I've been going through different assistants we've hired inside of my company to see what I can learn from the process, and I've just found more about hiring than I ever thought possible.
It's something I'm even having to refresh myself on, looking for a lot of assistance for many of our clients. And yet there's always something new, something I missed before or something that just came out of the left field that could have been a red flag as I was hiring. But for this blog, we won't be focusing on the red flags—we'll mainly focus on the hiring process and the common mistakes you might be making already.
So let's get into it!
Unclear Job Description
The first is not having a clear enough job description.
You might have one picture of the kind of assistant you need, but as you interview more people, it turns out that you need a different type of assistant. That's normal and okay—that's something you figure out as you learn more about what kind of assistance you need.
For example, let's say you need an admin assistant. Still, more social media stuff and content things need to be done, so your job description changes from admin assistant to content manager/social media assistant. This is okay as long as you keep refining and being clear about who you need or want to work with because this will help narrow down the kind of person you need faster.
Not Setting A Budget
The third mistake that I see people make is not setting a proper budget when it comes to hiring.
One of the things I do with my clients is to help them set up an employee budget so they know exactly how much they can afford to pay someone and what kind of benefits and perks are available to them.
For example, in 2xYou, our assistants use G Suite for email accounts, which costs $5 per person per month. We also use Hubstaff for monitoring their time (another $5 per person), so make sure you consider all the other software you'll be getting for your assistant and any additional costs of having a full-time employee on staff.
People often need to remember that you need an accountant who can help calculate if the person is from the same country as you, so you know how much tax needs to be paid or if they need benefits like health insurance or retirement planning options. You must have a clear budget in mind so it's easier for you to negotiate with potential candidates or decide if they're worth hiring based on their salary requirements.
Skipping The Interview Process
The next mistake that people make is skipping the interview process. This is something that no matter what kinds of candidates we're looking for, we always seem to find excuses to miss it.
“You guys already did the interview,” we'll say. “I don't think I need to interview this person.”
But it's usually a mistake because you don't see who you are with this person—it's different between talking to someone through email or just talking to someone verbally or on video because it's just a different vibe, it's extra energy back and forth versus if you were chatting and adding emojis and stuff like that. You don't know their tone, and you don't know if they edited the same message five to ten times over—which is okay—but when you're trying to get to know a person who would be your assistant, you need to make sure that you go through the interview process.
Not Asking The Right Questions
The most significant mistake people make when looking for hire is not asking enough questions.
They'll say, tell me about yourself and your experience, but then they don't dig into the specifics of what they need. They ask general questions like, “Tell me about your background.”
And that's a waste of time because if you want to hire someone for a specific job, you should ask them how well they'd do on particular tasks. You know: “This is how we do our marketing—can you do these tasks? Which ones are more comfortable for you? Do you need guidance or training?”
You're trying to get into the nitty-gritty of what this person can do for your business. Not just who they are in general—but who they could be for your company!
Not Seeing What They Can Do For You
The next mistake is focusing on what they've done in the past versus what they can do for you now.
You want to ensure that you're asking the right job interview questions and looking at things differently than their past achievements.
If they have certifications or have worked at other companies with higher standards, don't be blinded by those things. You might have different starter requirements or even higher standards than those they had in their previous jobs, so you need to look at things from a new perspective and ask them what they can do for your business based on what they've done before. Don't use those achievements as a gauge moving forward.
Not Establishing A Good Communication Channel
The next mistake I see many people making is not establishing a good communication channel. This is something that people usually fall through the cracks on, and it just needs a place where an assistant and a client go back and forth quickly.
So what this could look like is having Slack, Messenger, WhatsApp, or Signal—there are many different communication tools you can use to communicate with your assistant. Start with one because it can be confusing if you're giving tasks where you're going to ask for updates on those tasks. It will be easier for you guys to flow throughout the whole thing.
Not Having An Onboarding Process
The next mistake I see is that companies need an onboarding process, which you must have as you hire. An onboarding process will help ensure that your new employees have the right tasks, tools, training, and systems to succeed—or else they will just be set up for failure.
You want to ensure that you've set up what the next 30 days look like, 90 days look like, six months, and one year from now look like with this person. That way, it's easier for you to guide them through the onboarding process so they don't feel like they were just hired to fail.
Failing To Train Your VA
A common mistake that I see when it comes to hiring a virtual assistant is needing more training. I've seen this with different clients and people we've worked with: once they have an assistant, they need a clear idea of what they need their assistant to do, so they don't create a training list for them. Doing this leaves room for error because your assistant won't understand your mindset or the industry you're in—they'll just be figuring things out on their own.
Resourcefulness is a trait you should look for in a virtual assistant, but you must be that guide to ensure they're on the right path.
If you like this blog and want to know if you need a resourceful assistant, take the 2xYou Scale You Scorecard: 2xyou.com/scorecard.