Are you struggling to find the perfect virtual assistant for your business? Wondering how to navigate the VA hiring process effectively? In this episode, I guide you through the step-by-step process of finding and hiring your ideal VA. Learn how to craft a compelling job description, where to look for top-tier candidates, and how to conduct a thorough vetting process that ensures you find the right fit for your business.

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Show Notes: https://laurenglynn.com/13

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13 - VA Series - 02 - How to Find

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you really want to make sure that the person you're hiring is the right fit for you because the more, effort you put in to hiring, the more likely that you are to weed out those red flags, weed out people who are just going to ghost you and not meet deadlines, not show up for things, things like that.

hi everyone, welcome back to the Process to Profit podcast. Today we're continuing our VA series and last week we talked about how to figure out if you need a VA, how to prepare for a VA, and this week we're going to be talking about how you actually find the VA now you know you need one. First, I do want to recommend that you go and download the free workbook that goes along with this series.

You can go to laurenglynn.com/resources and look for your VA roadmap or virtual assistant roadmap. It will be right there. Like I said, totally free. You can go and download that so you can follow along with the exercises that I talk about. In this whole series, if you missed the first episode, make sure that you go back and listen to that first, because it talks all about how to prepare for a VA, how to figure out what you're going to have your VA actually work on and how to get your business ready for having a VA.

So with all that said, let's go ahead and get started on today's topic.

So like we talked about last week, it's really important that you have your clear processes in place, that you have your tasks documented, that you have SOPs, that you have, you know, all of the processes really clear, really well written down and that you are prepared for bringing someone else into basically your mind, bringing into someone else, uh, into how you think and how you do things.

So. Um, we talked about all of that in the last episode and now we're going to be talking about Now that you have all those things and you understand what it is your VA is going to be working on, now you're going to actually start looking for your VA.

So first you want to make sure that you are creating a detailed job description. You want to make sure that you are listing out all of the tasks and responsibilities, that you are really clear on the required time and experience that you're looking for. You know, do you, are you okay with someone who's newer?

Do you want someone who's super experienced with specific pieces of software or tools or, or. Areas of business, you know, what is it that you're actually looking for? And you also want to be really clear on the time commitment that you're looking for, if it's only, you know, 20 hours a month, that's fine.

You know, people start as a VA doing, you know, a bunch of different contracts at once and 20 hours a month is. You know, a great way for them to start, a great way for you to start. So, you know, it could even be 10. That's how I started with my first VA. It was 10 hours a month. So don't think that just because you only need a small number that you don't want to mention it or that you can't look for a VA.

You just want to be really clear and transparent upfront in your job description. When I was creating my first job description for my VA, I listed a lot of things that I was potentially looking for help with, but I was also really clear in the job description saying like, I know that I only have 10 hours a month.

I know that you may not be able to help me with all of these things within my budget, but I'm just looking for someone who potentially at least knows of these things so that as I grow, you can help grow with me. And I was also really clear that. Just because something is on the list doesn't mean if you don't know it that you're an automatic no.

I can teach anyone to use any system or tool. That's my job. But I wanted to, I just wanted to get a feel for their personality, for how adaptable they are, for how willing to learn they are. So I wanted to make sure that I was as Thorough in my application as possible, and you can actually see an example of that application in your workbook.

So I wanted to make sure that I was really clear in my job description and you can actually see an example of that job description, an application in my workbook. In your workbook.

So there's a lot of different places that you can look for VAs. The first thing that I would recommend. Is get a referral from someone, you know, you probably know a lot of other entrepreneurs. You've been doing networking. You've been maybe working in Facebook groups. So that's a great place to start of just asking people, you know, Hey, do you know of any virtual assistants?

Here's what I'm looking for. Here's the help that I need. Do you know anyone that might be able to help me? And even if they don't know someone, if they're working with a virtual assistant, the virtual assistant may know someone, like they, you know, a lot of people know people in their own industry, so they may know of someone that specializes in whatever it is that you're looking for.

So the first option for finding a VA should always be to, after you've written your job description, go out and ask other people that you know that are in your industry or tangential to it. It doesn't have to be that they're doing the same thing, but they're in an online business of some kind and they know what a VA is, talk to them and see if they have anyone that they can refer you to or anyone that they can recommend you ask to help you find someone.

There's also online platforms like Fiverr or Upwork and those can be really hit or miss. I found a really great video editor on Fiverr and, you know, I've vetted him really clearly and, you know, had, I actually auditioned a whole bunch of them and had a whole bunch of people do edit the same video so that I could see their style and how they would react to the footage and things like that.

So, um, It's an option, but I wouldn't recommend it as the first option. Um, because it can be really hit or miss there, you know, one way or the other. I would actually recommend that you start on, you know, other than the referrals, start on social media, start in Facebook groups, start in groups of other entrepreneurs that are doing similar work to you and ask, like I said, first ask for referrals, but then you can also ask.

You know, post the job description if it's, you know, allowed in that group, post the job description and ask people to apply. That's another really great place to look for VAs. And actually how I found my first VA was posting in Facebook groups. And then my second VA was a referral from my marketing coach.

So I have used both of these methods and definitely recommend them as sort of the first two tiers for finding people. Then I would recommend something like Fiverr or Upwork. And then potentially working with an agency is also another option.

And what I mean by agency is there are actually a lot of VA specific agencies out there. The thing with the VA agencies, from what I've seen, now I don't want to say every agency is like this, is they tend to kind of take advantage of the VAs that are working for you. And they'll charge you a lot more because they're doing a lot of the legwork to find and hire these VAs, but then the VAs themselves kind of don't get very much compared to what it is that you're paying.

But if you want something super simple and all you have to do is ask them for someone, then that might be a good option. For you to consider. The other thing with the agencies is there's always the potential of them kind of switching out and it depends on their policies, but there's always the potential of them sort of switching out your VA if one VA leaves.

And so they're like, Oh, we'll just going to give you a different one. And which could be good or bad, because it always means that you have someone on call or a backup ready to go. And again, the, all the agencies work differently. So it just depends on the agency. So I don't want to say all agencies are like this, but you could potentially have You know, a really easy backup.

If something happens with the VA that you're working with, however, then you lose all that history with that person. You lose all of the feedback that you've given them and the commentary and things like that. Hopefully they're keeping notes, but if not, then you lose sort of all of that history. So working with agencies can be pretty hit or miss.

I would really recommend starting with the referrals, then Facebook groups, then maybe Fiverr or Upwork, then maybe considering agencies. And for me personally, I don't love working with agencies because of the way that they tend to exploit. And again, I'm not saying all agencies do this, but I have seen some who exploit their VAs and pay them very little compared to what it is that they're charging you.

Cause they have a lot of overhead. They're the ones that are running the business. They're coming out and finding new business. So I understand why they, So, um, I don't know how you operate that way, but it's just not how I operate. And I am happy to go out and find my own VA. And I know that that's not how everyone works.

So, those are your options for where you can actually look to find a VA for your business.

And there is a page in your workbook that has a pro con list for all of the different methods that we've talked about here, so that you have them all written down in front of you, and you can decide for yourself which is the right method for you.

So you might have heard me mention an application earlier in this episode, and what I, I want to explain a little bit more about the process that I use to find VAs depending on where they're coming from. If they're coming from a referral, then I don't bother doing an application, but if they're coming from somewhere like, um, Facebook group or LinkedIn or something like that, then, you know, and I'm expecting masses of applicants, then I like to use an application.

And what I do is I actually write out the job description. I use that in the Facebook group post that I am looking for people to apply for. And then I created a Google forms where I actually went more in depth into the skills that I'm looking for and you know, the personality traits that I'm looking for and things like that, where, They actually go in and fill in their application with all of their information, because it makes it a lot easier for me to organize the information if it's all in a Google form and then in a Google sheet, rather than trying to organize emails or DMS or whatever, all in different places.

So this isn't going to work if you're going to use something like Fiverr or a, an agency, but if you're just using something like Google groups. If you're just using something like Facebook groups, then this is a really great way to sort of keep track of everybody that's coming in. So I give the job description on the Facebook post.

I give a link to the application. They go and they fill out their application. It usually has things like name and rate of pay and where they're located and maybe a headshot, maybe not. It doesn't really matter what they look like. So I wouldn't necessarily recommend including that. Um, but like a link to their website or their portfolio or references or whatever it is that you need to make a decision.

So, that's how I create my application. Some key questions to include are things like what's your availability? What's your time zone? What are your, you know, what's your working hours? Um, like my current VA who works on lead generation for me is in the Philippines, but he works U. S. hours because he has a whole bunch of clients in the U. S. So he is awake in the middle of the night for himself, um, working for his clients over in the U. S. And that's his choice. He could do my time. He could do my work asynchronously. I don't need him to do it during the U. S. hours, but he has chosen because of his other clients that he is awake during those times.

And when I did my application for, when I posted it in Facebook, um, I did it in probably four or five different Facebook groups, I had 144 applications come in, but because they were all in a Google spreadsheet, it was really easy for me to sort of look through them, filter out people who, you know, didn't have the basics of things that I want, or people who are too expensive for the rate that I was looking for, and I was very clear in the application and in the description of my, you know, You know, range is 25, 20 to 25 an hour.

Like that is what I can afford. And this is how many hours I'm looking for. And so I was really clear on that. So if they applied and their rate was higher, unless there was something really extraordinary about them, then they were, um, Then it was easy for me to eliminate them from the process. And in your workbook, you'll actually find a checklist of things or suggested questions, and in your workbook, you'll actually find a list of suggested questions that you can include in your application.

Now, I do want to address the elephant in the room of international VAs versus ones that are located in the U. S. or Canada, depending on where you live. And my first VA was local to the U. S. and I paid her 25 an hour and she was wonderful and she was definitely worth that 25 an hour. She did the things that I needed her to do.

She did them well for the most part. She was the one that sort of came out through that application process. And, um, You know, I really enjoyed working with her and only stopped working with her because my business evolved and things changed and I didn't need her anymore, but it had nothing to do with her personally.

So that application process really produced the right applicant for me. Now, my current VA is located in the Philippines, which means that I am actually paying a lot less. And I had a lot of guilt about this when I first started thinking like, should I be outsourcing this? Should I be finding someone more local?

You know, I know that it's a lot cheaper for me to outsource this, but the way that I was able to, and I talked a lot about this with my business coach, you know, she helped me to understand that he was really appreciative of the job. Like he is just as deserving of a job as someone in the U S. And the rate that I am paying him Gives him a good life like it's a good wage for him So i'm it's a win for him and it's a win for me because it's less expensive But he's still making a good wage and he's still able to do the thing, you know Provide for his family and things like that.

So you need to weigh for yourself Whether you want an international VA or you want one that's more domestic and what the ramifications of that are for you for both your moral code and for the way that your business functions. So just some things to keep in mind when you're looking for a VA and trying to decide if you want someone local or someone international.

Okay, so after I got those 144 applications, then I had to figure out what to do next. And what I did was I screened out a lot of the people that just didn't meet my requirements, weren't really what I was looking for. And then I went through and actually interviewed all of the remaining candidates. I think I narrowed it down to like 20 candidates.

20 maybe? Um, because there were just that many that were so good I had a lot of really good options to choose from. So I narrowed it down to about 20 candidates and I interviewed them individually and talked through kind of what I was looking for, got an under it was mostly for me to get an understanding of their personality and who they are and also their grasp on English because a lot of the things that I needed them to do was, um, required them to be good at writing and speaking.

Well, not necessarily speaking, but writing English. And so I interviewed those 20 candidates and, um, it was only like a 20 minute interview. It wasn't super involved, um, because I had all their information from their, their application. So it was more about getting to know them as a person and understanding their communication style and all of that.

And if they had a good internet connection, because some of them couldn't even connect for the interview. And one of the expectations I put in the application was that we would be meeting, you know, every few weeks or once a week to go over what was going on and what they were working on, and so they needed to be able to get on a video chat to do those things.

So that was also a good way to kind of filter out some people who didn't have great internet connections.

And in your workbook you actually have, uh, a couple of suggested interview questions that you can use when you're interviewing your, uh, candidates.

After I interviewed them, I narrowed it down to, I think it was like three to five candidates, this was a couple years ago. Three to five candidates that I was like, these could be a really good fit, I really like talking to them, I want to understand more. And so, I then had them move on to a test project.

And what I mean by test project is, I took the same prompt for all of them and said, Here's a thing that I need you to do, create. Um, I chose a project that didn't require them to like log into any of my systems or anything like that. It was just a mock project, but I need you to go in and do this thing and then, you know, send me the results.

Send me whatever it is that you're, you've created. I think it was, um, I had them write an email to my list about, um, A new video that was coming out. I can't remember. Um, but I'll have an example in your workbook for you. And I had them send me all the results and I paid them for this project. That is the key.

I did not expect anyone to work for free. This had already been kind of an arduous interview process. And so I paid them for this project and I told them it's a flat fee. It was a flat rate, I think of like 50. Cause I didn't expect it to take more than two hours. And I paid them all to test this project out.

And. Um, see how they did. And part of it was I wanted to see how they would react to kind of minimal instruction. And I wanted to see if they would be comfortable reaching out to ask questions or clarifications, or if they were able to kind of figure it out. And I wanted to also see then the final product and the final output.

And this really helped me narrow it down to the last two candidates. And I really had a hard time choosing between these two candidates because they were so good. And I did eventually go with one that was a little bit more experienced than the other one. That was kind of the differentiating factor for me because they were the same people.

You know, the same cost, they had really good test projects. One of them even submitted a video saying how excited she was to work for me. And like, that was almost the tipping point for her but if you're a VA, that's a great way to stand out. Send someone a video about how excited you are to work for them, or even a voice note probably would be good these days.

Um, so that was sort of the end of that, that process was, you know, factoring everything in, looking at the final product, figuring out my, you know, if they were within my budget or not, which they would have had to be to continue on. And their experience and all of those things together to figure out, okay, this is the right fit for me.

Now, I understand that this process is really long and involved and you may just want to hire someone and be done. However, you really want to make sure that the person you're hiring is the right fit for you because the more, effort you put in to hiring, the more likely that you are to weed out those red flags, weed out people who are just going to ghost you and not show, not meet deadlines, not show up for things, things like that.

And you're much more likely to get someone who's the right fit for your business, as opposed to just hiring the first person who applies and running with it, and then finding out later that not a good fit. They didn't pass the vibes check. They, um, can't do the things that you need them to do. So by making this process a little bit more involved, I was able to find someone who was a really great fit for my business.

She ended up working for me for almost two years and only, Stopped working for me because I stopped it not because she wasn't good at her job and was able to grow with me and grow with my company and grow with the responsibilities that I wanted to give her. So it's really important that you design a, an application process that matches sort of what it is that you're looking for.

Now with my current VA, my leads generation VA, he didn't have to go through this whole process. He. Um, instead, he was a referral from my marketing coach. I met with him once for half an hour and we'd kind of talk through what I was looking for and what his skills were. And he didn't have the exact skill set that I needed, um, but he was very invested.

Like he was very gung ho. He was very excited about it. And because he was a referral, I felt much more comfortable sort of taking that risk of trying him out and teaching him what I needed him to know, as opposed to looking for someone who already knew, but was maybe not a referral and maybe more of a risk for, you know, ghosting and not, you know, following through and things like that.

And we've been working together now for nine, eight, eight or nine months now. And he's been wonderful. Um, and he's, you know, very adaptable and very easy to teach and things like that. So it all depends on sort of the process that you follow and where they're coming from as to how involved your interview process should be.

Oh, I should also mention that we did do, you know, a test few weeks. We, we did a few weeks and, you know, he sent me his results and I paid him for it, of course. And before we decided to work together more long term. So, you can still do that test. You can still commit to just sort of a small period of time at the beginning.

And then, you know, commit to a longer period of time depending on how that test goes. And we'll talk all about what that commitment part actually looks like in a future episode.

And to help you make your final decision on your winning VA candidate, there is a page in the workbook that's all about how you objectively compare candidates and decide between maybe some really great candidates that you have and you have to figure out which one is the right one for you.

So make sure you tune in for that. If you haven't downloaded your workbook, laurenglynn.com/resources, your VA roadmap or virtual assistant roadmap. And if you haven't already go back and listen to the first episode where we talked all about how to figure out if you need a VA and how to get your business ready to start bringing one in.

Thank you so much for listening. I would love to hear if you have a VA in your business, what was your hiring process? What did that look like for you? Go ahead and meet me on threads and let me know Lauren G consulting.

I want to hear all about your VA. process and your VA sort of, uh, path that you've taken if you have VAs or multiple VAs in your business. If you found this episode helpful, please go ahead and leave a rating and a review. It helps other people find this podcast. Go ahead and share it with a friend.

And as always, your systems are the backbone of your business. I will talk to you again soon. Thank you so much. Bye.