Go out and search for your VA

In this step, I’ll walk you through all the different ways you can go about hiring a VA and the pros and cons of each approach. I’ll also review where you should share your job listing to attract the best candidates. 

By the end of this step, your job listing will be out in the world and your search for a VA will finally begin!

Agency vs. Independent

There are two approaches to hiring a VA: sign up with an agency that will hire a VA for you, or search for an independent freelancer on your own. If you decide to go with an agency – such as  Zirtual, Time ETC, or Belay – they can match you with a VA that has all the skills you need. If you decide to handle the search on your own, then you’ll be connecting with freelancers on job boards and social media. 

Pros and cons of going with an agency

Pros and cons of an Independent VA

Weighing the pros and cons

How you find a VA will be based on your analysis of the pros and cons of each. Neither is inherently better than the other, and you need to decide which best fits your needs. As with everything, if you know someone who works with a VA, reach out and ask their opinion too!

Sharing your job listing

Regardless of which hiring approach you choose — agency or independent — it’s time to get your job listing out there. Here are some of the best places to post your job listing:

• Social media

  • LinkedIn will have quality candidates looking for work and can get good referrals.

  • Facebook and Instagram can help to get the word out for referrals.

• Job boards: Fiverr and Upwork are great places to start.

• Leverage your networks: Ask people if they know someone looking for work who might be a good fit. This is often the best way to get quality candidates.

Exercise: Choose a hiring approach and get started!

1. Decide whether you want to hire a VA through an agency or find an independent VA yourself.

   • Go through each and determine which one works better for you.

   • You’ll find a form to tally your pros and cons in your workbook.

2. Post your job listing!

   • Post on all your social media channels, starting with LinkedIn.

   • Send the job listing to the people in your professional networks and ask them for recommendations. 

   • Determine which job boards you want to post on.

   • Post your listing on a few job boards, but keep a few on a backup list in case you don’t get the volume you want from one of your first choices. 

What did you learn?

With your effective job listing ready to go, we went over:

• The different approaches to hiring a VA — using an agency or searching for an independent VA on your own.

• The pros and cons of each and how you can determine which works best for you and your business.

• How and where to post your job listing.

Now that your listing is out there, it’s time to start preparing for the interviews you’ll conduct with the candidates you want to pursue!