Want to hire a virtual assistant? It is simple, but only on the surface. Meaning, it’s easy to just hire someone, but it’s quite difficult to ensure your effort bears fruit. Hence this blog.

We will (obviously) discuss in detail the various ways you can hire but we will most importantly add how to prepare before you start looking for the right vendor and what to expect from premium virtual assistant service providers. Then, why waste anymore time on the intro? Let’s dive in.

How to hire a virtual assistant: making the right choice

Broadly speaking, there are three types of business model you can choose from when you want to hire a virtual assistant.

  1. Partner with a managed service provider 
  2. Hire freelancers  
  3. Use a contract agency

The best option would depend on the business model and cost that suits you the most. However, you can decide what may suit you the most after we expand on the plus and minus of each model.

1. Managed virtual assistant services

By design (evident from the name itself) the managed service model aims to minimize your workload and ensure greater results. But every model has its pros and cons:

Pros:

  • Don’t need to manage your VA

    This is absolutely essential when it comes to hiring a virtual assistant. Executives already have more work than they should handle, that’s why managed service providers remove the responsibility of managing the VA and make the helping hand truly helpful.

  • Have a team behind your VA team

    By partnering with a managed virtual assistant services provider you are not just hiring an independent contractor, you are also getting an entire support team. An engagement manager or an account manager, backup assistants, managers to handle performance issues allow you to sit back and let their team run the show.

  • Don’t have to worry about security

    Managed service providers generally are able to provide greater data security among other models. Take us for example, as all our employees work under the same roof we can use our business grade data security systems across all computers, facilities, and networks to ensure complete security.

  • Scalability is as easy as it can get

    Having scalability is crucial for larger enterprises and businesses especially when they need to expand their remote teams at a fast pace. With managed VA services scaling up or down is much easier compared to other models which takes time finding appt personnel.

  • Get access to a vast tech stack

    Generally, a managed VA service provider employs hundreds of VAs who are experienced working with almost every tech platform businesses use today. It is the service provider’s responsibility if you feel that your VA needs a refresher course or some training.

Cons:

  • Price

    For managed service providers it is seldom the case that the price range is their USP. In India, the rate of a VA is typically ranging from $5 to 15 per hour. You can expect managed service providers’ cost to start at the middle up to the end of this range.

  • Specialized skills

    Most managed service providers do not offer VAs for highly specialized skills like coding or web designing but for general admin and back-office tasks. However, that’s not a problem if you work with DedicatedVA.

  • Off-hour coverage

    Typically, most managed VA service providers will cover U.S. business hours, but they may not always cover weekends.

  • Occasional help

    Most managed VA service providers would need you to send requirements that meet minimum monthly hour commitments. Fortunately again, DedicatedVA offers customisable plans suiting any of your requirements.

2. Freelance virtual assistants

There are various reasons why many businesses prefer working with freelancers and many don’t. You can get an overall idea from the pros and cons of hiring freelancers:

Pros:

  • Flexibility and expertise

    It is difficult to find one expert who has all the necessary skills for your upcoming project. Each project can require a different set of skills and in that scenario hiring freelancers can be a good idea to meet the varying requirement.

    As you can pick and choose the unique expertise offered by the freelancers it lets you fit them into your upcoming and ongoing projects based on their experience and expertise.

  • Cost-effectiveness

    Freelancers, in most cases, work remotely which saves you a lot of money you would have used up sustaining in-house employees. Therefore, by hiring freelancers businesses can cut costs without settling for unqualified and inexperienced local workforce.

    Moreover, you also enjoy the flexibility of paying them on a project basis, hourly, or monthly.

  • Access to larger talent pool

    When it comes to hiring a freelancer you can access the largest (english speaking) talent pool there is. It allows you to equip your business with specifically skilled professionals who can get the job done without much intervention from you.

    Rather than onboarding a full-time employee, businesses benefit from working with a freelancer because their specific expertise adds value to the project without putting much financial strain.

Cons:

  • Lack of security

    When working with remote freelance employees businesses stay under security risk. Freelancers have access to process documents, data repositories, and the company’s various systems. Making sure they are not privy to any sensitive information can be difficult. Even though businesses conduct regular checks and implement clear security guidelines they cannot be 100% sure about the security.

  • Lack of commitment

    If you want a dedicated virtual assistant, a freelancer by design cannot be that because they have to handle multiple projects at once. Due to the irregular schedule and heavy workload you may also experience a longer response time to urgent requests. And it is not uncommon or unnatural for a freelancer to miss deadlines or not fully commit to any one or two of their projects.

    Moreover, as most freelancers work from their homes, incompetent systems and unstable internet connection can also disrupt your workflow.

  • No supervision

    Lack of supervision is one of the biggest disadvantages of working with freelancers. Unlike managed virtual assistants or full-time employees for that matter, the working hours differ significantly and along with that their quality of work too. This can lead to a lot of issues especially when you have to meet certain deadlines.

  • Virtual assistant marketplaces:

    Pros and cons of hiring VAs from gig marketplaces like Upwork or Fiverr are similar to hiring freelancers. But marketplace VAs generally have many samples and reviews that can help you gauge their reliability and quality.

3. Contract agencies’ virtual assistant

Let’s go through the pros and cons of hiring a virtual assistant through a VA staffing agency to clarify whether this model will suit you or not.

Pros:

  • Total control

    If you hire through a contract agency you will be the one who manages the virtual assistant. From assigning tasks to providing training and feedback will be your responsibility. As you will connect directly with the VA, it will be easier to understand their working style and how you can communicate with them so that they can give their best when it matters the most. This level of control is somewhat missing when there is a manager for taking care of all this.

  • Flexibility

    Most contract agencies who vet and interview benched candidates based on your specific needs can also offer you flexibility in terms of how many hours per month you want the service for, change in your needs, and so on. Apart from being cost-effective (usually cheaper than managed services) the flexibility they offer can be one of their main advantages.

  • Specialized skill

    The model allows you to benefit from hiring specialized skills as you get to work with the VA one on one. For example, if you hire a VA for web designing or graphic design you will have to stay connected with them throughout the process because these tasks involve shaping the brand image.

Cons:

  • Inefficient

    Usually, hiring VAs through a contractor is time-consuming. First you have to meet with a consultant who will identify your needs and then you will either interview a set of candidates they think fit, or they will interview and present you a VA. Generally, this process takes a minimum of 1 week. This would not work if you have urgent requirements.

  • Costly

    Typically, businesses go for unmanaged VAs to cut costs. However, in the long-run it costs them more. Upon onboarding, you may need to invest time and money for their training, project management, and performance management.

  • Hit-or-miss

    Because your VA is not managed you cannot be sure about how their progress trajectory would ultimately impact your productivity. For many businesses this level of uncertainty is unacceptable and after investing their time with this hit-or-miss approach they switch to managed VA services.

  • Lack of security

    Most unmanaged VAs will be working from their homes. This translates directly to security issues because they have access to company data repositories, sensitive documents, and various other systems but there is no robust security system in place to guarantee safety.

How much should you pay for a virtual assistant?

We have already mentioned that virtual assistant costs can vary from $5 to $15 per hour even when you are only considering one country, India. In short, the answer to the question how much does a VA cost is that it depends.

Various factors influence the cost of hiring a VA:

  • Type of task you want your VA to complete 
  • Amount of quality control you want 
  • Type of relationship you want   
  • Managerial responsibility you want to take on 

Now let’s take a look at how hiring a virtual assistant through all three modes discussed above can cost you.

How much should you pay for a managed VA service:

In case of managed virtual assistant services the assistants are their employees. Therefore, the service provider hires, trains, and maximizes their performance on your behalf. To make the service work an account manager will serve as your partner.

U.S. based businesses, that hire their employees from offshore countries, offer $20 to $25 per hour rate. However, offshore businesses, for example, managed VA service providers from India, can cost you a lot less, ranging from $3.74 per hour (e.g. $599 for 160 hour per month) to $3.9 per hour (e.g. $156 for 40 hours per month). Many service providers like DedicatedVA also offer customization on plans that lets you choose your hours so that you waste no time or money.

Go for a managed VA service if:

  • You need any tasks completed that demands specialized or a general set of skills 
  • You want the service provider to train your VA on your systems and tools 
  • A guaranteed service level is a requirement 
  • You don’t have any time for managing your VA

These high-touch models allow you to hire quickly and offload tasks immediately without worrying about day-to-day training, management, relationship building, or quality control.   

With these services you will probably work with an account manager first to ready the VA before engagement so that your VA can get going from day 1. Most of these services also have the capacity to have multiple backups to step in when the primary VA is absent. 

How much should you pay for a freelance VA:

You can hire a freelance VA through a job board like Craigslist or Indeed.com or a marketplace like fiverr or Upwork. You can get a VA for as low as $10 per hour on Upwork, while you may have to pay around $20 for VAs on job boards. You will get the lowest-cost options if you choose a freelancer to become your VA.

Go for a freelance VA if:

  • The relationship you want to have is transactional and sporadic 
  • The kind of work you have for outsourcing is project-based and short-term 
  • You are comfortable tracking and managing the virtual assistant on a daily basis 
  • You are okay with providing regular training 
  • A direct responsibility for quality control is what you are looking for 
  • You are looking for a very specific skill that only a freelancer is offering

As freelance virtual assistants will work for many clients and work on multiple projects simultaneously they can’t promise dedicated time. Therefore, delegating short-term project-based tasks can be a good idea.

Although you pay much less (compared to other models) this approach involves some risks. As you are not bringing a freelancer into your team you have a lot less control. Since freelancers are prime targets for cyberattacks such as phishing, data breaches, and ransomware, you must have proper risk management strategies in place.

How much should you pay for a contract VA agency:

You can choose from a bench of vetted VAs that contract VA agencies maintain. Most agencies are looking for bunch pricing by monthly retainers and long-term work.

If you go for agencies that match you with U.S. virtual assistants, pricing starts from $30 to $100 per hour. Otherwise, for offshore virtual assistants the pricing starts close to $20 per hour.

Go for a contracting agency VA if:

  • You are willing to build a productive relationship 
  • You are looking to delegate administrative work and need ongoing support 
  • Managing the virtual assistant on a daily basis and tracking progress is comfortable for you  
  • You look forward to providing regular training 
  • You want to be in charge of quality control

These agencies are essentially what we call match-makers. That’s why you cannot expect much support in getting quality control or relationship building right. On top of that, most of these agencies do not specialize in virtual assistant services.

How to hire a virtual assistant: preparation and best practices

Let’s take a detailed look at how to best prepare for, hire, and start working with virtual assistant:

1. Define your goals

The first step is always defining what you want out of this relationship. This includes, defining what tasks you want to outsource, what skills do these tasks demand, how you want your VA to handle these tasks, so on and so forth.

This step will make you aware of your requirements and help you decide what type of virtual assistant you need (for example, whether a general administrative assistant would be enough or you need industry-specific expertise).

2. Figure out the scope of work

The next step is deciding the time commitment and the scope of work. Do you need someone for full-time, or part-time help on a temporary basis? For ongoing needs you may want someone to build a long-partnership with, but for you need little engagements for short-term projects.

The scope of work will help you determine the accurate VA arrangement you can most benefit from. With this understanding you can make exact requests to the service providers which is very helpful for them.

3. Clearly define job expectations

At this stage you have a clear idea about what kind of relationship you are looking for and whom among the three models you are going to choose. From the get-go of the relationship you should set straightforward and clear expectations around the task. Do not hesitate to be extra nitpicky about the details.

Setting clear expectations also includes defining success metrics. It will help your VA to stay aligned with your goals and values.

4. Emphasize clear communication

For working with remote experts it is essential to have clear communication from the beginning of the working relationship. Establish a regular meeting or check-in cadence through communication channels (like Google meet, zoom, slack, etc.) for starters.

Creating a thorough onboarding plan and making specific milestones is also necessary to smoothly integrate the VA into your operations.

5. Request and provide regular feedback

Building a strong relationship with your VA is only possible if you have open communication. The first step for this openness should be taken by you. You should encourage your VA to share any input they have about work and you will also provide feedback that is ‘constructive’. Having a regular feedback system can build great two-way communication that encourages a productive partnership and effective collaboration.

What to expect from premium VA service providers?

Now that you know who and how to hire, it may be beneficial for you to know what to expect from a premium virtual assistant service provider.

A premium virtual assistant will get to know your business and how ‘you’ operate. They will proactively find out ways to save your money and time. If you allow or encourage it, your VA can pay attention to core areas like process improvement, operational structure, volunteer and employee development, customer service, and marketing to contribute to your business growth.

Apart from that, you can expect no hidden fees, customisable plans, reasonable pricing, and excellent grip over their specific domain.

Final thoughts

If you want to hire a virtual assistant the first thing you should know is who to hire. Your requirements primarily dictate the answer to that. Upon deciding who to hire you can follow the simple virtual assistant hiring best practices to move into the operational phase. Remember, hiring a VA is easy, but it takes effort to ensure your investment bears fruit.

If you are looking for a reliable virtual service provider you should take a look at how DedicatedVA can help with your unique requirements. Schedule a meeting today and get the VA you need.

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