hiring the RIGHT virtual assistant: 3 secrets, 2 links, 1 quote
Reader, After getting asked for years if we do fiction, the answer is now YES! We’ve had some great success so far – check out what NYT Bestselling author Marshall Karp has to say about us:
If you’re one of the fiction authors who’s been waiting for this, let me know and we can see if it makes sense for us to support you!
Today’s 3-2-1 is inspired by a question I got from newsletter reader Dr. Esly:
They’re not alone! It’s a question I get often. What are virtual assistants? (VA’s)
VAs are remote workers who can perform a variety of tasks, from scheduling meetings to writing content for you. Even Sara Blakley (billionaire founder of Spanx) will tell you she only hires the right person half the time, so don’t expect your first VA to work out. Hire slow, fire fast.
I’ve worked with over 3 dozen VA’s since founding ShelfLife. Our longest serving team-member, Luchie, is one such VA who has been with me for almost 4 years now. Others…haven’t last 4 weeks. Here are 3 tips for hiring and working with excellent VA’s:
3 Secrets:
1. The 80% rule:
It’s good to do a task a couple of times to figure out how long something should reasonably take before getting a team member to do it. Even if it takes someone twice as long as me to do something, I still find it a much better option than doing it myself because at some point, you can’t do everything. A rule of thumb many entrepreneurs go by is the 80 percent rule. If someone can do it 80 percent as well as you can, outsource it.
2. Record your trainings:
Record the training you do with your assistants on Zoom or another platform that allows you to record virtual meetings. Since it may take you a few VAs to find the one you’re looking for, it’s helpful to be able to share those pieces of training with new VAs instead of needing to train someone from scratch again.
3. Best ones come from referrals: If you have friends or colleagues who have great VAs, ask about them. I believe the best talent comes from referrals. Otherwise, I recommend a platform like onlinejobs.ph.
4. (Bonus) Pay and time tracking: I find $8 to $12 USD per hour to be a great hourly pay rate for international virtual assistants who have experience working with products and fantastic written and spoken English. A lot of platforms will tell you that $6 per hour is perfectly acceptable, but don’t expect the most qualified candidates at that rate. We pay our assistants every two weeks and use the money-sending platforms Wise and PayPal to make those payments. We also let our VAs track their time in a spreadsheet. If you can’t trust someone, don’t hire them. VAs who fake work don’t usually end up working out for other reasons, and you’ll build greater trust with your VA by not making them clock in and out of some annoying online time-tracking tool.
5. (Bonus Bonus) What to ask them in an interview: Most of what I’ve learned about interviewing I learned from this book.
My biggest takeaway is to go through their 2-3 most recent work experiences and ask them What were you hired to do?
What does your typical day look like (Personal & Work)?
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
What were some low points during that job?
Who were the people you worked with? Specifically:
What was your boss’s name, how do you spell that? What is their email to confirm this with?
What was it like working with them?
What will he/she tell me were your biggest strengths and areas for improvement?
How will they rate your performance on a 1-10 scale when I talk to them?
Why did you leave that job?
If you currently still have the job, why are you looking for a new job?
What is the best client you’ve ever worked with and why?
What is the worst client you’ve ever worked with and why
What is your current salary?
By asking them specifically who they worked with and for their contact info, I’m forcing them to be honest with the next few questions. Especially when asking what they would rate themselves on a scale of 1-10. When they know you’re going to be double checking and asking their old boss this specific question, they get honest REAL quick.
You’ll also know that if they just trash their old boss, they probably aren’t going to speak very kindly of you. Also, whenever they give you a short answer that doesn’t fully get into the weeds, don’t assume you know the answer. I’ve had people legit tell me they sucked at their jobs by probing further into an answer that seems surface level. Make sure to ask a lot of “why’s” and “can you elaborate”. People love to talk so just get them talking and be a listener. Lastly, you might be tempted to hire college students to be your assistant. I have hired a lot over the years and consistently find it difficult to hire a reliable student who won’t at least party ghost you during a tough exam week or when they go home during holiday breaks.
2 Links
Mike Patton shares what processes he used to get his book to 75,000 people.
We’ve started using Adobe Podcast to clean up the audio for our show. The quality has improved 10x (some of you listeners might have noticed in the last few episodes). Save us a bunch of money: Check it out here. (Not an affiliate link)
1 Quote
‘Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.’ – William Faulkner
