Questions For Virtual Assistant Interviews

The Value Of A Virtual Assistant

A good virtual assistant can be a lifesaver for a busy executive. Admin work is important, or you wouldn’t be doing it yourself, but it is not core to your business.

Most executives spend about 16 hours a week on day-to-day tasks like setting up meetings, planning travel, filing expenses, entering and maintaining customer data, invoicing, and processing payments.

Delegating these tasks can reap huge benefits. Use these virtual assistant interview questions to someone you can trust with these tasks and unlock your productivity and so you can take your business to the next level of growth.

What Is Your Experience With Task

At the end of the day, there isnt anything like a standard template for a job of a virtual assistant. If you work for a traveling businessman you may be responsible mainly for answering emails, and arranging their travels .

But if you work for a blogger or a successful internet portal ), you may respond for leading an outreach campaign, or even for SEO optimization of existing articles.

So this really depends, but you can be sure that when they ask you about your experience with a certain task or program, you will need it in your work.

My suggestion:

• If you have an experience, explain clearly how you gained your experience, and how long have you been working with the software .
• If you do not have an experience, ensure the interviewer that you are a quick learner, strong with computers, and are sure that you will learn to work with it in no time.

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Li is a writer at Magic devoted to capturing stories that provide insights and spark conversations. By working remotely, she makes the most out of her time as a Magician and a hobbyist in art, poetry, and baking. She loves to help people in any way she can but also enjoys quiet time for meditation.

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Magic: Get A Virtual Assistant Without The Hassles Of Hiring

Magic lets you skip the entire process of hiring virtual assistants so you can promptly get work done. Just talk to us about your business needs and goals. Well find a pre-vetted virtual assistant for you within 72 hours!

To help you make a decision, you can ask virtual assistant interview questions to the candidate in an initial call well facilitate. Magic will also help in the VA onboarding process by scheduling another call between you and your chosen candidate. We also have integration tools you can use so your virtual assistant can dive into tasks immediately.

Book a call with Magic and hire a virtual assistant starting at just $10/hour!

Have You Hired And Fired Other Employees Tell Me About Your Worst Experience Firing Someone

I’ve found that hiring employees who have experience hiring and firing have a different perspective that is beneficial to my business. They are harder working, more proactive, less entitled, and willing to do whatever it takes to get things done. It also tells me they have management experience and the potential to help me manage a team.

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How Would You Describe The Journey That Has Led You To Where You Are Today

This question helps you understand the candidates background. It also shows you how many personal details this person is willing to share. You arent trying to establish a friendship, but getting to know where this person is coming from equips you with the knowledge you need to help the person grow.

Remember that youre the leader of your business and, as a transformational leader, you have a responsibility to help each person who enters your team become the best version of himself or herself.

Now That You Have The Right Questions Get The Right Candidates

Youve finalized the job description and are prepared with effective virtual assistant interview questions to ask your top candidates. But where can you find the best candidates? Get your search for a virtual assistant started with an expert with years of experience matching candidates to employers. Start talking to great candidates today with a free virtual assistant job listing on Monster.

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What Are Your Most Outstanding Skills And Capabilities

You want to know where the VA’s strengths lie and whether they have skills and experience with what you want most. If your primary point points are CRM data entry and maintenance, you need someone who knows how to do that.

This question can also help you tell you what areas of work will require the least oversite on your part.

How Did You Get Where You Are Today

This question aims to show if the candidate is comfortable telling people about themself. This is important if you want to hire someone for a sales or customer service role that requires good people skills.

Its an open-ended question so they can share and emphasize their VA skills and qualities. Its also a good conversation starter since its casual and relaxed.

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What Methods Do You Prefer For Communication

This question is about making sure your work styles are aligned. Are you tied to your email all day? Or do you prefer to text while on the go? Do you like talking face-to-face over Skype or Google Hangouts? The ideal candidate will be comfortable communicating with you through the channels you use most naturally.

How Have You Handled Situations Where You Disagreed With Your Boss

Mumbling behind someones back never solves a problem. You should know whether this candidate is able to respectfully voice his or her opinions or hides in the shadows. Its not only about getting the job done. Having someone on the team who can make the good thing youve got going even better is crucial.

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Use A Strong Job Description To Bridge To Your Interview Questions

Writing a clear, detailed job description helps filter the pool of virtual assistant applicants and allows you to focus your questions on the prospective hires with the skills you need.

As you move from your job description to your short-list of applicants to interview, your questions will serve as a vital tool for narrowing that list even further to get to the best fit. There are a few best practices to consider when preparing an interview with a candidate. However, most of the questions you ask during the interview will vary based on your specific requirements.

Basic Virtual Assistant Interview Questions

Start with the basic information you need to qualify a virtual assistant candidate. You can skip the questions that are probably on the candidate’s resume or application like:

• How long have you been a virtual assistant?
• What tools and technologies do you know?
• What types of businesses have you worked for?
• Are you familiar with X ?
• What are your working hours?
• What are your salary expectations?

You can prescreen for this information before the interview and excluded candidates that don’t meet your basic requirements.

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Questions About Background And Experience

The next set of questions interviewers may ask is about your academic and professional qualifications. It can be helpful to have at least a diploma and relevant work history. Demonstrate how your qualifications match the job description to increase your chances of securing the job. These questions also enable interviewers to decide what type of job responsibilities to assign you and your preferred management style. Here are some common questions you might get about your background and experience:

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What Do You Enjoy Doing Outside Of Work

This virtual assistant interview question gives you a good sense of the values held by the candidate and how those values may impact his or her work. For instance, someone who responds with I like to party. You only live once right? may not be reliable when it comes to meeting deadlines. Having a good time is great but it becomes a problem when it hampers the persons ability to work. This question can help you quickly identify some red flags.

On the other hand, someone who says, I barely have time to sleep between kids, house, and work. probably isn’t a good fit either. They may be constantly battling fatigue and overwhelm and miss deadlines regularly.

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What Do You Like To Do Outside Of Work

The virtual assistant is interviewing you too, and they will want to know if you are concerned about their life outside of work. The VA will be a part of your team, and you should treat them like you do other employees.

One of the benefits of hiring an offshore virtual assistant is that you bring cultural diversity into your organization, which has proven to make businesses more innovative and more profitable by bringing fresh ideas and to the table.

How Have You Handled Clients Who Dont Clearly Articulate Their Needs

When interviewing virtual assistants, its important to understand how open to asking questions they are. Will they ask for clarification and additional details or get frustrated and try to figure things out on their own?

It is often frustrating to deal with clients who arent clear about what they need. It takes a good measure of self-restraint to avoid venting that frustration. You need to know that your virtual assistant has that self-restraint and the ability to manage his or her emotions effectively. You dont want to lose a client because your virtual assistant didnt know how best to deal with that clients haphazard tendencies.

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Do Your Research In Advance

You should prepare for a virtual interview just as you would for an in-person interview. All aspects of the interview are equally important, starting with analyzing the job description, thoroughly researching the company, preparing your elevator pitch, and practicing responses to common interview questions.

The process of researching an employer involves scouring several sources to learn more about the company you’re interested in. Look at the mission statement and history of the organization. Research key players’ backgrounds on credible websites, like Facebook and LinkedIn.

What Time Zone Do You Live And Work In

Its important to make sure that the Virtual Assistant can match your company hours if they are going to be working with any of your employees. You also want to see what their availability will look like as a result.

What time zone do you prefer? What zone do your team members work in?

This is key if you have employees who need to collaborate with the Virtual Assistant. You want to make sure that they will be able to share schedules and workloads so everything runs smoothly.

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What Type Of Work Are You Best At What Are You Most Interested In Learning More About What Are You Not Good At What Work Do You Prefer Not To Do

The last thing I want to do is plug someone into a role that isn’t the right fit, and if I only talk about what I need done, and the VA is desperate for a job, he’s going to tell me what I want to hear, rather than what I need to hear. I ask these questions as early in the process as possible to make sure the VA has only minimal information about what I’m looking for.

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Tell Me A Story Of When You Spoke Up And Contradicted Your Boss

This interview question should give you insight into your candidate’s work style. You’ll know if they are proactive in giving you suggestions or recommendations.

This question lets you know if they’ve ever had the chance to show their concern for their previous team or company. That’s someone you may want to consider working with.

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Do You Work From Home If So How Do You Manage Your Day

This question is a great way to get an idea of their daily routine and how they like to work. This also gives you insight into how they will work with your company. And, whether or not if they are distracted with a typical workday like for you? Great answers include I start by checking my to-do list and follow it on the order of importance. I usually break up tasks into small chunks so that theyre easily achievable.

Educational Background And Professional Experience Questions

You already reviewed your candidates educational and professional background before deciding to move forward in the hiring process. But with 85 percent of candidates exaggerating their skills and experience, theres only so much a resume and cover letter can tell you. Thats why you should use the interview as an opportunity to ask specific questions that get below the surface of yes/no answers and reveal what they have accomplished and learned.

The following virtual assistant interview questions will help you dig deeper into their educational background and work experience to get a better sense of their qualifications:

• Describe the most complex project you completed using ?
• What are two or three valuable lessons you learned in your last position as a virtual assistant?
• Tell me about two or three of your favorite projects youve completed as a virtual assistant. What made them your favorite?
• Have you ever supported more than one client at a time? If so, how do you manage competing priorities?
• Do you have experience supporting clients outside of your time zone?

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How Much Do You Typically Charge Per Hour

It may seem like an obvious answer, but this tells managers about how much value Virtual Assistants place on themselves and what clients have paid them thus far. The company will also want to know if a candidate charges by the hour or project so that they can determine how often theyll need them and what projects will be most cost-effective.

Who This Course Is For:

• Virtual Assistants who want to learn to pitch and sign clients.
• Assistants who need help “closing the deal” with potential clients faster.

• 4.7 Instructor Rating

I’m Erin, a VA and a virtual assistant coach.

I escaped the confines of the corporate office in 2012, and I have never looked back! Now I work from anywhere, when I want toand with clients who make me feel excited to get up every day.

I’ve helped over 32,000 students start their own virtual assistant businesses. My goal is to help you find the clarity you need to build the business you deservein half the time!

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How Do You Handle A Client With Unclear Requests And Expectations

As a virtual assistant, you may not work in the same country or region as your organisation. This makes it important to establish clear lines of communication so that you understand the organisation’s needs, businesses and client services. Hiring managers may ask you this question to evaluate your perception. To answer this question, explain the steps you might take to understand client needs and what you can do to improve your work quality.

Example:’As a virtual assistant, I believe it’s important to anticipate the needs of the organisation and its clients. To achieve this I research clients to identify their problems and future needs. This enables me to deliver higher quality work, which increases the client retention rate. In this scenario, I’d follow up with the client to ask additional questions and clarify their requirements. Next, I’d propose solutions based on their issues and ask for their thoughts before proceeding with the work.’

Virtual Assistant Duties And Responsibilities

• Responding to emails, telephone calls, and messages in a timely manner.
• Liaising with clients to establish their needs and requirements.
• Schedule online meetings with clients to keep them updated with the progress of your work.
• Liaising with other Virtual Assistants and online contractors and collaborating in a timely manner to ensure all projects are completed on time.
• Conducting research to enable you to carry out your Virtual Assistant duties competently.
• Respond quickly to clients requests for changes.
• Issue invoices to clients for work carried out as a Virtual Assistant.
• Managing online company social media accounts.
• Updating company websites and creating blog content.
• Create and maintain client work spreadsheets and online records.
• Organize and manage your VA calendar and work schedule.

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What Are Your Guaranteed Response Times

An excellent virtual assistant should have established response times to provide a predictable service similar. This question is similar to the question above. It shows whether the VA knows how to manage time.

Pro tip: It can be helpful to define response time via communication channelsfaster for chat messages than email, for example, so that you can prioritize communications.