5 Things You Need To Do Before Hiring A Virtual Assistant

Hiring a virtual assistant (VA) is similar to hiring a new employee. There are many considerations before bringing in a new person to your team. Hiring a virtual assistant in particular involves a more thorough screening because you need to put importance on reliability since you’ll be working with an offshore provider. Before you start looking for candidates here are five things you need to do first.

 

Needs assessment.

You need to know what tasks you will delegate to your virtual assistant. Virtual services vary from administrative, technical, creative, project management, and many more. Identify the areas where you need extra hands. You also need to pinpoint the tasks that you personally need to offload. There are certain things that keep you from being productive. You need to delegate these tasks, too.

 

Skills and qualifications.

After you’ve determined your work requirements, you need to outline the skills and qualifications you need from your virtual assistant. If she’s doing mainly administrative work, you need someone who’s very organized and detail-oriented. If you need someone to manage your online content, you need her to be social media savvy and knowledgeable on how to maximize social media platforms. Create a list of your qualifications for easy evaluation of candidates.

 

Work hours.

Since you will be working with an offshore virtual assistant, you need to specify the work hours of your virtual assistant. You also need to assess if you will hire her for a full-time or part-time post. VAs are paid on an hourly basis so you need to maximize the time she’s allotting for you. It’s best that your VA works alongside your office hours. This will help you both accomplish tasks within the same timeline.

 

Expectations.

Setting expectations will help your virtual assistant perform well. By knowing what is expected for her, she can adjust her work style to adapt to your business dynamics. Your virtual assistant needs to know the quality of work you expect from her and the level of professionalism that you want her to exhibit not only to you but also to other members of your team.

 

Training.

Training is part of hiring a virtual assistant. You need to train your virtual assistant to be familiarized with the tasks she’ll be working on. She needs to learn how to navigate certain systems or programs she will be using. You also need to train her on certain work decorum that you require from your employees. If there are standard forms or templates she needs to use, you need to introduce her to that, too.

Here are some things you also have to remember.


These are some of the preparations you need to make before hiring a virtual assistant. Many business owners have seen the benefits of employing one. The increase in productivity and cost efficiency that VAs provide are the major advantages in hiring them. Give allowance for an adjustment period as your VA familiarizes herself with your tasks and projects. Make sure that you let your VA feel that she’s part of your team and not merely an offshore staff. Having that sense of belongingness will motivate her to work even harder. Remember that your VA is an extension of your current pool of employees so you need to find the best person who will fill this position.