We run a systematic approach in hiring online virtual assistant for our company. We do initial screening of their resume and send out pre-interview questions to complete. Then we provide a sample task to accomplish based on the position that they are applying for. For instance, we give out a task related to setting up WordPress blogs if that will be his major task when hired. That gives us good grasp of selecting the best player based on skills.

It happens that the number of applicants drop when we send out the questionnaire. For example, we might only receive fifteen completed questionnaires days after we send out twenty. Of those fifteen, maybe ten of them are actually any good.

After that, we send them the task, which is usually related to the SEO services that we offer to clients. This is a paid task as I do not expect that they will do anything for free especially at this time. One thing I am particular with is if they ask questions in this stage. I do not mean to stereotype, but I have experienced hiring in India before. They would say yes when asked to work on a certain task, but they fall short and do not deliver on the deadline.

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.

At this point we say, right, we’ve come down to our top few applicants. Let’s go ahead and set a time on Skype, we’ll set a set time and I want them to have a webcam as well. You want to make sure that they rock up on time and they can do their time zone conversions correctly. You want to make sure that they have a webcam which shows they’ve got good internet connection and they’re somewhat internet savvy. At least if you can set up a webcam, that’s a little bit of a start.

Then we do what’s known as a tandem interview with the candidate for online virtual assistant. I’ll only interview with two people, so there will be the applicant plus myself plus my right hand person. What the right hand person does is they’re the scribe. They’ll sit there and write down everything. We’ve got a series of questions that we take them through. I used to do it where I would write it down and it would disrupt the flow. You need to make sure that you’ve got a scribe and you’ll also record. We do this over Skype, so we record the interview as well. That way we can have some of the other team members listen to the interview and see if they get good vibes or bad vibes from the person.

So I ask them to answer some of the questions as my right hand guy sits down as well and take note of their answers to document the conversation. I am particular on tracing something about their work history as I go through some details in their resume. I go through each stage as stated on their employment experience up to where 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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