Hiring a VA
How to hire a virtual assistant who is still there in a year.
Most VA hires that fail did so before anyone was interviewed. The role was described as a list of chores, the skill level was misjudged, and nothing was written down. Here is the process we use instead.
By Regina Tampipi · · 9 min read
Step one: describe outcomes, not chores
The most common way a VA role is written is as a list: inbox, calendar, data entry, research, social posts. It looks like a job description. It is actually a list of things you personally find annoying, which is not the same thing.
The problem is that a chore list gives the assistant no way to tell whether they are doing well, and gives you no way to tell either. Rewrite it as outcomes and the role becomes managable:
- Not "manage the inbox" but "no client email waits more than four business hours for a first response."
- Not "data entry" but "the CRM is accurate enough that the pipeline report can be trusted on Monday morning."
- Not "help with social" but "three posts published a week, on schedule, drafted for review by Thursday."
Write three to five of these. If you cannot, the role is not ready to hire for — and that is worth discovering now rather than in month two.
Step two: be honest about the skill level you need
There are broadly three levels, and the cost difference between them is large enough that guessing is expensive.
Follows a process
Work is documented and repeatable. The assistant executes reliably and escalates exceptions. Lowest rate, but only works if the documentation genuinely exists.
Runs a process
The assistant owns a defined area, handles most exceptions independently and tells you when something needs a decision. This is what most small businesses actually need.
Improves a process
The assistant identifies what is not working and proposes changes. Highest rate, and wasted on a role with no scope to change anything.
The frequent mistake is budgeting for level one while describing level two. If the process is not written down, you are asking someone to run it, not follow it, and you should hire and pay accordingly.
A useful next step
Already know what you want off your plate?
Compare support levels and weekly-hour options, then decide whether you need Essential, Specialized, or Executive & Operations support.
Step three: write a description that filters people out
A good role description is not an advertisement. Its job is to make unsuitable applicants self-select out, which saves everyone time.
Include the outcomes from step one, the hours and time-zone overlap in plain terms, the tools involved, the reporting line, and the things that would make someone unsuitable. Be specific about the awkward parts — if the role needs three hours of overlap with US Central time, say so in the first paragraph, not the last.
Vague, upbeat descriptions attract volume. Volume is not the goal; a shortlist of six genuinely suitable people is better than eighty applications you will not read properly.
Step four: screen for the things that predict success
Interviews reward people who interview well. That is a real skill, but it is not the skill you are hiring for. Weight your screening toward evidence.
- A short paid task resembling the real work. Twenty minutes of actual output tells you more than an hour of conversation.
- Written communication. Most of the relationship will happen in writing. Read their messages as a work sample, because that is what they are.
- How they handle ambiguity. Give an incomplete brief and see whether they ask a clarifying question or guess. Asking is the right answer.
- Reliability signals. Did they arrive on time, follow instructions, and do what they said they would between steps?
- Their setup. Internet reliability, backup power and a workable environment are practical questions, not intrusive ones.
- Genuine references from a previous client, ideally one where the engagement lasted more than a few months.
Step five: prepare tools and access before day one
Nothing damages a new assistant's first week like spending it waiting for logins. Before the start date, have accounts created, permissions set at the level they genuinely need, and a password manager in place so credentials are never sent by email or chat.
Decide in advance which systems they should not have access to, and why. Role-based access is easier to set up at the start than to retrofit after an uncomfortable conversation, and in regulated industries it is not optional.
Also prepare the first two weeks of work. "Settle in and let me know if you have questions" is not an onboarding plan, and it puts the entire burden of momentum on someone who has been there four days.
Step six: onboard in a way that survives you being busy
The first fortnight sets the pattern for the whole engagement. Three things matter more than anything else.
Record instead of explaining. When you walk through a process, screen-record it. You will otherwise explain the same thing three times, and the recording becomes the training material for the next person.
Set a daily rhythm, then taper it. A short written check-in daily for the first two weeks, then two or three times a week, then weekly. Front-load the contact rather than discovering a drift in month two.
Be explicit about what "done" looks like. Show a good example of the output. Assumed standards are the most common source of early friction, and they are entirely preventable.
Step seven: manage the first ninety days deliberately
Set a thirty-day and a ninety-day review from the outset, and tell the assistant they exist. Reviews framed in advance feel like structure; reviews introduced when something is wrong feel like a warning.
At thirty days, check whether the outcomes from step one are being met, what is taking longer than expected and what they need from you. At ninety days, decide honestly whether the match is working — and if it is not, say so early rather than hoping. A rematch at month three is a far smaller cost than a slow decline over a year.
If it is working, this is also the point to expand scope deliberately. Good assistants become more valuable quickly, and the ones who leave usually do so because nobody noticed.
Frequently asked questions
What owners ask before the first hire.
How long does hiring a virtual assistant usually take?
For a well-defined general role, two to four weeks from a finished role description to someone starting is realistic. Specialised roles take longer. The step that most often stretches the timeline is the one before recruiting begins: deciding precisely what the role is.
What should I delegate first?
Start with work that is frequent, low-risk and easy to check — scheduling, inbox triage, data entry, routine research. It builds trust in both directions and surfaces gaps in your documentation while the stakes are low. Client-facing work and anything requiring judgment should come later, once the assistant understands the business.
How many hours should I start with?
Many owners start at ten to twenty hours a week and increase once the workflow settles. Starting part-time is sensible, but be careful of starting so small that neither side can build momentum. Below about ten hours a week it is difficult for anyone to develop real context.
What if the first assistant is not the right fit?
It happens, and it is not necessarily anyone's failure. Say so early and specifically. If you are working through a matching service, ask how rematching is handled before you sign anything. If you hired directly, treat it as a signal to revisit the role description before recruiting again — the same gap usually produces the same outcome.
Do I need to document everything before hiring?
No, and waiting until you have will mean never hiring. Document the two or three processes you most want handed over, then have the assistant document the rest as they learn it. That is genuinely useful early work and leaves you with something the next person can use.
How do I manage someone in a different time zone?
Agree the overlap hours explicitly and protect them for anything needing real-time conversation. Move everything else to writing. Most friction in remote roles is not caused by the time difference itself, but by expectations that were never stated clearly.
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