Tips For Hiring A VA From oDesk
I just wrote this out for a mate, thought you guys might find something useful in it:
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Q: How much is a good hourly rate and how long did it take you to find them? And how do you find someone that's good?
A: You can get a solid VA from the Phillipines for around $3 an hour. Mine took me a little while to find because I wanted something specific but it's worth it.
I highly recommend getting a couple of VA's to focus on different tasks. By doing this, it means you can get someone who's good at one thing specialised rather than getting someone who's kind of good at everything. And seeing as you're only paying them for the hours they work, not the hours they're online, it's not going to cost you any more.
In terms of the hiring process, there are a couple of things I've learned that make it easier. The first couple of job posting I submitted got flooded with spam applications so this how I make sure I get the right people now.
1. Always make the job posting private. If you don't, you get hit with HUNDREDS of spammy applications. If you do decide to make a public posting, make sure you specify that the applicant must include the word --Fish-- at the top of their application. That way you'll be able to sort the spam from the ones who've actually read the application without having to open every one.
2. When you're searching for contractors, always use the criteria on the right hand side of the search page to narrow down your choices. There are so many contractors on there, you can afford to select the cream of the crop. I always select:
a. Must have 4.5-5 star rating
b. Hourly rate must be between $0 - $5 ($3 an hour is a decent wage)
c. Must be have 100+ hours
d. Must be in the top 10% in relevant tests (not always necessary but helpful)
e. Must be from east Asia (for the Phillipines - they get taught in English so you're usually much less likely to have language barriers)
3. Ask for fixed price quotes for anything that can be done fixed price (like article writing)
4. Always insist on a skype interview where you talk to them. You want to make sure they can understand questions very well and reply in English without too many issues
5. Ask for samples
6. Make sure my job posting contains a set of instructions (write 'fish' at the top of your application, address all these points in sequential order) so that I can see how well they follow instructions. If they can't follow simple instructions, then they're going to have more trouble down the road
7. Look for contractors that have lots of jobs with the same employer (you can see this on their profile). If they're doing lots of little jobs with different employers then it means they're not getting invited back. If they're doing just a few jobs with BIG employers, then there's a good chance they're worth holding onto. (NOTE: Check out the employer to see what their credentials are like. If they've spent over $5k on oDesk then there's a good chance they know what they're talking about.)
8. Look for contractors that only have a few competencies listed on their profile. If they 'specialise' in HEAPS of different areas, there's a good chance they don't specialise in any of them.
9. See if the jobs they've been doing are actually in the area they specialise in. If they're a WordPress programmer and all they've been able to do is data entry, then there's a good chance they aren't any good.
10. Automatically disregard ANYONE who's application seems generic and not written to suit your job posting (ie. Starts with the introduction "Dear Hiring Manager..."). If they can't take the time to write a proper application then they obviously haven't read it and probably aren't perfectly suited.
That's about all I can think of for now. If I come up with anything else or you have any more questions, just let me know.
I can't access any of my old job applications at the moment so I can't post them here but as soon as I can, I'll put one up for you to see what I write.
