Last Updated on Feb 25, 2020 by James W
The virtual industry has grown rapidly in the past 10 years, so its normal for a client to be confused about a hire. Many people don’t know where to look for, when hiring a virtual assistance. Yes, you can hire online, but make sure that the person comes recommended, or is good at what he does. You can assign sample work, or look through their previous works to be sure.
When new or old business owners, hear that they can get help running their business at low-cost, they get really excited. They only think is that someone overseas is going to help them boost their economic condition, without thinking it through. Usually when people act without a plan, they end with an economic crisis in their business. The problem is that when there is no plan to follow, it’s usually a crash and burn situation, things keep on getting worse. If you want to avoid such situations, follow the steps given below.
- Availability:
There could be a chance that your virtual assistance, is working for someone else at the same time. There is no way you can make one individual committee, as the individual will be working online overseas. The best way to deal with this problem is to hire, more than one virtual assistants. This way the work will be divided, and you will always have a backup. There is another issue, that is when virtual assistance get better offer they drop your work and move on. To avoid a crisis, make sure you have new virtual assistants listed all the time.
- Deadlines:
The first thing you need to check is, does the virtual assistance answer his/her voicemail, emails, and messages in time. You need someone you can rely on, and not be worrying about meeting the deadline. Before, starting actual work, give them a trial assignment to check their working, and time management skills. You need someone whom you can trust, and not be worried about all the time. You don’t need someone with an old desktop computer, and lousy programing.
- Management:
It is absolutely necessary today to juggle through tasks. If a person cannot work on a few tasks at the same time, you need to let them go. This is because you don’t want, to lose a deal, because the person you assigned work to can’t handle project management. This can be an issue for you later, so better be safe than being sorry at the last moment. When hiring, look for people you think can lead others and themselves, and not lose their head along the way. If your virtual assistant cannot juggle with more than one task at hand, replace them as soon as possible.
- Testing:
Start with giving the virtual assistant a minor project, before you hand him work of a real client. This way the virtual assistants capabilities will be tested, and there will be no major loss. Give him/her minimum 2 or 3 tasks, and none of them should cost more than $50. Also tell your virtual assistant that you need the work done correctly, following the instructions given properly. Yes, it will be easy to hire for instance the first 4 or 5 that apply, but shortlist at least 10 people. Then give that task to the chosen 10, so you can make your decision. Make sure you pick a task you can later use, so you are not wasting time or money.
- Capabilities:
There is a long list of what qualities and capabilities you need, before you hire a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant is like a real assistant, except they are far away. The thing you need to do is make a list of all the tasks you need your virtual assistant to perform. This will give you an idea of what you need done, and this will also give the virtual assistant an idea of what responsibilities they will have. Also, make sure that the virtual assistant works at a low price, and they have a backup system. Many countries today have electricity problems, so the backup system must give them electricity and fast internet connection.
- Experience and skills:
Make sure the virtual assistance, has some experience in the business you are running. If you need a virtual assistance, you don’t want to micromanage him/her the entire time. Getting someone with experience will save your time, and the chances of a mistake to be made. If you have no time to train a virtual assistant then go for the most experienced candidate you get.
- Timezone:
There’s going to be a huge problem, if you don’t sort out the timezone problem beforehand. If you are hiring a virtual assistant to be a telemarketer, then you need them available in a specific timezone. If you just need one to do research, that it won’t matter much.
- Communication:
The most essential thing you need to focus on is the means of communication, you choose. In order to make things work, you have to develop a good relationship between you and your virtual assistance. In this matter ask your virtual assistance that by what means of communication they understand better, and work on that. This way you can brief your virtual assistant easily, and they will get the message clearly.
The last thing you have to do is decide how you feel about your Virtual Assistant. After going through all of what you need, you must have some idea oh how the virtual assistant is like. Decide whether will you be comfortable in working with him/her. You also have to make a task sheet of all they work that you do daily, and what would you like your virtual assistant to do. This way there won’t be any miscommunications, and confusions. This article is not only to help you choose, but also open the mind of others on the perspective on hiring a virtual assistant.
Author Bio
This is a guest post from Lewis Hooker, who is an advertisement specialist who have great potential in getting clients for advertisements like new homes for sale, cars for sale etc.. You can contact him via his gtalk : lewishookeronline[AT]gmail.com
