You finally decided to outsource!  You already know where you need help in your business and which tasks you can delegate. You have carefully identified the things that are stressing you out. You are sure that when your VA is on-board, things will be better – more time for you to focus on the essential. But what’s the next step?

The importance of documentation

Hiring remote workers is not that different from hiring full time staff. Therefore, proper paperwork should be prepared and maintained. You need to clearly write down the description of the VA tasks you want outsourced and the skills that a prospective VA needs to have to get the job.

The documentation would come in handy for future hiring reference – because trust me, once you’ve tried VA outsourcing you would probably keep on hiring remote team members to compliment your human capital.

Writing down job descriptions

The job description (JD) serves as an outline of the tasks, duties, and responsibilities the applicant is expected to perform as your virtual assistant. The clearer this document is, the smoother your hiring process will be. So take extra care in writing this down.

To ensure that you will get a VA who will be able to address the pain points in your business, the tasks you include in the JD should be anchored on your needs.

If you are drowning in emails, your JD entry would probably read like this:

“Responsible for responding to emails while also classifying those that need my personal attention”

If you need someone to engage people in social media, the entry could be like this:

“Responsible for going through the Facebook and Instagram accounts while responding to private messages and engaging people commenting on individual posts and photos”

Make sure that you keep the description entry brief and direct. The most common mistake employers do is overcrowding the section with long and jargon-laden sentences which can put off potential talents. Yes, being specific is important, but the tone and wording is as important in order to entice applicants. Remember – people want to be a part of a team they can relate to. They must feel comfortable with your JD, not intimated by it.

Applicants also want to know information about the company they’re applying to, so make sure to include a short description of your business, its culture, focus, and area of expertise. This would further help them decide if they’re fit for the job. Of course, you should also include a salary range and the benefits they would get if they work at your company.

Writing down a job specification

A job specification (JS) outlines the skill requirements the applicant needs to have to be considered for the job. JS is made from the entries in the job description.

For example, if you have this in your JD:

“Responsible for going through the Facebook and Instagram accounts while responding to private messages and engaging people commenting on the posts and photos”

Then your JS would have something like these:

• Must be very familiar with social media platforms and how this works for businesses
• Above average written communication skills

A good specification of skills would mean you can get a filtered pool of very qualified VA candidates.  Be intentional with the skills that you require. You can even add “preferred” skill sets to target talents better. This adds another layer of qualification that can help you get the best VA for your business.

You should also avoid vague overviews. Instead, indicate a specific level of proficiencies for things such as software platforms or industry knowledge so that you may have a more targeted search. For example, instead of “knowledgeable in Active Campaign”, you should write “proficient in contact list generation, e-mail marketing automation, and newsletters distribution via Active Campaign.”

Remember that you’re outsourcing in order to acquire the best talent minus the geographical constraints. Make the best out of it by writing a killer job description and specification. Good luck!