Tips for Vetting Virtual Executive Assistant Services
If you’re at the point where you’re ready to hire a Virtual Executive Assistant, your next task is to decide how you’re going to find one.
Virtual Executive Assistant services are increasingly popular as an option for sourcing your next Executive Assistant. Broadly speaking, these are agencies or companies that have set up to find Virtual Executive Assistants and match them up with the businesses that are looking to hire.
You’ll find there are several different options out there, but each operates differently. If you want to find the best solution for your needs, you’ll need to do some vetting. How? These are our suggestions:
How are Virtual Executive Assistant agencies different?
A Virtual Executive Assistant agency is generally differentiated from other types of employment agencies because they specialize in executive assistants who work virtually. It might seem like a small distinction, but the ability to work in a virtual environment is a specific skill set, as is being able to identify great candidates for a virtual role.
Virtual Executive Assistant agencies should be highly proficient and experienced with virtual work themselves. They should be particularly adept with the processes and tools needed to operate successfully as a virtual team. This helps them to have a deep understanding of what it takes to be an effective Virtual Executive Assistant.
Look for their reputation
When you’re vetting a potential Virtual Executive Assistant agency, one of the first things to check is their overall reputation. There are clues to determine this:
What are their clients saying? Look for genuine reviews that are attributed to a real client - someone you can actually look up and find.
Look for any accolades or awards they have received. They may be a great agency and not have any sort of recognition yet, but if they do, you know they’ve been acknowledged by a third party.
Look for who partners with them or is willing to recommend them. Businesses are protective of their own reputations and won’t want to recommend anyone that isn’t good at what they do!
Look at who is behind the company. What are their skills, qualifications, and experiences? What makes them an expert at finding and providing high-quality virtual executive assistants?
Look at their current clients
A good clue as to whether a virtual assistant agency might be a good fit is to look at their client list. Do they serve similar clients? Do they specify the types of clients they are looking for? Do you fit the description?
For example, some agencies might target small to medium-sized businesses and usually don’t help corporate clients. Others won’t take clients that are smaller than corporate. Agencies select clientele that they’re confident they can serve well, so make sure you fall within their description.
Look into their hiring process
You’re looking for a Virtual Executive Assistant that will work well with you. The Executive Assistant role involves being a proactive, engaged assistant, anticipating needs and working as a team. Virtual Executive Assistants and executives work very closely together, so it’s important that they’re also a good match in terms of personality and work style.
Finding the right match comes down to a thorough hiring process. What sort of background work does the agency do on their candidates? How do they determine that a Virtual Executive Assistants has the right level of skills and experience? What do they do to ensure they can match Virtual Executive Assistants with the right clients?
Ideally, you’re looking for a Virtual Executive Assistant agency that has a strict vetting process for sourcing candidates. Some hiring agencies rely heavily on automated systems that churn a large number of candidates into a pool. They play a volume game where they’re banking on at least one of their many candidates being suitable.
You don’t want that. You want a final selection of candidates who have been vetted all the way through and determined to be highly qualified. This means the agency will have done some legwork narrowing down applicants, rather than presenting a large number of choices.
Make sure they’re definitely providing Executive Assistants
Virtual Executive Assistants shouldn’t be mixed up with Virtual Assistants, yet sometimes agencies seem to confuse the two. Look for an agency that is definitely providing Virtual Executive Assistants!
There are many differences between the Virtual Executive Assistant and Virtual Assistant roles. For one thing, a Virtual Executive Assistant takes a more proactive role, taking on project management tasks and generally not needing a huge amount of oversight to get on with what needs to be done. Virtual Executive Assistants work at an executive level already and don’t need to be “managed.” They are a thought partner for executives.
On the other hand, a Virtual Assistant usually works from a list of tasks - one that a manager needs to provide them with. They don’t operate so much as a thought partner because they’re not expected to be at that level in their role. VAs generally need a manager and often prefer to work in a more task-focused way.
Know who you need and make sure that’s who the agency is hiring for!
Check their work terms
Another difference between agencies are their terms for work. Some agencies source the Virtual Executive Assistants for you to hire as an employee. Others, (like Worxbee) are maintained as the employer of the Virtual Executive Assistants and contract out their services to the client.
Our contracts mean that we’re able to offer “fractional” Virtual Executive Assistants - Executive Assistants that work a certain number of hours per month for a client. For those that don’t have the need or budget for a full time Executive Assistant, this becomes an affordable way to access Virtual Executive Assistant services.
When you’re looking at agencies, you need to decide: do you want a full-time, in-house Executive Assistant? Or, do you want to contract Virtual Executive Assistant services for a certain amount of time each month? For agencies that offer the latter, look into their terms of service. You’ll usually find a minimum number of hours per month is required (ours is 40 hours).
Another important factor to look out for here is, how do they communicate? If you’re contracting a Virtual Executive Assistants from the agency, you may have cause to communicate directly with the agency to ensure your needs are met. Look for one that is highly communicative and has a reliable system in place.
Look into pricing
We’ve left pricing until last, but of course it’s a factor for most companies. Importantly, what are you getting for your money? How is the agency adding value for their clients? “You get what you pay for” is often the case, so least expensive doesn’t always mean best value.
It’s often easier if you can visualize what you’re getting. We would do something like create a table showing your shortlist of agencies, what they charge and key features that you’re getting as part of their service.
Final thoughts
You’ll find you have several options when it’s time to hire Virtual Executive Assistant services, so it’s important to do some vetting so that you get the best possible match for your needs.
Look for an agency that specializes in Virtual Executive Assistants, and definitely make that distinction between Virtual Executive Assistants and Virtual Assistants! Look into their hiring processes and how they determine a good match between Executive Assistant and client.
Finally, if you need an agency that provides top-quality Virtual Executive Assistants, including on fractional time, schedule a complimentary consultation with Worxbee! We’d love to help you find your Virtual Executive Assistant match.
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