One of the most crucial steps in the hiring process is the interview stage. This stage is where you get the chance to determine if the virtual assistant you are interviewing would be a good fit for the role you need to fill and in your company’s culture. This is the reason why you must conduct a thorough analysis on the applicants that you engage with.
Preliminary interviews are highly crucial especially when hiring a VA. The process will not only show you the capacities of the applicants but it will also verify whether they are truly the ones fit for the position or not. Choosing the wrong virtual assistant will not only be a source of headache, but will also produce a colossal waste of time.
You might wonder what the super essential questions are that you must not forget to ask when conducting interviews. We got you covered because we have been interviewing and hiring for the past ten years. So we thought of sharing with you today the four questions we always ask in every interview.
1. What do you value more…money or growth?
We have found and realized that hiring people who care more about growth and learning over money always work out better. They tend to be more ambitious and they tend to want to learn more about the business. You will also realize that these applicants are those prospective VAs who will not disappear, and tend to want to stay with the company for longer if they are treated well and given growth opportunities.
Asking this question will help you see two kinds of prospective employees. You will eventually realize upon hearing their answers for this question the clear distinction among the applicants. There will be people who will only want money from you and those who will pour their dedication and heart into your business.
However, it is also important to take note that there can be a tendency where applicants will try to please you. They will try by saying the things that you have been wanting to hear and become dishonest and untruthful with their words. While gauging their passion for the job, also scrutinize whether they truly mean what they say or not.
After all, everyone has bills to pay and every employer understands that. You need to look for answers that find the perfect balance between the two options. Exceptional responses will be those that are said with all honesty and those that portray high dedication for the job you are offering to them.
2. Do you consider yourself to be entrepreneurial? Why or why not?
Aside from letting them choose between money and growth in terms of the option that they value more, it will also be useful if you discover whether they consider themselves entrepreneurial or not. We all value people who are entrepreneurial even if they never took the jump to be an entrepreneur themselves. Entrepreneurial people can bring an immense amount of value to your business.
The courage and the right thinking of an applicant considering himself or herself as an entrepreneur is a good sign. Simply give them the ability to be an entrepreneur within your company and you will be amazed by the potential that they have. Surely, these virtual assistants will show you what they can create from that point moving forward.
3. What is your biggest motivator in life? Why do you wake up and work hard every day?
Though this may sound as a cliché question to ask, this is highly crucial to know. This will tell us the applicants’ “Why”. The “Why” signifies their reason for being and their purpose in life. This will also show us their major driving forces and will allow us to get to know them at a deeper level.
Do they do it for their family? Do they do it for a dream of the future that they have within them? Do they do it for their own self-gratification? Based on their answers, we can get a good sense if our values and motivations align.
4. Why are you interested in this role?
While it may seem like a simple question, asking them the reasons behind their interest in the role at hand can tell you a lot of things. Aside from knowing both their soft and hard skills, the ones that show passion and those that prove that they have done their research about the company tend to be the better hires. If you get someone who knows nothing about you or your company, chances are they are not that excited about it.
It is also important to hear answers that do not only show their interest but also their optimism about getting hired. Applicants that tell you about their future plans in their stay on your company signify that they are highly interested and dedicated about getting hired and eventually staying for them to grow with you.
There are other questions you want to be asking about like their experience and skills. However, questions that let you know about their interest in the said role will make us get to the heart of the candidate. Doing so will make us avoid creating the mistake of hiring the wrong character.
Choosing the wrong VA will give you more problems than you think and will require you to go back to square one. Therefore, it only makes perfect sense that you ask the right interview questions. This will help you identify the person that can fulfill your specific needs and job requirements while making sure that they match the ideals and principles of your organization.
Interviews are a vital aspect of the entire hiring process, whether it be for VAs or for other job positions. This stage lets you know what an applicant is like, what values they hold, what motivates them to perform, and what makes them tick. Do not go straight into the process of hiring your VAs without asking them these crucial questions. Place these on your list so the virtual assistant of your choice will fit the job like a glove.
