THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN HIRING A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT
Hiring a Virtual Assistant is a big step and one that should be carefully through through to ensure you choose someone that is a good fit for your organisation, with the right experience and skill sets, as well as being fully compliant and insured.
The first contact you may have with a VA is when you land on their website or social media pages. You can use these sources to find out a lot about a VA's experience, industry or role niche and working style however there are other, practical factors to consider too.
- Do they have all necessary insurances?
- How do they manage their work?
- What systems do they use to track their time?
- How do they share work progress?
- Do they have set working hours and do these hours fit with your requirements?
- How do they securely share documents and information?
- Are they ICO compliant? You can check this for yourself on the ICO website: https://ico.org.uk/
- Do they have ECS (previously known as AML) supervision through the HMRC? This is applicable for VAs providing accountancy type services such as bookkeeping?
- What experience do they have that meets your requirements?
- Do they have provide specialist support in a business area such as HR, finance or social media?
- Do they specialise in any software that would benefit your business like an online CRM or digital accountancy software?
- How do they like to communicate and what tools do they use to keep in contact?
- What are their standard Terms & Conditions and rates/packages?
- Have you read their client testimonials?
It’s important to choose a VA that you can build a good rapport and working relationship with. I always arrange an introductory Zoom or phone call so I can get to know a potential client and they can learn about me and my experience too - the relationship has to work both ways!
A trial working period is helpful too as it provides the perfect opportunity to discuss how things are going, review the workload and key tasks and agree the way forward.
If you’re thinking of hiring a Virtual Assistant and would like to ask me all of the above or have some other questions of your own, just drop me a line - would be delighted to have a chat!
Ellie Lane
Fast Lane VA Ltd
E: ellie@fastlaneva.com
M: 07814 456740
