We get loads of questions about hiring and working with VAs. In this blog, we will boil down a bunch of them. Of course, please reach out if you have any other queries.
How do I know my VA will have the basic skills to complete the tasks I need them to?
I’ve had issues with VAs not having good language skills in the past; how do you deal with that?
I need someone good with Word and Excel. Can you help?
How do I know my VA will be good at the tasks I need them to do?
Our screening process eliminates candidates based on a range of criteria. Language skills are a prerequisite, as is online knowledge, access to the internet and a long list of other requirements.
By the time you’ve met your Linked VA candidates, they’ve already been through a rigorous process.
Then there’s our guarantee, which we’ll discuss in a moment.
Is my Linked VA based in an office?
Do you have an office?
Will my VA work out of your office?
Our head office is in Brisbane, Australia, and it’s where our sales, account management and operations teams are based. When we started the business, the idea was to have an office where our VAs would be comfortable and collaborate with each other. You know, somewhere they’d love showing up to each day. Ahhh, our designs were something special.
We asked the VAs what their perfect office would look like, and the responses were surprising –
“Traffic here is terrible, and I don’t like having to go to an office.”
“I prefer to be close to my family.”
“Weather sometimes makes travelling on the roads hard.”
“I’m better when I work from somewhere closer to home.”
So, we set up our team with all the technological requirements for their role, put some solid checks and balances in place and set them up to succeed as a mobile workforce.
Your VA has a direct team leader and is part of a local team, ensuring they feel supported and can ask questions, double-check work, and chat with real people.
How does hiring a Linked VA work?
What’s your hiring process?
Diagnosis and then prescription.
First, you chat with one of our team to see if a virtual assistant will improve your business. If we both agree a VA is suitable for you, we’ll create a list of potentials for you to interview (although this may be a very short list or even one person for a specialist role). We’ll complete any required training and upskilling, and once you’re happy, you can start working together. At this stage, you’ll be assigned a Linked VA account manager who is based in Australia, and you’ll also have regular contact with us through the initial onboarding process.
What if my VA doesn’t work out?
What if my VA isn’t the right fit?
What if something goes wrong?
Do you have a guarantee?
Regardless of how long you’ve had your VA, if your requirements evolve, if there’s a personality clash or an undiagnosed skill-set gap, we’ll replace them based on your previous or new requirements.
Is my VA exclusive to me?
Does my VA have other jobs?
All full-time Linked VAs are just that – full-time. If you have a part-time VA, we may give them another (part-time) client if they want extra hours.
What training does my Linked VA get?
Do you do training?
Does your company do training itself, or is it outsourced?
We have meaningful relationships with our VAs. It’s important to us that, as a part of our team, they are well-treated and can grow their skill-set if they wish to.
We provide direct, specialised training in an ever-growing range of disciplines.
Additionally, we have regular team days and a huge amount of online interaction. We take pride in retaining the best VAs by making them feel valued.
How do I assign tasks?
How do I give my VA work?
Do I have to lay out the work each week?
This is all part of the setup process. We discuss how you work and the most effective way to communicate ongoing and reactive tasks.
Our VAs can use Slack, Flock and other messaging software, but if you’re email-based or use project management software such as Monday.com or Asana, that’s fine too.
If you think of other tasks you’d like your VA to do, we recommend using screen recordings to who them precisely what you’re after. If you get stuck, you can always reach out to your account manager; they’ve seen it all before.
If you’d like to learn more, click here or email [email protected]