Online Virtual Assistant – Hiring Strategies For Virtual Companies
We look into a systematic way in hiring new online virtual assistant. We screen their resume and send out what we call as initial pre-interview questions for them to accomplish. After that, we give them sample task to do based on the position they are applying for. For example, if they are going to set up WordPress blogs, then that is the task that I am going to provide the applicant. This helps us screen them based on skills.
The number of applicants drop by that time, some will make it and some will not. For example, we might only receive ten accomplished questionnaires after we send out twenty. Of those ten, maybe five of them are actually any good.
After getting the questionnaires back, we set them to do a task that is related to the SEO services that we offer to our clients. This is a paid task for them to do as I am not really expecting that any applicant will do this for free. This is where I observe them if they make an effort to ask questions. I do not mean to generalize, but there are some who would say yes, they can accomplish the job but they fall short on the deadline itself. This is when we experienced hiring in India before.
So I like it when a candidate for virtual personal assistant asks questions because it shows that they’re thinking about it and they’re thinking outside of the box. In the culture that we create at my work, I’m happy for people to ask questions, I like when they ask questions like if we will provide web video training if they get the job.
After this then we proceed into the Smart Interviewing phase. This is patterned on Brad Smart Top Grading, which is a good read by the way. Up to this stage of their application only my mother and my project manager are the people interacting with them. So this is the time when I come in to the picture.
I set a schedule on Skype and require them to have a webcam for this interview. Just want to make sure that you were on the same boat in terms of understanding the difference in time zones in this phase. You also want to be sure that they have a steady internet connection and if they are internet savvy. Knowing how to set up a webcam is good start in my opinion.
With my right hand guy on board, we proceed with what we call as tandem interview with the applicant for online virtual assistant position. My right hand guy takes notes as I proceed by asking series of questions to start. I also tend to disrupt the flow as part of the test. Make sure to record this session to document what happened in this phase. You can also use this recording to get feedback from your virtual team if they get good vibes from the person.
So we’ll do a tandem interview where I’m asking the questions and I’ll give you an example of some of those questions in a moment. In addition to that, they’ll sit there and scribble down all of the answers. I’ll make a few notes here and there. One of the really key areas that I’m trying to get out of this process, is going through their work history. I want to go through their resume and get them to talk about each stage of their work history to get to where it is that they are today.
I also ask them to talk to me about their boss when they previously worked as an online virtual assistant. I just want to know their impression of their previous boss as well as to find a pattern over recurring situations in their work history. I want to know their reasons for leaving their previous employers to see if they really have had bad bosses in the past or was it just them who has recurring issues. I’d love to see that to have a closer look of how they are as my future employee if they get the job.
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