Interviewing a virtual assistant is an important part of the process. Before you can hire a new VA, you need to know that they will be a great fit for your organization. What questions should you ask? What do you really need to know about your new virtual assistant?
What to Cover in Your Virtual Assistant Interview Questions
When you interview a virtual assistant, you will need to ask several key questions:
- What skills does the potential VA have?
- What experience does the potential VA have?
- Is the VA a good personality fit for your organization?
By covering all these areas, you can determine whether you have found a VA who fits your needs.
The Top Questions for Vetting a VA’s Skills
1. What are you best at? That is, what are the virtual assistant’s top skills?
2. Where are your greatest struggles, professionally speaking? Find out more about what skills a potential virtual assistant feels they lack and consider whether you can offer support to them in that area.
3. Explain a time when you addressed a client’s need proactively. How is your potential VA at handling possible problems? This simple question can help give you a much better idea of how your new VA might address your problems and help you manage situations that could arise.
4. Who were your three most recent employers, and what did you do for them? Your VA may have many skills that have been used across the course of those jobs, and asking about past job responsibilities can give you a better idea of what those skills might have looked like.
5. What skills are you hoping to have the chance to use in this job? Consider the skills your VA has used previously as well as those skills they might want the chance to use more in the future. You might, for example, find that your VA has not had the chance to work on a specific program in the past, but is eager to learn more about it.
6. Are you familiar with [X] tools? Reference the tools you use most often and make sure your new VA is familiar with them.
7. What would you do in [X] situation? Consider specific situations that might arise in the case of your daily work responsibilities. Ask your potential VA how they might address that situation to get a better idea of their skills.
8. What calendar management tools have you used in the past?
9. How do you handle communication?
10. How often do you respond to emails? How long does it take your potential assistant to respond to emails when they come in? They should not be expected to respond immediately, especially after business hours, but should be expected to respond in a timely manner during business hours.
Top Questions for Vetting Experience
11. What industries have you worked for in the past? Some virtual assistants may have varied experience in different industries.
12. Tell about your last job. What skills did you use most often?
13. How long have you worked as a virtual assistant? How many different roles have you held?
14. What would you do if you realized that you needed information from a coworker in a different time zone, who will not be online for at least four hours? This will give you an idea of the VA’s comfort level with those types of tasks–especially important for a global organization.
15. Tell about a time when you spoke up against a superior or coworker with more experience.
16. Give an example of a time when you successfully multitasked. Conversely, you could learn about a failure to multitask!
17. Explain how you would handle making travel arrangements for me, step by step.
18. Explain a problem you have solved in the past.
19. What would you do if you had a question you did not know the answer to? How would you address it?
20. In what areas do you have little experience?
21. Is there anything about this position that makes you uncomfortable? Any area in which you might need additional training?
Tip Questions for Vetting Personality and Culture Fit
22. What is your preferred way to communicate? Email, phone, or app: which one does the VA prefer?
23. What would you do if you were assigned several complex tasks at once?
24. Without deadlines, how do you determine what work to prioritize each day?
25. What do you do in your off hours?
26. What parts of the job are you interested in learning more about?
27. Where do you see yourself in five years? What are your professional goals?
28. What hours do you prefer to work? Keep in mind that some VAs may have dramatically different hourly requirements depending on their time zones and preferred working hours.
29. What would you do if you suffered a technical problem? How would you communicate with us? A virtual assistant who drops out of communication could prove highly inconvenient. Determine how your potential VA would handle communication challenges.
30. How do you juggle personal concerns, including calls from family members and home responsibilities, with the tasks you need to complete at work?
Are you looking for a skilled virtual assistant who can help free up your time and fill your open position? Contact us today to learn more.