3 Questions You MUST ask When Hiring a Virtual Assistant

The hiring process is a daunting task.  You have to determine what you need. You have to determine the kind of person you’re looking for.  You have to post a job. You have to review resumes. You have to schedule time to do interviews. And when you finally get to the interview, what questions should you be asking your potential virtual assistant?

There are a lot of simple, generic questions that you will ask after reviewing someone’s resume: Why did you apply for this position?  What’s your hourly rate? But if you’re going to hire the best assistant for your needs, you need to ask these three questions.

How much time do you have to devote to me/my business?
If you need someone 20 hours a week and she is already working 40 hours between other clients, you may be put on the bottom of the To Do list.  I have interviewed hundreds and hundreds of candidates for positions my client was hiring for, and there are plenty of people that are happy to work 60-80 hours per week.  Still, this can affect how your tasks get done.

Perhaps you need someone to be available during normal business hours to answer calls.  How will they be handling that if they’re already working for other clients during normal business hours?

It’s important that you understand how the virtual assistant handles her work and her workload between clients.  You should always feel like you’re first in line, even if she has a thousand other clients.

Do you outsource your work?
I have spoken with so many different people who told me they hired someone, and then later found out that that person wasn’t doing the work.  That’s a problem. When you’re interviewing, the expectation is that the person that you are speaking with is the one who is doing the work. Here at Your Gal Friday,  potential clients always speak with me, and I always disclose the fact that, not only will I be working for them, but my entire team will be, too. And clients can choose to only work with one person that they can be in constant contact with, too.

Find out if the person you’re interviewing is a solo virtual assistant, has a team that will be helping, or if they just work with other virtual assistants around the world to share work.  You should always know who is handling your work, and you have every right to interview those others as well as the primary virtual assistant.

Can you provide references to current clients?
It is critically important that you check professional references.  This gives you the ability to find out from other professionals how this virtual assistant performed tasks, how well she communicated, kept to deadlines, and worked with other team members.  Being able to speak with current references will give you a lot of insight into your potential hire, and you’ll be able to spot red flags during the call.

Ready to Ask More Questions?
If you are ready to ask more questions and find out about hiring Your Gal Friday as your virtual assistant, contact us today.