In this guide, we’ll cover the straightforward steps for how to hire a virtual assistant on Legiit.
A virtual assistant (or VA) is a fancy way of saying “remote employee”. In other words, it’s someone who you hire to carry out a variety of business tasks from the comfort of their own location. You may employ a VA for years without ever actually meeting them in person.
While a lot of people imagine that VAs are only employed for menial jobs like data entry and email screening, you can really hire a VA for anything that you are capable of training them for.
What To Look For In A Virtual Assistant
Before we jump into how to hire a VA on Legiit, it’s worth thinking about what sort of freelancer you want to hire. Considering these qualities now will make the steps we outline below go a lot more smoothly.
Attention To Detail
Most people hire a virtual assistant for a variety of tasks. You might want someone who can filter leads, answer emails, and manage your schedule.
Attention to detail is important for any job. But it’s especially important when you will be training an employee for many different tasks. You want to hire someone who you know can read your instructions critically and execute them without careless mistakes.
Clear And Speedy Communication
Communication between you and your VA is essential.
They need to be willing and able to ask questions if something isn’t clear. And they must be able to respond to your inquiries and instructions in a reasonable time frame. Otherwise, business could come screeching to a halt.
Of course, you’ve got to set reasonable expectations. A VA who is on the other side of the world probably won’t be able to respond to messages sent in the middle of the night in their time zone.
Past Experience
You have to decide ahead of time what is more important to you: your time or your money.
A more experienced virtual assistant is going to cost you more, but they also won’t require as much hand holding.
Hiring a newer freelancer is a great choice if you are on a limited budget. You might need to invest more time in training them up, however.
Related: 5 Virtual Assistant Statistics Business Owners Need to Know
How To Hire A Virtual Assistant On Legiit In 5 Steps
Ready to find the perfect VA for you? Here’s how to do it…
Step 1: Define The Job
First, write up a crystal clear description of your expectations. You don’t have to provide instructions at this point; that can come after hiring.
Here is a good minimum amount of information:
Job Requirements: What duties will the VA be expected to carry out? Try to be specific as possible so that you attract the right applicants. It will save you and your VA a lot of disappointment.
Time Commitment: How many hours per week will you need the VA? Will this be a temporary position or a long term one?
Pay: What is your budget for the job? Will you be paying by the hour? Task? Etc?
Special Skills: Are there any particular skills you want to ensure the VA already has? For example, maybe you need them to manage Google Docs or a Trello board but don’t have the time to train them.
Step 2: Post Your Job
Once you’ve got your job scope defined, head on over to the Legiit Job Board and create your job listing.
In addition to copying the information you just came up with in step 1, you’ll also choose categories, add tags, and set a budget to help potential hires find your job.
Ideally, you’ll start getting inquiries relatively quickly. If you aren’t, consider modifying your listing. Does your job description clearly communicate what you need? Is your budget fair for your expectations?
Step 3: Browse Freelancers
While you wait for applicants to respond to your job listing, you can also go on the hunt for potentials.
Browse the various categories on Legiit that are relevant to the tasks you want your VA to carry out. For example, if you are looking to hire someone to handle business citations and directory listings, you could look at the Local SEO Service category.
While these category pages are comprised of discrete services that freelancers are offering, they can still be helpful in your hunt for a skilled virtual assistant. If you find someone who lists a service closely aligned to what you need, you can reach out to them and invite them to check out your job listing.
We’ve also got a category specifically for virtual assistants that could be helpful if you can’t find anyone on the other pages.
Step 4: Review Applicants
After a few days (maybe just a few hours!), you should have several applicants interested in working for you as a virtual assistant.
If you have a whole lot of them, sifting the winners out may take some time. Try to narrow your list down to the 3 or 4 most qualified applicants.
Then, you’ve got to come up with a way to choose the right one. This could vary a lot depending on what your exact needs are. But here are some ideas:
- Hold an interview. It could be a video call or even just a questionnaire. Either way, the goal is to learn more about your applicants than you already have. Your questions should help you determine their knowledge, expertise, and skills regarding the work you are hiring them for.
- Administer a test. No, not an academic one. The idea here is to give your potential hires a quick task that allows you to gauge their skill level, ability to follow instructions, and attention to detail. Make it similar to what they will actually be doing on the job so that you can properly compare their results in order to choose the best one for your needs.
- Offer a short term hire. Even if you are looking to fill a long term position, you may want to start by hiring several virtual assistants on a part-time basis. This allows you to measure all of their performances on the job and stick with the best of the best.
Step 5: Hire!
Once you’ve narrowed it down to the single best virtual assistant, it’s just time to take the plunge. Agree on your terms, prepare your instructions, and start the job. Hopefully, it will be the first step in a long and happy new business relationship.
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