How to Hire a Virtual Assistant in Three Easy Steps

As a business owner, you have a neverending to-do list. You may wonder how to finish the small tasks and keep up with your other obligations.

This is why more businesses are onboarding virtual assistants. When you hire a virtual assistant, you’ll learn they save time, reduce operating costs, and help with essential administrative tasks. Because more businesses are utilizing virtual assistants, the market is expected to be worth over USD 4 billion by 2025.

If your business is interested in hiring a virtual assistant, you may not know the first steps. Fortunately, hiring a virtual assistant is easy. Here are the steps to follow.

Step 1: Decide on an Ideal Candidate

Virtual assistants are all different. Many have college degrees, and there are virtual assistants with a specialty, such as travel, marketing, writing, design, and accounting. You should consider the hard skills that come with the role and industry, as well as some soft skills that will improve their performance in the role.

Some good hard skills to hire a virtual assistant include:

• Good at creating and refining systems and processes
• Excellent writing and communication skills
• Fluency in a certain language or bilingual
• Any skills about your industry

Some good soft skills include:

• Organized
• Detail-oriented
• Fast learner
• Growth mindset

Write down any additional hard and soft skills you want to hire a virtual assistant.

Step 2: Create a Daily Plan

Since the virtual assistant role is different for all businesses, it’s best to create a plan or a daily schedule before you hire a virtual personal assistant.

Your plan should outline all core duties and separate these duties by day, week, and month. These duties can be standard secretarial work, such as scheduling meetings and answering phone calls.

Before you hire a virtual assistant online, you may also want to consider the unique needs of your industry. Suppose you have a technology-centered company. Your virtual assistant may need to monitor your website and software regularly, even creating new programs or inserting code.

Step 3: Make a Few Sample Projects

You won’t know if your virtual assistant is right for you unless you put them to work. Some businesses create sample projects to put their skills to the test. You should pay the virtual assistant for their time, but explain this is a trial assignment and doesn’t guarantee their position.

Here are some project ideas:

• Research and write instructions
• Create sample assignments based on instructions
• Revise an existing project
• Write an email
• Schedule a meeting
• Create templates

When your virtual assistant is working on these projects, take note of important factors such as their ability to work independently/remotely and if they make deadlines.

Do You Want to Hire a Virtual Assistant?

If you know you want to hire a virtual assistant but are unsure of where to start, we can help. Our virtual assistants can help with secretarial and customer service tasks, and we also have freelancers who work in various fields.

You can find entry-level to expert freelancers, and they all come with different rates. Onboarding is quick, and most businesses find a freelancer in a few days. Start hiring with FreeUp today!