Top Qualities To Look For When Hiring A Virtual Assistant From Another Country
If your business is expanding to the point where you have too much to do and not enough time to get it done, you should probably consider tapping into the remote-talent pool.
Business owners have figured out one great way to reduce costs is to delegate some of their business workloads to an international VA.
A Virtual Assistant can help you to free time from administrative duties to concentrate on what matters most. But with all the options in the market, how do you know you have found the best fit for your business?
In our 6 years of experience connecting Latin American talent with US businesses, we have compiled a list of key qualities to consider when hiring international talent.
1. English Level
Your Virtual Assistant must be proficient in the language you need for your business operations. Be sure to ask about any language certifications, previous experience, or even samples of written work.
Pro tip: All our Team Members go through a 1-month trial to thoroughly asses their skills, before introducing them to our Client's projects.
2. Cultural Affinity
Most Virtual Assistants can adapt to a global business landscape. However, not all of them might have a good understanding of your culture and local business practices.
In our experience, we have found that Latinos share, in general, really similar time zone, cultures, and values to North Americans. They are friendly, warm people, who are easy to talk to and get along with, and usually show high levels of initiative.
3. Work Experience
As with any new hire, you want to find a Team Member with the right set of skills to suit your business needs. Make sure to check their previous roles, certifications, and even hobbies to have a better understanding of their capabilities and talents.
4. Availability?
If this is your first time hiring a Virtual Assistant, you may be unsure of how much help you need. We recommend looking for someone who has full-time availability for your business. Once you get a VA, you’re welcoming a new team member to your organization. If you have someone handling multiple clients, you may not find them when the need arises. If they are solely working by your side, they’ll have full dedication to your company’s success.
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5. Problem-solving skills
This is a complex skill, it requires critical thinking, decision-making, creativity, and information processing. One question you may want to ask to assess a candidate’s problem-solving skills is: what was the hardest challenge you faced during your last job?
6. Proactivity
Showing initiative is one of the main skills you should look for when hiring remotely. You want to trust your Virtual Assistant can take action on their own and keep up their workload with minimum supervision.
7. Excellent communication skills
Working remotely requires clear communication. Our advice is to find someone assertive with the questions they ask and the requirements they need to get a job done. If a worker can't communicate effectively, it could be hard to meet expectations, deadlines, and day-to-day goals.
What else to look for
Here we listed some features we note as green flags that you can use as a checklist when interviewing a potential candidate.
Still can’t decide?
These are some of the most important qualities we advise looking for when hiring a remote worker. But finding the right fit for you may take hours of research and interviewing.
Fortunately, in Valatam we take care of the whole sourcing and recruitment process to match growing US businesses with the best Remote Talent from Latin America.
If you have questions or you'd like to discuss how a VA or Remote Team could help your business, you can check www.valatam.com for more information or Contact Us here.