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Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About How To Hire The Perfect Virtual Assistant

A Step-By-Step Guide To Finding The Ideal VA

By Lilian MuthoniPublished about a year ago 4 min read
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Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About How To Hire The Perfect Virtual Assistant
Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash

With the birth of the digital age, the business world has become more competitive than ever. As a result, business owners require any assistance they can get. But, unfortunately, hiring full-time employees is not always possible, especially for small business owners. And part-time workers, unfortunately, aren't always up to the task.

That's where a virtual assistant comes in to save the day. If chosen well, this person can help you make it. Moreover, a good VA can help you make it big.

This step-by-step guide is dedicated to business owners, entrepreneurs, or executives who require or need the services of virtual assistants.

What do Virtual Assistants do?

Virtual assistants can do all sorts of jobs to help you scale your business. Whether responding to emails or managing social media, it's all up to you and your business' needs.

Typically, VAs deal with many different tasks, including:

  • Administrative work
  • Social media management
  • Content writing
  • Report writing
  • Event management
  • Marketing
  • Personal tasks

Truth be told, the list could go on and on. This is excellent since many skillful people are out there to pick from.

A Step-By-Step Guide to Finding the Perfect Virtual Assistant

Decide on Your Business Plan

You can't really find the perfect VA if you don't know your business's exact needs. So, the first step is to put up your business plan with the essential requirements your new virtual assistants can help you with.

Once you have a business plan, you will know what organizational needs will have to be addressed the most. Then, you will have a clearer image of what you need from your virtual assistant.

Know the Tasks You Need to Outsource

If administration eats up too much of your precious time, you already know what to look for. Or, suppose you need a content writer.

Hiring the right person from the vast pool of candidates can be challenging, but knowing what will help you be productive will shine a light on precisely the VA you need.

Figure Out What You Need Your VA to Do for You

Decide on the tasks, priorities, and timeline for your virtual assistant. That way, you will be able to choose from the candidates with different skills to find one suitable to help you scale your business.

Be Crystal Clear on the VA Job Description

This is one of the critical steps in finding the perfect virtual assistant. The key here is to be very clear about the job and tasks you need your VA to handle and be realistic about your own expectations.

Your job here is to be loud and clear on those. Do it by writing what you expect of your virtual assistant daily, weekly, or monthly.

Decide on Your Ideal Virtual Assistant

Once you decide on your ideal VA skills, you should also look for a person you will like working with. For example, some business owners need strong communicators, meticulous organizers, or other VA types.

Be clear on what you want and need, but also be aware of two things:

  1. Whatever kind of business you lead, you want someone who will be a long-term fit.
  2. No less important, you need someone who learns quickly and has a growth mindset.

Although it's not critical, hiring a virtual assistant with experience in your specific niche is wise. However, choose the right person with the right mindset, and you could be very positively surprised.

Conduct Interviews and Tests Projects

There is no better way to pick out the perfect virtual assistant than to assess their skills. So conducting appropriate tests and comprehensive interviews is a sure-fire way.

Coming up with some test projects depending on the candidate you need is an even better solution. By testing your potential VA, you will get valuable insight into how they process their tasks and what they can come up with.

Find Out Referrals and Testimonials

If you can get a recommendation, that's excellent. However, the simple truth is, client testimonials are the best way to gauge your potential virtual assistant skills, strengths and weaknesses, and personality.

Define Your Pricing

Typically, most virtual assistants are paid hourly or by subscription. Before defining your pricing structure, do market research to get a clearer idea of setting your own prices.

The best thing to do is opt for subscription-based pricing with several packages for various levels of services.

The Bottom Line...

Virtual assistants can be a tremendous help to businesses, whether large or small. Those versatile people can help you manage many challenges on your path. So, finding the right one is critical to grow and scale your business.

Make sure you follow the guidelines listed above, and with a bit of effort and some luck, I'm positive you will find the perfect virtual assistant. Good luck!

To learn more about virtual assistance, visit:www.vamastery.teachable.com

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About the Creator

Lilian Muthoni

A virtual assistant tutor and coach with a wealth of experience and expertise in the industry. I am passionate about helping virtual assistants achieve their goals.

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