What I Learned Hiring a Virtual Assistant: Part One

Written By Angela Hanyak

I RECENTLY POSTED A JOB OPENING FOR A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT TO TWO VA-FOCUSED FACEBOOK GROUPS.

I spent a lot of time thinking about whether or not my business was ready for me to hire a VA. I also spent a lot of time mentally designing the hiring process so that it would be as smooth as possible.

But the best laid plans often go awry…

I wanted to reflect on the early stages of the hiring process so that I could organize my thoughts and share them with two groups:

  1. other business owners, side hustlers, and creators who are looking for help,

  2. and virtual assistants themselves who are looking for tips and strategies to stand out and win more clients. 

I should stress that it’s this last group that I’m most hoping this post will help. Though I’m not able to individually respond to the more than 450 people who responded to my job post, I hope to show my gratitude for their interest by providing them some feedback and strategies for future success. 

Let’s get into it. 

What I Learned Hiring a Virtual Assistant, and Tips for How to Stand Out as a Virtual Assistant


No. 1 - Design a Hiring Process that Works for You / Respect the Hiring Process

As I mentioned, I spent a lot of time designing the hiring process for my business.

I OPTED TO USE GOOGLE FORMS TO BOTH DESCRIBE THE POSITION AND COLLECT RESPONSES.

Google Forms organizes all responses in a Google Sheet, saving tons of time versus collecting responses via email or direct message and then having to organize them yourself.

It was so important to me to have all responses in one place, that I even discouraged DMs in the two Facebook Groups where I posted it.

But this led to my first learning…

People will email you directly.

They will send you follow up emails. 

I understand that this is mostly born of a desire to stand out from the crowd and impress with their ability to connect directly.

I respect it, even.

To understand why it’s not the best course of action, put yourself in the shoes of someone hiring a VA:

They’ve likely been drowning in work for weeks, (thus the need for a VA,) and now they’re adding the not-insignificant-workload of a hiring process on top of it.

They’re juggling too many things as it is. 

The funny thing is, if these eager VAs had sent me these kinds of emails before I posted a job opportunity, it would have been like manna from heaven. (Maybe there’s an opportunity there for some cold outreach by VAs to their target client?) 

BUT RECEIVING EMAILS AFTER EXPLICITLY ASKING FOR NO DMS SEEMED LIKE AN INDICATION THAT THESE CANDIDATES WERE NOT GREAT AT FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS.

In a few cases, these candidates hadn’t even filled out the Google Form - meaning their credentials weren’t part of the candidate list I was reviewing - and yet they were sending increasingly demanding follow-up emails. 

My tip for business owners: Design your hiring process with intention and use systems that won’t create more work for you.

My tip for VAs: Follow the instructions for the hiring process. It was most likely designed that way for a reason. 


No. 2 - Always Ask for a Portfolio of Work / Always Provide a Portfolio of Work

The Google Form for my job posting did not require a portfolio.

Rather, it asked candidates for more information about themselves, and urged them to include a portfolio if they had one. 

WHAT I DIDN’T REALIZE AT THE TIME, HOWEVER, WAS THAT I WAS NOT INTERESTED IN HIRING SOMEONE WHO DIDN’T HAVE A PORTFOLIO.

Did I mention that I got more than 450 responses?

It was incredibly overwhelming.

I needed to find a quick way to screen candidates, and a portfolio that showed basic information about the candidate, examples of their past work, and client testimonials was the number one way to get my attention.

I created a Google Apps Script that quickly checked all responses for the presence of a portfolio URL or link to create my first filtering.

Surprising, close to 40% of respondents did not include a portfolio at all. 

Not all portfolios are created equal, though.

Many candidates linked to a Google Drive with tons of folders of past work.

I felt like I was expected to read through everything and create an impression of who they are.

THE BEST VA PORTFOLIOS WERE EITHER WEBSITES OR CANVA PRESENTATIONS LAID OUT LIKE A STORY.

The best VA portfolios clearly laid out the following:

  • here’s who I am (about the candidate),

  • here’s who I help (their ideal client),

  • here’s how I help them (examples of past work),

  • and here’s proof that I’ve been successful (client testimonials).

Again, put yourself in the shoes of a busy business owner.

They want to find someone that can slot into their existing business processes and provide value on day one. 

My tip for business owners: Always ask for a portfolio during your hiring process.

My tip for VAs: To stand out from the crowd, create a strong portfolio that introduces you as both a person and a VA. Make sure to include examples of your work, including past client testimonials.  


No. 3 - Be Clear on What You’re Hiring For / Be Clear on What You’re Offering

As I was reviewing candidates, I saw more candidates with broad skill ranges rather than specific expertises.

This makes sense.

VAs are able to support a wide range of administrative, digital marketing, and content marketing tasks.

BUT IT SEEMED LIKE A LOT OF CANDIDATES HADN’T EVEN READ MY JOB POSTING.

A lot of candidates that chose to apply had skills adjacent to the ones I was looking for. I appreciated when candidates explained why they chose to apply even if their skills were not a 100% perfect match.

Remember those more than 450 responses, though?

Even some candidates with polished portfolios lost me at “Skills” pages that listed every digital skill under the sun. 

They were selling themselves as a “Jack of all trades,” or someone who is versatile in a lot of different skills. 

But to some folks, that phrase expands to “Jack of all trades, master of none.” 

IN A CROWDED MARKETPLACE, SPECIALIZING IN A SPECIFIC SKILL, OR A RELATED SKILL AREA, CAN BE A DIFFERENTIATING FACTOR.

In the website business, the phrase that’s always thrown about is “there’s riches in niches.”

It’s the same for the VA marketplace.

My tip for business owners: Be very clear on what you’re hiring for, and make sure that clarity is written into the job post. You get clear on this by doing a time study of your own work to decide what can be handed over to a VA.

My tip for VAs: To stand out from the crowd, focus your skills on a specific skill area, like social media management, SEO and content writing, or customer support. Your skills are part of the story that makes a portfolio shines, so make sure there’s a cohesion among them.


No. 4 - The Best VAs aren’t Really VAs / Position Yourself as a Consultant

Ok, this last learning may be a little controversial…

It’s also not going to be the case for everyone hiring a VA… 

BUT I THINK THIS IS THE NUMBER ONE WAY TO STAND OUT AS A VA, AND I THINK IT’S THE SECRET SAUCE THAT MOST BUSINESS OWNERS ARE LOOKING FOR IN A VA.

Bear with me, though, because this might be a bit tricky to explain.

In any type of communication, there’s that which is explicitly stated, and that which is subtly communicated. 

When someone responds to a job posting with no portfolio and a short sentence that says “I’m a really hard worker and fast learner and I’m sure I can do everything mentioned in your job post,” what they’re explicitly stating (“I can do the job”) is completely drowned out by what is subtly communicated (“I don’t have enough experience to have a portfolio and I don’t know how to stand out from the crowd.”) 

This is also the case with the way very experienced and capable VAs talk about themselves.

Consider this example: 

  • “I support busy business owners by taking over their administrative tasks so that they can focus on the parts of their business that they love.” 

This is good, right?!

It’s the exact value proposition of a virtual assistant.

I saw so many iterations of this that I began to feel bad that it didn’t really catch my attention or excite me in the way that it was supposed to. 

Instead, this was the example the caught my attention: 

  • “I help business owners grow their page views, increase their follower count, and scale their profitability.” 

This was someone who went a step further.

THEY UNDERSTOOD WHY I NEEDED A VA - BECAUSE MY BUSINESS WAS GROWING, AND I NEEDED SOMEONE TO SUPPORT THAT GROWTH.

But what was subtly communicated by this second example was that they were more than just a VA.

They understood business and how to grow it.

They had ideas on how to achieve my goals. 

Remember how overwhelmed I was to receive more than 450 responses to my job post?

If this experience has taught me one thing, it’s that I don’t want to be overwhelmed with a VA.

I don’t want someone who is always relying on me to assign every little task.

Instead, I want to be able to teach them my systems and processes, and then step out of their way so that they can complete the work.

I want someone who will bring their own ideas and give me their feedback.

And so I found myself gravitating to candidates who presented themselves like consultants, who treated their past clients as case studies - here’s what worked, here’s what didn’t. 

The truth is, creating something from scratch on your own is very lonely. The first person that you bring in to help you with the business should be just as interested in its success and eager to share their own ideas on how to grow.

My tip for business owners: Find a VA who will be eager about your success. Encourage their ideas and be open to hearing them.

My tip for VAs: No matter what part of business you love - social media, email marketing, business administration, business development - demonstrate your deep understanding of it through your portfolio. Make it clear that you have great ideas to help your clients succeed. Be more than just a VA. Be a consultant.


Conclusion

I thought I was prepared to post my job opportunity for a Virtual Assistant, but the truth is, I was completely overwhelmed by the response. 

All of the tips shared above, for both business owners and VAs, are aimed at making the hiring process easier for both parties. 

Here are a couple of resources, as well: 

I hope to update this post with a “Part Two” once I complete the hiring process, with more tips for how to manage interviews, test projects, and onboarding.

If you’re interested in reading those future blog posts on the topic of Virtual Assistant hiring, then drop your email address below and you’ll receive an email once they’re published.

 
 

Thanks for reading, and I hope that this was helpful.

Cheers,

Angela

Angela Hanyak
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