Mistakes to avoid when hiring VAs
Hiring virtual assistants is an ideal way to improve productivity for businesses and business owners. For the past few years, more and more entrepreneurs realize the value of working with virtual assistants. By delegating the mundane or labor-intensive tasks to your VA, you can free up considerable time daily that can be better devoted to more valuable tasks. Whether it is a virtual administrative assistant or a specialized virtual assistant, the right VA can significantly impact your business.
But before you go hiring virtual assistants for your company, there are a few things to consider. Like an employee, the virtual assistant can only be good for you if you hire the right one. You can avoid a lot of trouble down the road by being extra careful in the initial stages. Below we list a few mistakes to avoid when hiring virtual assistants.
- Not knowing your own requirements
Hiring a virtual assistant would be of no use unless you are clear about the tasks you delegate to them. After you realize you can benefit from hiring a virtual assistant, it is advised to sit down and assess your work instead of jumping straight to the hiring process. Make a list of tasks that takes a lot of your time or tasks you do not enjoy performing. Check whether these require your attention or can be delegated to another person. Are these administrative tasks or require other special skills? Once you have a clear picture of jobs that you expect your virtual assistant to perform, start looking for virtual assistants. Not knowing what you require your virtual assistant to do will lead you to hire a virtual assistant that may be wrong for the job.
- Hiring a virtual assistant for their qualification only
Qualifications are one of the most vital aspects of the hiring process. The candidates need to be qualified based on the job’s requirement to be considered a potential hire. Yet, the resume is not the be-all and end-all when hiring virtual assistants. Possessing certain qualifications and skills is required, but you need to look beyond that in a virtual assistant. Once you know what you expect your virtual assistants to do, you can figure out the qualities they should possess to succeed in those jobs. Generally, a virtual assistant should have good communication and management skills. They should be dedicated, driven, and analytical. They will be working as per your instructions and guidance, but they need to be able to handle work on their own as well on time. You should be able to depend on them. So, when you interview your virtual assistant, try to assess their personality along with skills.
- Hiring a virtual assistant because everyone is hiring one
Yes, nowadays, you will find many businesses and entrepreneurs getting a virtual assistant to help them out. You probably have friends or acquaintances who might have a virtual assistant. Or you might have read up on social media about the benefits of working with a virtual assistant. So, you may feel you could benefit from this setup too. While we are not saying that you may not, but we advise not hiring a virtual assistant just because everyone is hiring one. As we stated earlier, it is essential to know your requirements before you start hiring a virtual assistant. Every person is different, and every business is unique. Just because someone else is benefitting from a particular system doesn’t mean you will too. Maybe you don’t need a virtual assistant, and you will end up wasting money and time instead of saving them. Assess your needs before looking for a virtual assistant. Their hiring should impact your business enough to justify the spending.
- Hiring the first candidate
The general rule of hiring applies here too, never hire the first candidate you think is right. We are assuming that you have a list of candidates you have chosen to interview for the virtual assistant job. Even if you find a candidate you think is right for the job, interview all the other potential candidates. You eventually might end up hiring the first candidate you thought was right, but then you’d know that they are the best for the job. This way, you would have other people for cross-reference and not miss out on a better candidate.
- Not understanding how virtual assistants work
Before hiring a virtual assistant, please make yourself familiar with their style of working. A virtual assistant is not like a personal assistant who works in your office. They work for you remotely, so their approach to the job is different. It requires the establishment of a system and efforts from both sides. Your virtual assistant is maybe working for multiple clients simultaneously, so they might not be available all the time. If you have never worked with a virtual assistant before, don’t just jump into hiring one without familiarizing yourself with the concept. The more you know about how this working relationship works, the better the chances of this setup succeeding.
- Not being aware of the cultural differences
Hiring a virtual assistant gives you the liberty to hire anyone across the globe. As they work for you remotely, borders are no longer a concern. That means you can even hire virtual assistants from eastern countries such as India and the Philippines. While the difference in the cost of living between these countries and the US allows hiring VAs to be a lot more cost-effective, it also means hiring someone from a culturally different country. It doesn’t affect the quality of their work at all, but it does mean their work ethic and approach may differ from you. So, it is necessary to be aware and educated of the cultural differences when hiring a virtual assistant from a different country, or you might inadvertently end up disrespecting them or their culture.
Keeping these few things in mind will help you hire a virtual assistant who is right for you and your company.