The business environment today is mostly dependent on the Internet. Your success is leveraged on you and the people that you hire. Finding the right virtual assistants would greatly affect your chances of success.
The invaluable support a VA can provide would free up time for you. You can focus more on managing and growing your business. The challenge is to find the right one for your needs. We will discuss here how to find the right virtual assistant for your business.
Assess Your Needs for the Business
Knowing your business needs is your first step in finding your virtual assistant. It is important that you understand which area of your business requires a VA. Filter down to what tasks and responsibilities would you need assistance with. Would you need support on administrative tasks or project management?
You can hire your next Virtual Assistant either full-time, part-time or per project. This gives you more flexibility depending on your business needs.
Find out where in your business a virtual assistant can make a difference that would lead to business growth.
When you decide on where you would require support, make a list of the skills that you will be looking for. Do you require technical skills in specific software or technology? Are soft skills relevant to you, like managing emails or handling phone calls? Be specific in the skills and expertise that you need.
Where to Find Potential Candidates
Most virtual assistants moonlight as freelancers and a large number of them can be found in freelance platforms. Some of these platforms include Upwork, Fiverr, and Freelancer.
You can browse profiles on these platforms and review them. They indicate work history, client reviews, and skills that may be of note to you. You could also post job ads here. The freelancers can respond to this and you can schedule a meeting with them for your assessment.
Your network of business owners and professionals can also be your resource for your search. Thru this professional network, you will get referrals that can give you a summary of the capabilities of a candidate. They can also give you feedback on the reliability and work ethic of a potential VA.
Your network is not limited to only your business and professional domain. You can extend your network thru family members who may know some VAs that fit the bill.
Social media platforms are also a good resource. You could join LinkedIn or Facebook, and you will find groups and communities that focus on virtual assistant jobs. This can be mutually beneficial.
You can inquire with them about your search and they will be more than happy to give recommendations. At the same time, you can post job ads in these groups and the candidates can directly contact you.
Demand for virtual assistants is on the rise. With this rise, a number of virtual assistant agencies start to open up shop. These agencies can do the searching for you, with your industry and requirements in mind. This can save you time in the recruitment process.
Your Startup Operations (YSO) is one such agency. You can know more about our company here.
Evaluating and Selecting
Virtual assistants, especially the seasoned ones, will have their own portfolios. These portfolios may contain samples of their work and projects they have handled. From here you can assess their fitness to your work requirements. Profiles on social media may contain links for their portfolios or they can be directly accessed as websites.
After filtering your candidates and already having a shortlist, you can now schedule an interview. Prepare your questionnaire, focusing on their work experience and methodologies. You can also infer from these interviews the candidate's problem-solving and interpersonal skills. From here you can decide if the candidate is a fit.
During your assessment and interview, you will come across character references from the candidates. You can contact these references and get their feedback about the candidate. This can help you in your decision-making when it comes to choosing your virtual assistant.
Onboarding
When you have chosen and get to hire a virtual assistant, set a time to discuss their roles and responsibilities. Touch on expectations to minimize confusion. Prepare documents for them, explaining the hierarchy and workflow in the company. Also, you can state in the documents any specific instructions.
During onboarding also, set up your VA with your preferred method of communication. It can be thru email, instant messaging, or project management tools. You could also schedule regular check-ins with your virtual assistant to keep in touch with their progress.
In order for your VA to perform optimally and efficiently, ensure that they are given access to tools and resources. You can provide them login access to software or shared folders in the server.
To Conclude
The right virtual assistant for your business is a proactive step to business growth. To find the right one, you need to first look into your business needs and specify them. You will have a clear insight into what you will be looking for in a VA.
From your list of needs, you can then tap into a vast pool of resources on the Internet. You can find your candidates in freelance platforms, virtual assistant agencies, or your very own network. Their profiles can give you a brief summary of their experience and how they work. Interviewing these candidates will give you a better view of their capabilities and fitness.
When you find the right candidate and hire them, a thorough onboarding is necessary. Setting up communication channels and access to company resources is a primary step. But it is most important to establish with your VA the expectations of high-quality work and a good work ethic.
To help you find the right Virtual Assistant for your business, please click this link to schedule a meeting - Contact Us.