Top Tips for Writing a Virtual Assistant Job Posting
In my book; The Fast Guide to Hiring (and Keeping) a Virtual Assistant I mention the different recruitment channels for hiring a VA. I have tried various but if you do decide to hire directly, either through a local job site or through a freelance marketplace it is crucial you get your job posting right, to ensure you get the best candidates.
I made mistakes in my first attempt, Here it is again:
Diligent Virtual Assistant
Online research, compiling and sending newsletters, writing and posting content, managing social media, emailing, general admin.
Potentially moving to plan larger travel projects including booking and route planning.
Why is this bad? Well, it’s vague, for a start.
It doesn’t say what the main role of the job is. Instead, I just list a few things I thought might be useful. “Online research” - what does that even mean? Losing yourself in the spiralling vortex of YouTube could be classed as “online research”!
I also mention that the job may become one of travel planning, which is so wildly different to the first part that it is probably totally unrealistic that a person willing (or capable) of doing all these elements actually exists.
TOP TIPS
Here are my 8 top tips for writing a job post:
Write an interesting and attractive job title; (e.g. “Awesome Virtual Assistant & Content Writer wanted by US Digital Marketing Company”).
Be realistic in your requirements, demands or qualifications.
Be clear in your language and requirements and avoid jargon.
List the main (essential) skills / duties and the less important (desirable) skills / duties.
List the main duties first, before everything, clearly – to avoid time wasters.
Be ready to change your post on the fly. Think of it as a marketing campaign that needs to remain true but may need some optimization to get the best candidates as it progresses.
Say a little something about yourself or your business.
Feel free to put an additional request (e.g. “When replying, please send me your LinkedIn profile”).
Author: Thomas Smallwood is an outsourcing specialist. Having worked in companies around Europe, from the support desk to the boardroom, he founded bizee.co to help small businesses grow through efficient delegation to skilled virtual assistants. He is an award-winning blogger and a passionate advocate for mental health awareness.
Connect with Tom on LinkedIn.