At some point, every entrepreneur asks the question "How can I clone myself?" Since cloning isn't actually possible yet, the next best thing is to hire an assistant. If you can offload half of the work you do to others, that's as good as being a carbon copy of yourself. Today, many entrepreneurs are hiring virtual assistants from the Philippines and other foreign destinations, where a full-time assistant with good English and internet skills can be hired for $500 to $1000 per month.
I was inspired to research a virtual assistant by reading Tim Ferriss' bestseller Action Week when it was first released. I tried a few, but struggled to get it to work the way I wanted. I thought I was making mistakes, but I wasn't sure what they were or where I could learn how to work with virtual assistants the right way.
Then I read Virtual Freedom by Chris Ducker, which details how to find, interview, hire, and manage virtual assistants. Ferris inspired me with the "why," but I didn't understand the "how" part of the equation until I read Decker's book.
Since then I've started building a team of virtual assistants in a completely different way than my previous efforts, and with much better results. Part of my success has been asking the right questions during the interview phase. Another book that is a great resource on this process is Who by Geoff Smart and Randy Street, which takes a scientific approach to the hiring process that completely changed my work.
While there are other basic questions I ask during my virtual assistant hiring process, here are some of the most important questions I value and why I ask them.
1. How did you end up where you are today?
This is not an idle conversation, I want to see if the Virtual Assistant is comfortable talking about himself, if he is comfortable with such an open question, what he chooses to share and emphasize and what he doesn't. This is a great way to start the conversation in a relaxed and spontaneous way.
2. What do you enjoy outside of work?
It allows me to learn more about the Virtual Assistant on a personal level and reveals things I might not have discovered with other questions. A veteran I recently interviewed chose to tell me that he runs his own small business together, and this was valuable information for me because I love hiring entrepreneurs. Note: "I like to party, drink, and disappear for three days at a time" is not a good answer to this question, and yes, I did that to my VA once. It didn't last long.
3. What type of business are you best at? What are you most interested in learning more about? What are you not good at? What would you rather not do?
The last thing I want to do is put someone in a role that isn't a good fit, and if I just talk about what I need to do and the Virtual Assistant desperately needs the job, I want to hear what they tell me, not what I want to hear. I ask these questions as early in the process as possible to make sure the VA knows at least what I'm looking for.
4. What is your preferred method of communication?
I am a man of letters. My business partner is a phone guy. I'm open to working with a VA either way, but I might be tempted to hire a Virtual Assistant whose preferred method of communication is email. Choose the one that suits you.