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brit2122
Community Member

Does anyone have a VA they're happy with? How did you find them?

I've been looking for a VA for almost a year. I think I've hired like five. I end up ending their contracts almost right away because they will miss a deadline, or they just show that they are completely unable to do the tasks. I spend A LOT of time on my interview process. I have a lot of questions for them, and I even started having them do a little sample project so I can test their capabilities. The last VA I just fired blatantly told me that she missed her deadline because she has another client who gives her more work and pays her more. After I told her that I really, really need someone I can rely on and I have high standards. She promised me I could rely on her. I need a VA! I've spent countless hours trying to find one, but it's just not working for me. I decided I might need to hire someone with a higher rate. The new VA just spent 2.5 hours on a task that should take 30 minutes and missed part of the directions just like the inexpensive ones did. Please tell me what I can do!
11 REPLIES 11
g_nembhard
Community Member

Hi Brittany, In general, how much do you pay them? Sometimes it speaks volumes when a VA charges a low rate. Sometimes they don't put 100% into the role because they're not making much money from it. I can't guarantee that a VA charging higher rates would be an ideal candidate, but I think you should definitely look at this option.
marciamalory
Community Member

What tasks are you asking your VAs to do? Maybe they are outside the realm of what should be expected of a VA.
suznee
Community Member

I guess I can't really add more but pay rate may or not make a difference, but also what are your expectations? You speak about having deadlines not met, but are you setting realistic deadlines for your VA? I know that there are a lot of good VA's out there as well as a lot of not so good. Perhaps look at your interviewing process to see if you are missing something. It is hard to tell sometimes as someone may look good on paper (computer screen) or even be able to interview well, but it does not mean always they can do they job.
marciamalory
Community Member

Have you ever done the job yourself? Clients sometimes say "it's a simple job" or "it will only take a very short time" when they have never actually done it themselves every step of the way. Sometimes there are intermediate steps that you aren't aware of that can make a job take longer than it appears to take. Sometimes people who are good at what they do can make things look easy, when they're not. Or have you done the work so many times that it takes you much less time than it would someone who has less experience (reflected in a lower income)? Regarding missing the directions - sometimes when people don't understand things, they will just agree rather than ask questions because they are afraid you will think they are stupid (this could be especially relevant if you are speaking with someone for whom English is not a first language.) After you give directions, do you ask the freelancer if they have any questions - and make sure they feel comfortable asking and that you won't think worse of them for not understanding everything right away - or to explain what they think you have asked them to do, in their own words? Another option for the deadline - instead of saying "The deadline is ...", ask "When can you have this for me?" This will give you an idea of how long the freelancer honestly thinks the job will take. If the answer is much later then you would expect, you can ask why. I am assuming that when you say a job should take 30 minutes, you don't mean that you send an email at 11:30 and expect to receive a response with the completed job at 12:00. (Only mentioning because we had a client on here recently who thought freelancers did nothing but stare at their emails all day and did not have basic toilet needs.)
ahsan-debika
Community Member

Hi Brittany,

 

You are not right. I have seen that the clients are offering low rate. But if you want good work you have pay a good money.

 

I am a VA and I am making clients satisfied by my work

 

Sometimes clients are leaving experienced freelancers. Why ? because they change a good amount of money.

 

If you want to save your money and hire a VA at a low rate, then you have to suffer much.

 

Get a good VA, get good quality of work. 

 

Thanks

junelle
Community Member

whoa, where did this come from? oDesk fix this please, sheesh.

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain." - Maya Angelou
Try harder, or care less.
leisagood
Community Member

@Sheikh - I agree.  I always say if you pay peanuts (small amount), you get monkeys.

 

@Marcia - I agree with you also.  I see job descriptions asking for a VA when the client really needs an app developer or something entirely different.  I think maybe sometimes they ask for a VA hoping that the person does know how to do the task, but can be paid a VA salary or wage instead of an app developer's wage.  In other words, less money paid out.

rawben
Community Member

Pay isn't always the issue! I think too many people want to work from home. Because they can work from home they decide oh I'm going to be a VA. I've had similar issues with deadlines or freelancers not replying to job invitations for a week or two. Back in September and October I was looking to hire a couple VA's and by the end of December all the resumes I had received jad their website taken down and we're no longer offering VA services.

I do the work and need help as my client base has grown. I hired someone to take 26 quotes that I provided (one to two sentences max) into an online program to create a Facebook image to post then reschedule them to post. Took one VA seven hours to do! I was shocked. A simple cut and paste of a text, then save the image and upload. She tells me later she wasn't systematic on creating these. She created one then posted it. Instead of creating the images then post. I didn't realize I needed to suggest this yo her.
abulhossain
Community Member

Hi Brittany

 

I would like to express my personal opinion here.  The very first thing that you need to do is to see a contractor's profile and find out their job success rate, feedback, video resume etc and if that satisfies your need then call them up for a skype video interview and ask all the questions that you feel is necessary to make an inform decision.  I've been working as an Administrative Consultant for the last five years and what I can say from my experience is that the very first thing that an employer look for is that cheapest hourly rate and believe me when I tell you this, quality comes with money.  I mean you cant expect a Ford Escort to provide with the  prestige of a BMW 700 series car.  So my suggestion to you would be, if you have a stable business and you know that you are growing then look for those VA's that has a high hourly rate because once again "with money comes quality"

 

Thanks

Administrative Consultant
ktimbol
Community Member

Hi Brittany,

 

I started out a VA myself. In my seven years in Upwork working as a VA, I rarely had problems with clients. One client, in fact, I have been working with from day 1 until now! When I do have to end a contract with the client, the one reason that always pops up is a mismatch of the job description and the actual work the client gives. For instance, one client said he needs a VA. When we started the job, he asked me to code email templates and do graphic designs--none of which were included in the job description.

 

Maybe you have to be extra specific with what you're looking for? I am currently happily working with a client as her project manager and she has referred many other clients to me so I can train VAs for them. We've been operating for half a year already and have been a success!

 

Hope this helps 🙂

shanwatts
Community Member

Hi Brittany,

 

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble finding a suitable VA.  The problems could be any of the above that others have mentioned.  One solution, however, is to have a procedures manual that lays out the steps in the different tasks you want your VA to do so that there is no question about what's expected.  It's very time consuming to create them but can save a whole heap of misunderstandings once they're done.  It can then be the VA's task to keep them updated if processes change.

 

The other thing that makes a procedures manual a great idea is that it can be passed on to the next VA if someone you've been working with is unable to continue with their contract. 

I've recruited staff on behalf of clients (while working as a VA) in the past and I would never make advertisements public.  I'd contact people individually and invite them to interview which helped me select only those who I thought were going to be a great fit.  I'd then proceed the way you did - creating a list of interview questions, speaking to them on the phone to ensure they understood what was involved and setting small tasks at first to see how we both worked together. 

 

It's been my experience that when working virtually one has to communicate a hell of a lot more and a lot more precisely than one normally would in a physical office - that's where the procedures manual comes in as it saves having to repeat one's self over and over.

Hope some of this helps!
Shân