Hiring the right Virtual Assistant begins with firstly, identifying the tasks you want to outsource (Part 1 – read here) and secondly, what skills and qualities compliment those tasks (Part 2 – read here). Next up, it’s time to write the perfect job description so that you can attract some perfect fitting candidates.
Trust me, putting in the time at this stage will save you time later on. I know this as I spoke to a lady a couple of weeks ago who was recommended to me as she needs a new Virtual Assistant as the last one didn’t work out (and it was her that sparked this blog series actually!)
Why it’s important to take your time when hiring a Virtual Assistant
The client started working with a Virtual Assistant from the Philippines at $15 per hour. Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, she spoke great English and had a score of 100%.
BUT, the problem was, she didn’t understand the context of the tasks and what was required and didn’t know how to use HubSpot. The prospective client didn’t do her research at the outset and went with the first VA she found on a freelancing site, perhaps it was the “cheapest option”?
The client wanted some rules set up on her inbox so emails would auto forward into a separate folder. The Virtual Assistant didn’t know how to do that, so just ended up dragging all the emails into the folder.
She also messed all the contacts up in the CRM system, so the client ended up going back in and tidying up herself. Kind of defeats the object of having a Virtual Assistant to help.
Had the client gone through the exercises in my workbook “A business owner’s guide to hiring a Virtual Assistant” and realised she needed someone who knows how to use Outlook and HubSpot, she would have found a more suitable match and the job would have been completed at the outset.
Why write a Job Description when hiring a Virtual Assistant?
Writing a compelling job description is essential to helping you attract the most qualified candidates for the tasks you are looking to outsource. This is useful for using on social media, especially if you don’t have the money to use a recruitment agency and you want to do it yourself.
Imagine putting a post on LinkedIn which said:
“Hi, I’m looking for a Virtual Assistant to help me with my admin, organisation and emails. Please comment below or email me @xxx if you can help”.
Can you imagine the amount of responses that you would get from this? You’re already busy so imagine dealing with all the comments and messages, not to mention all the tags – you would be more overwhelmed than before.
That’s why you did the first two exercises as you now have the specific tasks you wish to outsource, together with the specific skills and qualities that are needed. When you put this post on your social media it will instantly attract the right candidates who fit your requirements.
Writing your Job Description
Download the job description from the EBOOK below.
The template includes the following headings for you to fill out:
- Job Title – Some examples might include (Try and be as specific as you can as this really does help to attract the right person):
“Virtual Business Assistant for admin tasks, bookkeeping and travel organisation.”
“Legal Consultant seeking an experienced Legal Personal Assistant.“
“Experienced Virtual Executive Assistant needed to support CEO with meetings, international travel, Board Minutes.”
- Roughly how many hours per week you’ll need.
- Location – the whole point of a Virtual Assistant is to be virtual. However, you need to consider this if you want her close to attend meetings or run events (once things back to normal). She’ll need to be within a reasonable travel distance.
- A brief overview of the tasks you’ll be looking to outsource (taken from the outsourcing exercise in part 1).
- Skills that are important to you. E.g. problem solver / good communicator / minute taking / WordPress expert etc (taken from the skills exercise in part 2)
Example Job Description
Busy Entrepreneur seeking an experienced Marketing Virtual Assistant to help with Social Media campaigns, Newsletters and Marketing Strategies.
Around 20 hours per week
I require help with:
* Setting up, creating and writing a weekly newsletter.
* Social media campaigns via Instagram and LinkedIn to include a new product launch
* Marketing Strategies to include analysing sales, metrics and analytics
* Market research
* Forecasting market trends
This role would suit someone who has marketing experience and is proficient with Microsoft 365, Convertkit, Google Analytics, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Skills required: writing, good with data analysis, organised, trustworthy and has impeccable attention to detail.
Please email me @xxx with you hourly rate and availability.
As a Virtual Assistant myself, if I saw this ad on LinkedIn I would be instantly put off as I don’t specialise in marketing and I wouldn’t know where to start on forecasting market trends.
The more specific you can be the better, as you’ll attract the right candidates which then makes the next step that little bit easier.
Referrals and Recommendations
I also wanted to talk about referrals and recommendations as you might have got to this stage and thought “I already know a couple of Virtual Assistants from my networking group”.
That is fine, if you know them well and they can do the tasks you’ve listed out, that’s amazing and will save you time going through all the exercises.
Just remember: because you know them and you know they support businesses with admin or event management, they might not be able to do what’s on your list so it’s always worth finding out a bit about their history and experiences.
Whilst we’re on the subject of referrals and recommendations, the most tried and tested method is word of mouth or a solid recommendation by a former colleague or friend goes a long way.
You trust these people and their judgement so it’s always worth asking family, friends and colleagues first.
However, if you are recommended a Virtual Assistant who your friend uses, you still need to discuss your Job Description with her to make sure she is happy with it and can fulfil the role. There might be some tasks she is unable to do and therefore you might not be a good fit.
If that does end up being the case, see if she knows anyone in her network that fits your requirements.
Join me next week for the final part where we’ll be looking at choosing 3 – 4 possible candidates for you to speak to, the questions to ask and what to do when you’ve chosen the right person.
Please do get in touch if you need help with your job description.
☎️ 07875 823 265
