login to their member portal. How do you respond?”). We’ve gone so far as to screen share during interviews and ask a candidate to walk us through problems and scenarios that could be relevant to our business.

Bottom line: Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions. The right candidate won’t get flustered by your in-depth questions, but rather will let their skill set and temperament shine.

Priority VA takes these guidelines very seriously, which is why we have a 7-stage, yes 7-stage gauntlet, to vet potential candidates. If they don’t meet our (extremely) high standards, they don’t work with us. Period. It’s our way of ensuring we work with the best of the best. This includes vigorous skill tests, background checks, and multiple interviews.

If you don’t want to carry the burden of outsourcing all alone, we’d be happy to help you find the perfect virtual assistant for your business. Contact us here to get started.

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