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Virtual Assistants

17 Virtual Assistant Skills and Qualities to Focus On When Hiring

What virtual assistant skills and qualities should I look for when looking for my next team member?

Hiring for a position is more than just looking for people with the right sets of hard skills to complete the tasks. You need more than a content writer who can churn out excellent articles quickly. You want more than a graphic designer who is proficient in 3 different art tools. These hard skills are great, and necessary, but you also need hires to have certain soft skills. This is what helps you to work well with them. 

In this post, we are going to talk about qualities to look for in pretty much every hire regardless of the position, and why they are essential. 

1. Communication Skills

First on our virtual assistant skills list is probably the most important – communication. Imagine what would happen if hires did not pass information clearly or concisely. The work pipeline would get clogged up. Individual team members would get confused about tasks. Misunderstandings would occur frequently and nothing would get done properly. 

Beyond speaking the same language, there are several signs that a person is a good communicator. 

  • Listens well and is attentive
  • Takes notes
  • Asks good questions
  • Clarifies
  • Can speak back instructions
  • Relays instructions accurately
  • Can give clear instructions

2. Computer Literacy

Someone typing on a laptop, representing virtual assistant skills.

VAs naturally need to be able to navigate the digital space well. This includes software, apps, tools, and search engines. They typically need to know how to do video conferencing, emails, and the like. They Should also be familiar with the tools in the Google and/or Microsoft suites. At a minimum, they need to be adept in the technologies needed to accomplish their job. A great VA will keep learning how to increase productivity. They will also take steps to become more effective by using new tools and even automation. Additionally, freelancers also need to know how to navigate virtual assistant websites and freelance marketplaces. 

3. Creativity

These qualities don’t just apply to positions that require creative virtual assistant skills. For instance, you don’t need to be a graphics designer, content creator, editor, or advertiser. Innovation is not job specific. VAs can exercise their creative muscles together with their problem-solving skills. This way, they can come up with new ways of accomplishing tasks. 

4. Interpersonal Skills

Interpersonal skills go hand in hand with communication skills. VAs need to be able to interact and deal with people at different levels. Most VAs you hire will go under a manager. You will also hire some to be these managers. Either way, they need to be able to work well with others. They must do this to be able to complete projects and attain common goals. Arguably, the best at this are VAs that have worked with several different companies with different cultures. 

They know how to:

  • Adapt to personalities and teams
  • Identify strengths and weaknesses
  • Build connections and rapport

5. Attention to Detail

Virtual assistants need to be detail-oriented. They do this when checking emails, entering data, and creating content. They also apply this skill when assessing the job description and rundown of roles and responsibilities. Some of the best virtual assistants are those who can spot mistakes that their superiors make. Then they can point them out, ask if it was intentional, and make suggestions to solve them. These qualities should be valued. Attention to detail shows that the VA takes initiative, takes responsibility, and cares about the job being accomplished well. 

6. Time Management Skills

A man looking at his watch in front of a laptop

Time management is essential, not only in the case of getting things done in an efficient time frame. It’s more than just meeting a deadline. For VAs, there is another layer. 

A lot of VAs are hired from overseas. This means they don’t always have the same time zone as the hiring company. They need to be able to accomplish their tasks. Then, they must allow room for questions and other concerns they may not be able to ask at any time of day. 

7. Decision-Making Skills

Nobody enjoys working with passive actors. VAs need to be able to think on their feet. This is based on their prior knowledge, prior experience, and given SOPs and instructions. A VA should take initiative and shouldn’t be overly reliant on their managers for every decision. 

8. Project/Task Management Skills

Hiring a VA for a management position can be tricky. A manager needs to be able to organize teams and tasks well. This includes having skills in project management software like ASANA, Trello, Zoho Projects, etc. 

These individuals can:

  • Create and organize workflows
  • Plan tasks in advance
  • Communicate goals, milestones, and deadlines
  • Delegate tasks
  • Communicate with individuals and teams 
  • Set up meetings 
  • Execute tasks together with the team
  • Track progress
  • Review results before submitting the final output

9. Independence

The best virtual assistants possess independence. They take initiative and apply knowledge-backed improvisation, which is important. This is especially true in a long-distance working relationship. Managers can’t hold the hand of VAs forever. Sure, there are some types of VAs, like followers who require guidance, training, and mentoring. However, this should only be a temporary arrangement. VAs should eventually be able to work alone effectively without the need for frequent check-ins or updates. 

10. Organization

A woman using a laptop and notebook at an organized desk.

A freelancer needs to be self-organized. Organization is a quality that can be observed in several places. They should be able to manage their time and set goals, plan, and manage workflows and teams. If you hire anyone who cannot stay organized, you will be in trouble. This lack of discipline will soon seep into their work!

11. Growth-Centered

One of our favorite and essential interview questions for job candidates is, “What do you value more, money or growth?”. This question gauges whether your hire is more interested in receiving a paycheck than in growth opportunities. People that choose the latter are often more ambitious. This also means that they are more likely to care for the work they do and the business they work for. 

12. Integrity and Honesty

You need to be able to trust a job candidate you intend to hire. You need someone who delivers on the brief. This includes any promises they have made to you about their capabilities. You should be hiring someone who does their job with consistent quality. Plus, this should be backed up by consistent morals.

A flaky team member can be a nightmare. Look for someone who exudes an air of professionalism. This is most likely someone who will keep their word. You can count on this type of person to accomplish the tasks you assign them. Moreover, you can count on them to take care of your company.

Even if they make a mistake, most people would rather their hires be upfront about it rather than try to hide it. Most people prefer honesty about their capabilities to a “fake it ’til you make it” attitude. 

13. Research Skills

A lot of VA positions require at least basic research skills. VAs should be able to find information from credible sources. They need to be able to recognize what information is essential. Part of these skills is also the ability to condense and summarize the gathered information. This is particularly useful for roles such as content writing and marketing. 

14. Customer Service Skills

Two females at a checkout counter with a POS terminal, representing customer service.

These skills are essential for VAs that interact directly with customers. This can be through email, live chat support, comment sections, review pages, and the like. Customer service is among the virtual assistant skills that require interpersonal, communication, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. All of this must be paired with a patient attitude of service and empathy. 

Questions have varying levels of depth. A customer service VA needs to be able to quickly provide a solution regardless of the complexity of the problem. 

15. Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving occurs when knowledge meets wisdom, critical thinking, and initiative. An excellent VA is not just able to recognize a problem. They use logic, creativity, and intuition and assess the situation to come up with one or more solutions. We give extra points to a VA who can think on the spot for problems that require immediate attention. 

16. Self-Learning Capabilities

Self-learning is one of the overlooked skills for virtual assistants to have. The ability to teach yourself is so valuable because it shows that you are adaptable, flexible, eager to learn, and focused on growth. A VA who continues to increase their knowledge, expand their skillsets, and is motivated to pursue continuing learning and training, is someone you want on your team. 

17.  Great Attitude

Last but not least on our virtual assistant skills list is a great attitude. This quality is often overlooked but is essential to a positive and peaceful work environment. No matter what comes their way from the job or within their personal life, a VA that maintains a great attitude is a light to everyone around them. When there is an issue that requires solving, this VA is a team player who encourages others, keeps morale up, and pushes forward until the job is done. They are patient, respectful, kind, upright, positive, hard-working, and responsible individuals. 

What Is Outsource School?

outsource school

Outsource School helps you to unlock the potential of virtual assistants and accelerate your business growth.

This is the exact system Outsource School’s founders, Nathan Hirsch and Connor Gillivan, used to go from zero to 8 figures and 40+ virtual assistants with an exit in 2019.

Since being founded in 2020, Outsource School has helped 1,000+ business owners hire 2,000+ virtual assistants for their companies.

Schedule a free sales call to learn more

Free resources you might like: 

Conclusion

Now you see why these virtual assistant skills shouldn’t be easily glossed over during the hiring process. We have tons of experience with bad hires and want to teach others how they can avoid the pains that come with that. Hopefully, this list will be a helpful guide to healthier, more productive, and more successful working experiences in the future. 

Categories
Virtual Assistants

19 Best Virtual Assistant Websites to Find Top Talent in 2023

Looking to hire the best talent from the top virtual assistant websites?

There are millions of freelancers in the world. Yet, it can be difficult to find the right person for the job. Well, we’ve gathered the best freelance websites out there. This way, you can be sure you’re getting the real deal.

1. Fiverr

virtual assistant websites

Fiverr is a freelance marketplace that allows you to choose from over 500 categories of jobs. The name comes from how they started offering online services for as low as $5. Now Fiverr is an industry giant offering long and short-term projects from affordable and competitive prices to premium rates. With Fiverr, you can quickly find talent, get to work, and accomplish tasks. You can also access Fiverr Business for teams and access exclusive features like talent matching, dedicated account managers, and collaboration tools. You can also upgrade to Fiverr Pro if you want access to the best vetted freelancers.

2. Upwork

virtual assistant websites

Upwork is one of, if not the best, virtual assistant websites on this list. This huge, award-winning marketplace offers a wide array of services. It’s home to millions of freelancers in almost 200 countries. You can access talent so easily in one of three ways.

  • Talent Marketplace™ – Create a job post, review proposals, view freelancer profiles, read reviews on their profiles, and select the talent you want to work with 
  • Project Catalog™ – Pick the job you need from hundreds of project templates 
  • Talent Scout™ – For a project more than a month in duration, a recruiter can pair you with the best people for the job 

3. Freelancer.com

virtual assistant websites

Freelancer.com is the largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace. They serve clients worldwide with millions of worldwide talent from almost 250 countries. You can easily create a job post for any of the 1800+ categories. Get bites quickly and examine profiles to find the best fit. They also offer recruitment help to find the best talent. If you need managerial help, they also offer “co-pilots” to help you with your projects. You pay when you are completely satisfied.   

4. PeoplePerHour

A screenshot of the PeoplePerHour Radio website home page.

PeoplePerHour is a freelance community and marketplace that has connected over a million clients to global talent. Their anti-fraud and money-back guarantee perks mean that they are a secure and trusted place to conduct business. Hire from over 3 million freelancers offering 8,000+ skills in as fast as 10 minutes. You can post a job, search for freelancers yourself, or search through pre-set bundles created by freelancers. You can also manage and track your project through Project Stream. 

5. LinkedIn

A LinkedIn website screenshot.

LinkedIn is a widely used digital business network that connects companies with individuals looking for work. This platform is not designed specifically for finding virtual assistants. However, it does act as a job board for a lot of VAs looking for work. With LinkedIn, you can create a profile and job openings for free and access automatically created job descriptions and job templates. You can target your search with personalized emails and notifications and filter applicants using management tools. 

6. Zirtual

A Zirtual website screenshot.

Zirtual is a platform consisting of college-educated, US-based virtual assistants. They serve anyone from entrepreneurs to startups and executives. You can find the match you with a personal “Zirtual assistant” whose expertise matches the job brief. They are also backed by a team of specialists if they need additional help completing the tasks. Zirtual may possess a comparatively smaller suite of services and skills than other virtual assistant websites. However, they make up for it with strictly vetted, expert talent. 

7. Hello Rache

virtual assistant websites

Hello Rache is leading the charge in the area of healthcare virtual assistant solutions. Their Philippines-based VAs go through strict recruitment, vetting, and training processes to ensure they can work effectively in medical settings. The healthcare VAs on this platform can help with back-office tasks, medical transcription, and live in-room charting (EMR and EHR). All are HIPAA certified and can work with solo practitioners and larger medical groups as well. 

8. OnlineJobsPH

virtual assistant websites

OnlineJobsPH is a job board housing more than 2 million Filipino resumes and is the easiest place to find Filipino talent. You can post a job or search and view full resumes of workers from entry to expert level. However, you can only interview talent once you’ve paid for a subscription. You can track worker time using TimeProof and pay workers easily from your account with EasyPay. 

9. Virtalent

A virtalent website screenshot.

Virtalent is a virtual assistant service that offers UK-based VAs with at least 15 years of experience. These VAs are carefully vetted and have often worked with top companies in the UK. They specialize in Virtual PA and Marketing support but also offer other services. Virtalent not only matches you with the right VA, but they also pair you with a dedicated Client Success Manager. You can turn to them for guidance to answer any questions you may have during the process. 

10. 24/7 Virtual Assistants

A 247virtualassistants website screenshot.

24/7 Virtual Assistants is a virtual assistant service provider based in the US offering round-the-clock expert and efficient solutions. They offer low-cost, flexible non-core solutions you can upgrade or downgrade anytime. You can reach them any time of the day if you need tasks done. They house experienced, hard-working VAs who possess great work attitudes and are trusted to work unsupervised. 

11. Virtual Staff Finder

A screenshot of the Virtual Staff Finder website home page.

Virtual Staff Finder provides a simple solution to connect you with one of 8,000+ Filipino virtual assistants as fast as possible. After subscribing to the service and filling out their Job Description template, they source the best talent for you. Then, after rigorous vetting and background checks, they come up with the top 3 candidates for you to interview and hire. If it doesn’t work out with any of the 3, their 10-day guarantee promises to come with another 3 for you to select from. 

12. FreeUp

A screenshot of the FreeUp website home page.

FreeUp is a high-performing freelance marketplace that pairs businesses with hand-picked, highly qualified, pre-vetted talent. Among the best virtual assistant websites, FreeUp is one of the few that guarantees you get a top 1% freelancer. They do this through their very strict hiring process. This platform vets thousands of applications every day making sure communication, individual skill, and personality are top-notch. Their “No Turnover Guarantee” ensures any applicant that quits is replaced immediately free of charge.

13. Magic

A getmagic website screenshot.

Magic offers outsourcing solutions that help you get more work done by combining highly skilled remote workers with the power of Magic AI. Their scalable solutions allow you to start with 1 worker and go up to 1,000 if needed – all within the top 3% of talent. With their VA services, you can save more than 10 hours per week. All their VAs go through skills training to ensure they provide the best services possible. You also get a free dedicated account lead to help you with onboarding, coaching, SOPs, and more. 

14. Woodbows

A woodbows website screenshot.

Woodbows is a virtual assistant company offering VA services from college-graduate level professionals. Each has more than a decade of experience under their belt. Woodbows is award-winning in the areas of customer satisfaction and service guarantees. With Woodbows, not only do you get a 24/7 virtual assistant, but you also get 24/7 support on top of it. You pay for a single individual but you get the benefit of a team of experts behind them. 

15. Boldly

A boldly website screenshot.

Boldly offers premium subscription-based remote staffing services. Their North American and Europe-based VAs are highly experienced, skilled, and in it for the long term. Their personalized services match you with your ideal virtual assistant who will care deeply about the tasks at hand. They also offer a 100% lifetime satisfaction guarantee to show how confident they are in the quality of services they offer. They serve solopreneurs, small businesses, and enterprises. 

16. VirtualStaff.ph

A virtualstaff-ph website screenshot.

Virtualstaff.ph is the safest and easiest way to hire Filipino virtual assistants. You can hire, manage, and pay your remote staff in one place. You can post jobs or create job offers for specific applicants with the desired rate and hours you want them to work. Virtual Staff Protection for employers includes enforceable contracts, NDAs, and legal recourse. 

17. Fancy Hands

A Fancy Hands website screenshot.

Fancy Hands is a virtual assistant company that connects companies with US-based virtual assistants at cost-effective pricing. The unique thing about Fancy Hands is that it’s primarily used by people who need small, very short-term, one-time tasks done for them. You can submit job requests through email, text, or the app and someone will pick up the tasks for you. You can access assistants round the clock no matter what time of day. The team handles most requests in as few as 20 minutes. Their pricing is based on how many requests you use per week/month. Requests longer than 20 minutes may burn multiple requests. 

18. Indeed

Indeed is a job listing and interview site that strives to connect job seekers to unique opportunities. This is a platform for job seekers and makes it easy and free to look for jobs, research companies, and post resumes. With over 245 million resumes, Indeed is a giant pool of talent. Job posting on the platform is cost-effective and easy to do. When you have a sponsored job posting you are more likely to get applicants flowing in. 

19. Time Etc

A web-timeetc website screenshot.

Last but not least on our virtual assistant websites list is Time Etc. They are a virtual assistant service company that pairs businesses with US or UK-based VAs. Since 2007, they’ve helped save over 1.5 million hours for over 22,000 companies. Hiring with Time Etc is easy, cost-effective, flexible, and can be canceled at any time. Access the top 2% of US talent and leave the time-consuming tasks in their hands. They specialize in administration but they also do research and social media and content marketing. 

What Is Outsource School?

outsource school

Outsource School helps you to unlock the potential of virtual assistants and accelerate your business growth.

This is the exact system Outsource School’s founders, Nathan Hirsch and Connor Gillivan, used to go from zero to 8 figures and 40+ virtual assistants with an exit in 2019.

Since being founded in 2020, Outsource School has helped 1,000+ business owners hire 2,000+ virtual assistants for their companies.

Schedule a free sales call to learn more

Free resources you might like: 

Conclusion

That wraps up our virtual assistant websites list! Now you can go start hiring VAs from trusted websites knowing that you are getting the best talent with little risk to you.