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When you decide that it’s time to hire someone new, whether a virtual assistant or an employee, you make a list of the skills and abilities that this person needs to have.
But, how often do you actually take a look at the personality traits that this person will need?
It’s a lot less common than you think! Hiring someone who lacks the traits that are important to you can lead to added work for yourself and higher stress – the exact things you were trying to avoid.
No thank-you!
So here it is! A list of some of the most essential traits for your virtual assistant to have (so that you don’t pull your hair out)
Reliability
How can your business move forward if you’re leaving essential business functions up to someone who isn’t reliable? Tasks need to be completed, and you need to be able to rely on your new hire to get things done in the time expected. If you can’t…why bother?
Integrity
This seems pretty straightforward…But you’d be surprised to find out how many people don’t take this into consideration when hiring a virtual assistant. Finding someone with integrity is vital because, especially in a virtual relationship, honesty and strong ethics will bring success while deceit will not.
Integrity also becomes vital when you’re dealing with intellectual property. Many businesses out there hiring virtual employees are content creators, and no one wants to deal with having their content stolen.
Friendliness
This trait is especially important when you’re hiring a virtual assistant that is going to be working directly with your customers or clients. Someone who is friendly and confident will help nurture the relationship that your clients have with you. Hiring someone who stays positive and upbeat even in tough or stressful situations is a massive benefit to any business. Plus, no one wants to work with anyone who is always negative or grouchy.
Resourcefulness
There are many virtual assistants out there that don’t have this trait. They have all the skills you were initially looking for but as soon as something new comes up…they can’t figure it out. Someone who cannot go out on their own and find the necessary information won’t be much help to a growing business. Instead, find someone who is fluent in google and knows how to dig for the info. Find someone who can see the answers to the tough questions you are dealing with every day.
Communication
This is last, but it’s definitely NOT least. In fact, this may be the most crucial trait on the list. I can’t even begin to list how many clients have made the complaint that their last virtual assistant didn’t communicate with them often enough, or even at all.
Think about how often you need updates on tasks and projects. Do you need updates weekly? Daily? Find a virtual assistant who is comfortable and confident that they will meet and exceed your communication needs.
The above traits are a great start to the list when you’re starting the hiring process for your virtual assistant. You can’t go wrong when you hire someone who is reliable, has integrity, is friendly, is resourceful, and who knows how to communicate effectively.
