Deciding to hire a virtual assistant is the easy part. Running the hire is where most first-timers come unstuck, usually because they treat it as a quick transaction rather than a hire.
This guide walks through the process step by step, from writing the role to the end of the first month. If you are still working out what a VA is, what the different engagement models involve or what it costs, start with our guide to virtual assistant services in Australia and come back to this once you know what you are buying.
Before you start
Two things need to exist before you advertise anything.
A list of the tasks you want handed over, with rough hours against each one. And some record of how those tasks are actually done, even if it is just a screen recording made at your desk.
If you have not done that yet, our article on hiring a virtual assistant for the first time covers how to work out what to outsource and how to document it. Do that first. Everything below assumes it is in place.
Step 1: Write the role down properly
Most VA hires go wrong here. The brief says general admin support, the candidate interprets it their own way, and nobody finds out they disagreed until week three.
A usable role description covers:
- The tasks, listed specifically. Not admin, but process supplier invoices in Xero and follow up overdue accounts.
- The hours, and which of them need to overlap with your working day.
- The tools the person will use, including anything they need prior experience with.
- The industry context, if the role needs it. Someone handling NDIS participant records needs different background to someone doing general reception work.
- What good looks like. How you will know the work is being done well after a month.
- What sits outside the role, which is worth stating explicitly.
That last one saves more grief than anything else on the list.
Step 2: Decide who does the finding
You have two broad options, and the right one depends on how much of the process you want to run yourself.
Do it yourself. Advertise the role on a job board or a freelance marketplace, review applications, and screen and interview candidates directly. This costs less up front. It also means you are writing the ad, filtering what comes back, checking claims and running the interviews, and you carry the risk if the person does not work out. Volume is the usual shock. A well-paid remote admin role can attract hundreds of applications.
Use a specialist provider. You supply the role, the provider sources, screens and shortlists, and you interview a small number of candidates who have already been checked. You pay for that, either as a monthly fee or a one-off recruitment fee.
The pillar guide covers the engagement models in detail, including who employs the person under each one. If you are choosing between them, read that before you commit.
At Digitek Outsourcing, Managed VA Solutions covers the whole process including payroll and ongoing support, while Direct VA Recruitment finds and screens the candidate and hands over from there. Employer of Record sits between the two: we find and legally employ the person, so the contract, payroll and statutory contributions are ours, while you manage the work day to day.
Step 3: Screen the shortlist
Whether the shortlist comes from your own advertisement or from a provider, check the same things.
Does the experience match the role, not the job title? Virtual assistant covers an enormous range. Look for evidence of the specific work you need done.
How do they write? For most VA roles, written communication is the job. The application itself is your first sample. Vague, generic applications rarely improve after hiring.
Can they explain their own process? Ask a candidate to describe how they handled a recurring task in a previous role. People who have really done the work describe it in specifics. People who have not, describe it in adjectives.
What is their setup? Internet reliability, backup power and a quiet place to take calls all matter for remote work, and none of them show up on a resume.
If a provider did the screening, ask what they actually checked and why each person made the shortlist. A shortlist without reasoning is just a list.
Step 4: Interview for the actual job
Two or three candidates is enough. Keep the interview practical.
Useful questions:
- Walk me through how you would handle this specific task. Then give them a real one from your list.
- What would you do if you were halfway through something and realised the instructions were wrong?
- How do you keep track of what you have done and what is outstanding?
- Tell me about a time you had to chase someone for information. How did you handle it?
- What would you need from me in your first week?
That last question tells you a lot. Candidates who ask for processes, access and a point of contact have done this before. Candidates who say nothing, I will figure it out, usually have not.
If the role involves working across time zones, confirm the overlap in the interview and be specific about it. Flexible is not an answer.
Step 5: Run a paid trial task
Before the full engagement starts, give the preferred candidate a small piece of real work and pay them for it.
Keep it representative and keep it bounded. Two or three hours is enough. You are checking whether they follow instructions, whether they ask questions when something is unclear, and whether the output needs redoing.
Pay for it either way. Unpaid trials attract the wrong candidates and lose you the good ones.
Step 6: Get the agreement right
Before the first proper day, put the following in writing:
- Scope, and what is outside it
- Hours, including the overlap you agreed
- How and how often you will communicate
- What needs your approval before it goes out
- Confidentiality, and what happens to your data if the arrangement ends
- Notice period on both sides
If you are engaging someone as an employee rather than through a provider, the Fair Work Ombudsman’s small business best practice guide sets out the minimum obligations that apply.
Access is the part people rush. Give the minimum permissions the role needs, use a password manager rather than emailing credentials, and turn on multi-factor authentication everywhere it is available. The Australian Signals Directorate’s small business cyber security guidance covers the baseline steps. Our article on working securely with virtual assistants goes through this properly, and it is worth reading before day one rather than after an incident.
If you are working with an offshore assistant, the employment side matters too. Our article on whether it is safe to hire overseas covers the practical concerns Australian businesses raise most often.
Step 7: Onboard properly
The first month decides whether this works.
Day one. Access to what they need and nothing more. A short call to walk through the first task in real time. Introductions to anyone they will deal with.
Week one. Two or three tasks only. Check the output daily and give specific feedback. Expect questions and treat them as a good sign.
Weeks two to four. Add tasks as the earlier ones become reliable. Move from daily checks to a regular check-in. Start writing down the answers to repeated questions, so the next person has a head start.
End of month one. Sit down and review it honestly against the what good looks like you wrote in step 1. Adjust the scope, the hours or the process. This is the conversation most people skip, and it is the one that turns a decent hire into a long-term one.
Mistakes that cost people their first VA
Handing over everything in week one. The single most common cause of failure. Two or three tasks, then build.
Hiring before documenting. If you cannot explain how a task is done, nobody can do it for you.
No agreed communication rhythm. Without one you get either radio silence or constant messages, and both are exhausting.
Treating them as a supplier rather than a team member. Assistants who understand the business spot problems. Assistants who only receive tasks do not.
Giving up in month one. The first few weeks cost you time. That is the investment, not the return.
Frequently asked questions
What should I include in a virtual assistant job description?
List the specific tasks rather than a general category, the weekly hours and which of them need to overlap with your working day, the software involved and any tools the person must already know, any industry background required, how you will measure the work after the first month, and what falls outside the role. Being explicit about what is not included prevents most early misunderstandings.
What questions should I ask in a virtual assistant interview?
Ask them to walk through how they would handle a real task from your list rather than describing their general strengths. Ask what they would do if instructions turned out to be wrong, how they track outstanding work, and what they would need from you in their first week. Candidates who ask for processes, access and a clear point of contact have usually done the job before.
Should I give a virtual assistant a trial task?
Yes, and pay for it. A short piece of real work, two or three hours, tells you more than another interview. You are looking at whether they follow instructions, ask questions when something is unclear, and produce work that does not need redoing. Unpaid trials tend to put off the candidates you most want.
What do I need to have ready before my virtual assistant starts?
An agreed scope in writing, the accounts and permissions they need and nothing beyond that, a password manager rather than shared credentials, two-factor authentication switched on, a signed confidentiality agreement, and the first two or three tasks documented well enough to follow without you sitting alongside them.
How long before a virtual assistant is actually saving me time?
Expect the first two to four weeks to cost you time rather than save it, because you are training, answering questions and checking output. Most owners see the balance tip somewhere in the second month, and the gain keeps growing as more tasks move across and the assistant learns how you work.
Getting started
If you would rather not run the advertising, screening and shortlisting yourself, that is the part we handle.
Send us the task list you put together in step 1 and we will tell you what sort of role it adds up to, which engagement model fits, and what it would cost.
