5 Steps: Hiring A Virtual Assistant | The Residential Specialist

Think a virtual assistant fits the needs of your office? Follow a few simple steps to hire the perfect assistant from afar.

1Decide what tasks you want your assistant to perform. Is your assistant going to take over customer-facing aspects of your business? Offer administrative support only? Work on projects, like creation of a new website or marketing materials? Be sure you have a plan so you’ll know when the person with the right skills comes along.

2Hire when you’re not in “crunch time.” Hiring when you’re desperate to fill a position is a sure way to get the wrong candidate, says Bobbi Howe, CRS, a REALTOR® with Keller Williams in St. Joseph, Missouri.

3Tell everybody you’re looking to hire. Take in as many applications as possible, Howe says, so you have a larger pool from which to choose. You never know where the right assistant will come from.

4Consider using an established virtual assistant company. You may not want to be stuck with just one virtual assistant, but using a company means you can instead get a cross-trained team of assistants with a variety of specialties for to-do lists that need more than one area of expertise.

5Use the “three-deep” method for references. No matter who you’re looking to hire, call their references and ask for three more references from each of those references and call them as well. You’ll have to make a lot of calls, but it will be worth it in the end to be sure

How Far Away Is Too Far for a Virtual Assistant?

In the internet age, many barriers to working remotely have disappeared. People can work from anywhere in the world, as long as they have access to a working computer and a phone.

But when working with people in the Philippines or farther, you may encounter bad reception, language barriers, power outages and time-zone issues, warns Mia Patch, CRS, S&P International Realty.

Hughes suggests only working with overseas virtual assistants when you have a system in place for them to follow, with specific tasks set forth—and when little communication is needed.

Return to Quick Tips on Hiring Assistants.