Busy professionals often find there aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish all they want to do. If your work-life balance isn’t balanced enough, it may be time to hire an assistant. The recruitment and hiring process can be daunting, but these tips will help you hire an assistant that meets your needs.
Write your assistant wish list
You won’t find the right assistant if you’re not sure what you’re looking for. Before you even think about placing a job ad or interviewing candidates, write your own wish list detailing who your ideal first assistant will be. What sort of tasks do you expect them to take care of? Typing documents, scheduling your appointments, and answering telephone and email inquiries are common assistant duties. You may also like your assistant to help you manage your work-life balance by taking on personal jobs like collecting dry cleaning or scheduling your family travel.
Make sure you list all your desired tasks in your job advertisement. This will help applicants identify your needs and decide whether they can meet them. Your successful candidate will also need to know what’s expected to excel in the role.
An assistant’s personality also matters, as you’ll work closely with your successful candidate. Do you want someone who is very serious and studious, or would you prefer a more bubbly, lighthearted assistant? Once you know what sort of personality you’re looking for, you’ll be able to identify the best match during the interview process.
Approach specialist recruitment agencies
You’ve probably already planned to post your ad on online job boards. While this is a good start, it relies on the right candidate scrolling through the dozens of advertisements posted on these websites every day. Experts say many of the best candidates aren’t searching that hard. A specialist recruitment firm will help connect you to those people.
Specialist recruitment firms have the tools to browse through the active job market, or the people trawling through those job boards, and the passive market, made up of employed assistants who aren’t actively looking for work but who would be open to a new job if the right one came along. These people with recent experience and a proven track record are likely to be the best candidates for your role.
Be open to new assistants in your network
A good assistant won’t always come through conventional channels like a response to your job ad or a recruiter’s recommendation. Your next assistant could be in your network.
Collaborative job spaces like WeWork offices bring together a variety of professionals from a range of backgrounds. When you work in these spaces, you’re likely to strike up conversations with people who have skills different from own. If you enjoy people’s company, don’t be afraid to tell them about your open position and ask whether they have the skills and desire to apply.
Also consider your online connections. Post about your vacant position on your social media profiles, especially your LinkedIn page. Ask whether any of your contacts are interested in the work or knows someone they can recommend.
Ask about previous experience
While your applicants’ resumes will give you some indication of their experience, asking this question during an interview will give you more insight in their past work. Look for candidates who’ve worked for clients similar to yourself. If you’re running a small business, an assistant who’s used to working with celebrities might not be a good fit.
Ask your candidates to get specific and describe their daily duties and responsibilities. Ask for anecdotes about memorable projects and challenges. Their answers will indicate whether a candidate will be a fish out of water in your line of work or your perfect match.
Ask about the parts of the job your candidates loved and loathed
People tend to do best when they’re doing things they enjoy. Learning the parts of the job your candidates love most will tell you what makes them tick. Ideally, you want to find an assistant who can do a lot of the things they love most when they’re working for you. If an applicant struggles to answer this question, it might indicate they work as an assistant for a paycheck and nothing more. This lack of real passion for the work should be a red flag.
Conversely, asking your candidates what parts of their previous work they didn’t enjoy can be revealing. If candidates say they hate the things they’ll need to do a lot when working for you, they’re unlikely to be a good fit for the position.
Ask the assistant about the relationships they’ve had With past employers
Finding an assistant is about hiring someone you’ll form a relationship with. So learning more about the relationships your candidates have had with previous employers can be insightful. You should ideally choose the candidate who tends to have working relationships that sound like the ones you’d like to have with an assistant.
Ask about problem solving
The best assistants are problem solvers, so make sure you ask questions about problem-solving experience and instincts in your interview. For example, you might ask what your assistant would do if someone calls for you with an urgent question when you’re out of the office. Your candidate’s answer will give you an insight to how he or she would handle the situation in your office. Consider common problems that might arise in your workplace when crafting your problem-solving questions. You can also ask your candidates to share times they’ve had to apply problem-solving skills in the past.
Ask about plans for the future
Many people applying for assistant roles see these positions as stepping stones along their career path. Others are happy in supporting roles and never feel the need to move on from them. Ask what your candidates intend so you can find the best match. If you’re looking for a long-term hire, someone who isn’t intending on sticking around won’t be the best fit.
Hire an assistant
Once you’ve interviewed your applicants, it’s time to make a decision and hire your assistant. The following tips will help you make the right choice.
Prioritize candidates with external leadership experience
While professional achievements and experience matter, don’t underestimate the importance of things your candidates do outside the workplace. Prioritize candidates who volunteer in their community or participate in professional associations. Taking on such positions suggests your candidates want to learn and be team players. They might also have professional connections that could benefit your business.
Test your finalists’ communication skills
When you’ve found your frontrunners, test their communication skills. Your assistant will need to communicate with your business associates and customers via the phone and email, so communicate with your finalists using these methods.
While you got a sense of your candidates’ oral communication skills during their interviews, some people struggle to speak as naturally on the phone. Look for candidates who can speak confidently on the phone without the use of filler words or sounds of hesitation. Their email correspondence should also be clear and without grammatical and spelling errors. Liberal use of emojis and emoticons may also give you cause for concern.
Meet several times before making a decision
Your decision about the perfect first assistant shouldn’t rushed. Otherwise, you might hire the wrong person and need to start the process all over again. Never base your decision on a single interview. Meet with the candidates you’re most interested in at least three times. Vary the circumstances so you can assess how your candidates handle the changes.
Make at least one meeting over a meal, so you can judge how your potential new assistant acts in a more relaxed setting. Invite other trusted colleagues to some of your meetings so they can offer feedback about your candidates. This will give you a chance to judge how your potential new assistant gels with other employees in your organization.
Trust your intuition
While credentials and experience are important, don’t let the information you know about your candidates override your gut instincts. We typically have a sixth sense about whom we’d best work with. If something still feels off about the candidate with the most impressive resume, don’t hire this person. Trust your gut instinct to guide you toward the right decision.
Hiring an assistant doesn’t need to be daunting. Do your research, but trust your instincts when you’re making this important decision.
