Type “virtual assistant for hire” on your Google search bar, and you’ll notice that the results will give you a long list of Filipino virtual assistant databases. That’s because virtual assistants in the Philippines are among the best when it comes to remote work.
This alone can probably tell you that if you want the best virtual assistant, you must hire a Filipino virtual assistant.
Now, your next question would probably be, “But how do I hire the BEST Filipino virtual assistant?”
Read on to get a detailed guide on all your possible hows, whys, and whats.
How to Hire a Virtual Assistant in the Philippines
Distance is never a hindrance when it comes to virtual assistants.
The Philippines may be miles away from you, but it’s still easy enough to hire a virtual assistant or two.
All it takes is 5 simple steps:
- Figure out what kind of virtual assistant you need.
- Come up with a job description.
- Post the details on a virtual assistant site.
- Assess, interview and shortlist candidates.
- Hire the best Filipino virtual assistant you can find!
Yup, it’s that easy.
Now, we know that you might have a few questions about the nitty-gritty of the process, so let’s try to break each part down.
What Kind of Virtual Assistant Do You Need?
There are different types of virtual assistants, each having a set of skills unique from others. The type of virtual assistant you hire should depend on what tasks you need them to do.
It is also possible for you to hire more than one VA, especially if there are several different tasks that you want to be done. Note that the salary of each VA will depend on their job description, experience, technical skills, and other similar factors.
Here are some of the usual types of virtual assistants business owners hire from the Philippines:
General Assistant
A general virtual assistant takes care of administrative tasks like:
- Calendar management and appointment scheduling
- Data entry
- Email management
- Personal errands (buying gifts, reserving restaurant tables, buying tickets, etc.)
- Research
- Travel bookings
At the same time, a general VA can also take care of minor content management tasks like posting blogs, updating your WordPress site content, or posting on social media.
However, if it’s something more technical, like updating some coding on your PHP page, you may want to get a dedicated web developer.
The same thing goes for content management.
Basic posting on social media is fine. But if you need someone to create and strategize content, track insights, and other relevant data, do competitor research, or anything similar. You may want a social media marketer or a content manager instead of a general VA.
Content Creator
Content creators are mostly writers. However, this title could also cover creators of other types of content as well, like videos and images.
So, just to be safe, make sure you’re specific when posting a job about a content creator. You might also use “content writer” if you need someone who can write blog posts, articles, webpage content, product descriptions, social media captions, etc.
Otherwise, you can get a graphic designer (if you need them to edit or create visual content) or a video editor.
What if you need a content creator that can do, let’s say, writing and a little bit of Photoshop?
In this case, feel free to use the term “content creator” as long as you give the specifics of the job description. (We’ll talk about that later.)
SEO Specialist
We live in a world where people Google everything. Therefore, you’d probably want your pages to show up on top of the search results, and this is why you’ll need an SEO specialist.
An SEO specialist can take care of the following tasks:
- Blog and content management
- Keyword research
- Link building
- Market analysis
- On-page and off-page optimization
It is always best to let your content writer and your SEO specialist work together. Your SEO specialist can guide your writer in terms of what keywords to use, how to use them, and how to layout their content so that Google can easily pick it up.
Additionally, you can opt to hire a content creator who already has an SEO background if you’d rather have a single person working on both tasks. Just a heads up, though, a content writer who also does SEO may demand more in terms of salary.
Social Media Marketer
You may have multiple social media profiles and would really like to focus on growing your reach and engagement on all of those accounts. In this case, hiring a dedicated social media marketer would be best.
A social media marketer can take care of:
- Strategizing on what posts are relevant to your audience
- Posting at optimal times
- Monitoring insights and data
- Research your target audiences
- Competitor research
Your content creator can also work with your social media manager to figure out what your audiences there want to see.
Ecommerce
A lot of businesses allow their customers to make purchases online, either on sites like eBay or Amazon or on their own eCommerce site. If your business is like this, then hiring an eCommerce assistant would be a smart choice.
Here are just a few tasks your eCommerce assistant can take care of you:
- Competitor analysis
- Editing and posting product images
- Handling orders, returns, and exchanges
- Handling chat and email for inquiries
- Managing inventory
- Product data entry
- Writing product descriptions
You’ll notice that there may also be some writing involved in eCommerce.
If this is all the writing that needs to be done, then you can just hire an eCommerce VA and forget about getting a content writer. Just emphasize that the task of writing a product description is also part of the job description.
Otherwise, you can hire a separate content creator and have this person work closely with your eCommerce VA.
If you see tasks you want to be done that aren’t here, don’t worry. Here’s a longer list of 101 things a virtual assistant can do for you.
How to Create a Detailed Job Post
We’ve heard a lot of stories about business owners scanning through dozens of applications, most of them not even match what the employer needs!
This is exactly why you need to create a detailed job post. It tells potential applicants whether they qualify for the job or not. Vague descriptions will only invite a lot of people who don’t even know what the task is about to apply for the job.
Here are the usual parts of a detailed job post:
Job Title
You may think that this is “just” a header, but it’s not. This is the reason why it’s so important to understand what type of virtual assistant you need.
Don’t just write “Virtual Assistant,” or you’ll find yourself swimming in a sea of unwanted application letters.
Be specific! Instead of just “Content Writer,” you can say “Article Writer” or “Blog Writer with SEO Background.” This move can immediately split your applications into half, maybe even more, leaving you with more fitting applicants to deal with.
Salary
Most virtual assistant sites leave a space at the top for you to put in the salary that you’re offering. It’s acceptable, however, to emphasize that the salary is negotiable. This leaves you with enough flexibility should you decide to hire a person who may be either underqualified or overqualified for the job.
Yes, it’s possible for you to end up hiring someone who may need a little more training in using some of the tools. But if this person seems to have a better attitude than someone who has more skills, and you feel that you’ll have the patience and time to do some training, then feel free to choose this person. Then, you can offer a salary that’s less than the average until the person gets up to speed.
It’s the same thing if you decide to hire someone who has additional skills that might come in handy in the future. Be prepared to offer this person a bit extra from your original offer.
Average VA Salaries
To give you some ideas on how much a virtual assistant earns, here’s the usual range:
| General Virtual Assistants | $500 to $800 a month |
| Content Writers | $400 to $700 a month |
| SEO Specialists | $750 to $950 a month |
| Web Developers | $800 to $1400 a month |
| Graphic Designers | $700 to $1200 a month |
| Mobile App Developers | $800 to $1400 a month |
| Ecommerce Specialist | $400 to $800 a month |
| Social Media Expert | $400 to $800 a month |
Again, you can go below or beyond these ranges based on the amount of experience, skills, and work you’ll be assigning.
Interested in learning more about how virtual assistants are paid? Read this post to find out more.
Job Overview
You need a little intro that could show potential applicants a sneak peek of what you’re looking for. Keep this short and simple – around two to three lines would be enough.
Use this space to say what you feel is most important to you in your VA hunt. You can, for example, say that you’re looking for someone who knows how to use Shopify and is willing to follow EST work hours.
Job Description
Now, this is where it gets really serious.
Using bullet points, list down all of the tasks involved. Don’t leave anything out! You may think twice about putting too much. But trust me, it’s better to be thorough and let your potential VA know what they’re in for. This is much better than surprising them when they start working for you.
Requirements
This is another bulleted list to put on your job post.
List down all of the minimum requirements that qualify people to become your virtual assistant. This is also where you can list down tools they should know how to use and certifications they’re required to have.
Just a piece of advice, though, make sure you don’t overdo this part.
Do you really need someone who has a degree in marketing if all you need them to do is copy and paste some data?
Other Additional Details
You can add a few extra details at the bottom of your job post. For example, you can add a list of things that would give applicants some sort of edge over everyone else. You can say, “Experience in drafting business proposals is a big plus,” or something to that effect.
Feel free to also add some additional instructions that could help you better segregate the worthy from the unworthy. For example, you can say, “Write the word orange on the subject line to let me know that you read this job post thoroughly.”
Where to Look for Filipino Virtual Assistants
The next big question is, where do you post that job opening? Where can you find Filipino virtual assistants in search of the right job?
Here are some VA agencies to look at:
Some best freelancing platforms to hire a Filipino virtual assistant are:
Each of these sites has its own processes and setups. Some may charge a minimal fee for posting a job, while some offer recruitment assistance all the way until you hire the right person for the job.
Tips for Assessing Virtual Assistant Candidates
So you’ve figured out what type of virtual assistant you need and have posted all the details in all the right places. Now that applications are bound to start coming in soon, let’s talk about how you’re going to assess these candidates.
Tip #1: Go back to your job post
This is another good reason for you to keep your job posts as detailed as possible. When it’s time to assess your applicants, it’s going to be the best basis who’s gonna pass or not.
Looking at each of the qualifications you listed on your job post, have a pile that strictly follows your requirements. As for the rest of them, they all go into your discard pile.
You may also want to have a pile of applications that really stood out at the get-go. You’ll want to prioritize those applications to make sure you snatch them off the virtual assistant market first before anybody else hires them (IF they pass the other parts of the hiring process as well).
Tip #2: Test each applicant the right way
It’s easy for virtual assistants to impress with their profiles. But you’ve also got to let them prove that every bit of thing they claim on their profile is true.
That’s where tests can come in handy.
Figure out what kind of tests can best show how each applicant can handle the tasks ahead of them. If you’re going to ask them to do a lot of data entry or encoding, for example, you can ask them to do a typing test.
As for skills-based jobs, it is best to give them a test that tests their grasp of that skill. If you’re hiring a writer, for instance, instead of just relying on the samples they’re sending, you can give them a topic, add a few requirements, then ask them to do an original piece based on your instructions. Tests like these would also allow you to gauge all applicants equally since they’ll be working on the same task.
Again, this is a part that you should not overdo. There is no need to ask your applicants to go through a complicated IQ test, for example. You can, however, ask applicants to go through a personality test to have an idea of how this person works.
Tip #3: Consider having a phone interview
Although a lot of employers skip this part, it’s still good practice to have a phone interview before hiring a virtual assistant from the Philippines.
For one thing, it can give you a glimpse of their communication skills. This is not to pass judgment but to figure out how well they’re going to understand your instructions once you guys start working together.
A phone interview is also a great way to get a feel for the person. I’ve always believed in trusting your gut. An online profile and a few emails exchanged may not give you any insight into a person. But once you start talking to them on the phone (or via video call, if you prefer a face-to-face meeting), it’s easier to measure how easy it is to talk to the person.
Why Do You Need a Virtual Assistant?
Why do you need a virtual assistant in the first place?
There are a lot of great reasons why you should get a virtual assistant. Here are some of the most important:
It gives you time to work on the more important things.
As a business owner, you’re probably used to doing a lot of stuff on your own, especially when you’re just starting out.
Although being hands-on is good, it could also be taking precious time away from the things that are really important.
Instead of pitching to prospective clients, for example, you may be spending so much time working on things like bookkeeping, product posting, or content writing.
When you have a virtual assistant taking care of all that for you, you’ll have more time to work on the more important stuff.
It lets you cross off tasks that you’ve been neglecting.
Admit it. There are a number of tasks that have stayed on your to-do list forever.
Don’t worry, that’s normal. Especially if it’s something that you don’t particularly enjoy doing, it’s draining to have to force yourself to work on it just for the sake of finishing it.
By having a VA who really specializes in that task, you can at least rest easy knowing that someone’s taking care of everything for you.
It lets you improve the outcome of some of the tasks.
Just as you have a number of things you avoid doing, there may also be a few things that you like doing but aren’t really very skilled at.
Because a lot of virtual assistants have their own areas of specialization, there’s bound to be someone who can produce better output than you.
Writing content for your pages, for example, may seem like a simple enough task. But if nobody is responding to your content, then it may be something that someone else can improve. By getting a content writer for the job, you might get more people to visit your pages.
It helps you reach your goals faster.
You can only handle so much in a day. But if you have someone else taking care of half of the tasks for you, you can reach each milestone twice as fast.
With a virtual assistant who’s trained to do this as efficiently as possible, you might find yourself surprised that you’re doing so much over a smaller period of time.
It allows you to cut some costs.
You’re bound to hire a virtual assistant sooner or later. But if you go for a virtual assistant, your costs are going to be a lot less than getting an in-person assistant.
Imagine the cost of preparing a desk space for your assistant. The desk and computer alone would already cost a lot. But when you hire a virtual assistant, you don’t even have to worry about all that. Your VA takes care of their own equipment. You won’t have to pay extra for their utilities, too.
Why Hire a Filipino Virtual Assistant?
Here comes another important question.
You can hire a virtual assistant anywhere.
Why go for one from the Philippines?
Here are a few good reasons why Filipinos rock at being virtual assistants:
- They’re unbelievably friendly! This is why a lot of Filipinos are in the hospitality business.
- Filipinos are immersed in Western culture.
- Filipinos grew up learning and speaking in English. Most schools use it as their primary language of instruction.
- They are resilient. No flood, storm, or internet outage is going to stop them! You’ll often see internet cafes and places with Wi-Fi filled with VAs working.
- They’re used to outsourcing. There are so many BPOs all over the country, so they understand the concept of working for someone who’s halfway around the world.
- Filipinos are very flexible. It doesn’t even matter if you want them to follow your time zone. They’ll go for it even if it means working at night.
- Filipinos charge less! Even the highest-paid VAs would ask for less compared to a VA in your location.
- They enjoy working from home. Traffic is really bad in the Philippines, so they consider it a huge privilege to work from the comfort of their home.
As long as you treat them right, Filipinos are going to be loyal and will do everything they can to deliver.
Bonus Tip!
Undoubtedly, the best way to find the best Filipino virtual assistant would be to look in the right place. Because of this, we highly recommend eVirtualAssistants as a great starting point.
eVirtualAssistants makes sure that both employers and virtual assistants are happy. The processes for both hiring and applying for jobs are seamless and easy. The best part is, eVirtualAssistants makes sure that employers get their money’s worth while also making sure that virtual assistants are paid well for the work they put in.
Are you ready to start your hunt for the best Filipino virtual assistant? Click here to get started.