You may only want to hire a Virtual Assistant for a few hours a month but nevertheless you will also invest your time in this person so it pays to be vigilant. Hire as if you were hiring a CEO... as the old adage goes.

With this in mind here are my 10 recommendations for the questions you should ask every VA firm you consider hiring from.  

1. How are assistants assigned and what happens if it’s not a good fit?

You need to be sure you get the right person. And, if for some reason you don't, then you need to be able to change that person.

2. What are the working hours or the time zone of the Virtual Assistant?

You need to know the VA is available when it suits you in your timezone to make communication easy. 

3. Can I talk to my virtual assistant first?

There is no real reason why this should be refused. Talking to a virtual assistant (even if not the one you end up working with) is also a great way to understand what kind of a company you are dealing with. 

4. Do you have VAs with experience in my industry?

Any VA company worth its salt will try to pair you with someone who has experience if they can. However, it is worth asking in order to find out if this might be the best one for you to hire through.

5. How do you track time and assign tasks?

If any company doesn't have a clear answer to this using established platforms they may be best avoided, not only from an organisational perspective but also from the point of view of security.

6. Are you GDPR compliant and what security measures do you have in place?

Rather like the previous question, this is pretty basic as it also will tell you something about the health of the company with whom you are looking to hire a Virtual Assistant.

7. How can I make the most out of your service?

The reason this is good is that a respectable company or indeed an individual Virtual Assistant is best placed to help you work efficiently with a VA. They can give you insight on effective delegation, communication and show you examples of how their other clients have been successful. They should be very forthcoming with this kind fo question. If not... maybe best avoided.

8. Do your long-standing clients have anything in common?

The answer to this could be any number of things such as business profile, size or sector. Finding out will also give you an insight into any areas of expertise or indeed if the company you are talking to has a wide base of clients and therefore established Virtual Assistants.

9. Please explain the selection process for a Virtual Assistant?

How a company sources and selects its employees or contractors is crucial. If you are paying a company to provide you with someone you want to know some due diligence and training has been done before you invest your own precious time in that person.

10. What happens if my virtual assistant resigns or goes when he/she goes on holiday?

Sh*t happens, right? But asking this kind of question will give you an insight into the kind of company and people you are looking to work with: do they hang onto staff and do they plan ahead?

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.