My Experience Hiring VAs

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Over the past month, I have hired two virtual assistants for my small but growing video marketing agency.

There have been a number of learning points and hurdles to overcome, and I’ll tell you about them, but the main thing I keep thinking is:

I wish I’d done this earlier.

One of of my favorite newsletters is Extreme Outsourcing by Jon Matzner. Jon writes about how to leverage international talent in your businesses. This article in particular spurred me to take my first steps:

I did exactly what he outlines in that article.

I created an Upwork account and posted five different jobs. Mostly the jobs were research jobs - searching the internet for businesses for clients or contacts for business owners, that type of thing. Within minutes, proposals flooded in from Pakistan, India, Philippines, and all over the world.

Many of the proposals were clearly written by ChatGPT so that eliminated about half of them. Others clearly didn’t read the job description. But a few not only read the description, they included samples of the data I needed in their proposals. Those were the ones I hired.

Within a couple days, the jobs were completed. Hours of my time were saved. I was happy.

Then Upwork banned my account.

I don’t know why. They didn’t give me an explanation and I didn’t bother to ask. Whatever their reason, I find it a bizarre business model to freeze the account of a paying customer.

So, I took my business to Onlinejobs.ph. There is a fee to start posting jobs here ($299-$349 per year) but the site is simple, easy to use, and the quality of the talent is high. I’ve come to love this platform, I highly recommend going here for your next hire.

I posted a full-time gig for a video editor. I had dozens of highly-qualified applicants flood my inbox. I eliminated about half for various reasons. To the remaining ones I sent a Google Form. It had questions about their experience, links to their portfolio, an upload of a 2-minute video introduction, screenshot of their computer/internet specs, and other questions related to their fit for the role.

Of those who completed the Form to my satisfaction, I interviewed a handful and ended up hiring one.

From the time I posted the job to starting the VA full-time, it was only a few days.

Being on opposite sides of the world, we work almost completely asynchronously. Since the interview, we have not had a phone call. All conversations are done over project management software and a messaging application. Training is conducted via Loom videos.

At the end of my day, I add a queue of client “To Do's” to the backlog and when I wake up, I see the progress.

Don’t get me wrong, there have been set backs. The most difficult thing has been learning to delegate and let go of tasks I previously did myself.

But it’s also been a crash course on project management. I’m learning to communicate more clearly. I’m learning when to be very specific and when to leave room for creativity. I’m learning how to train efficiently and establish systems.

It’s been a fun experience and it feels good to create meaningful employment.

How can you use help in your business?