Top 5 Websites to Find a Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is a real person who supports you or your business remotely from your home office . They can be virtually anywhere and the services they provide range from professional administrative, technical, personal or creative assistance. Since virtual assistants are entrepreneurs and freelancers, you as their "employer" do not have to worry about employee-related costs.

The best way to find a virtual assistant is obviously the Internet. In this article, I'll show you five different websites that will help you find the perfect candidate. All of these services are free, until you decide to hire a virtual assistant that meets your criteria.

Twitter

Virtual assistants looking for a job will find you if you post a short application and job description on Twitter. You can virtually extend the 140-character limit by adding a link to a more complete description of what you're looking for. Also, you may want to search Twitter for virtual assistants and contact them directly.

Here are some tips from Twitter:

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CraigsList

If you want to post an anonymous job posting or add a few more details than can fit in 140 characters, CraigsList is a great alternative to Twitter. Also, you can find an assistant who lives in the desired place, including your own city. The advantage with CraigsList is that you are in direct contact with the candidate without a middleman to worry about.

Curious about CraigsList?

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VA Networks

VA Networking is a social network for virtual assistants. It provides people starting out in the business with resources to improve their business. If you are looking to hire a virtual assistant, enter this network and find the perfect match. You can submit a 'request for proposal' (RFP) to hire a VA and your RFP will be posted on the VAinsiders virtual assistant job board.

Elance

Elance is a platform for online employment. You can post a job offer for free and candidates will apply or rather bid on your project. The main attraction with Elance is that you can review applicant profiles and portfolios and assess how they have performed in the past.

Employer Guru

This service is similar to Elance. You post a project, receive offers, and browse candidate profiles and websites. When you select a freelancer, you deposit the funds for the project with Guru. Once the agreed work is received, you release the funds and your assistant gets paid. You can also browse all the virtual assistants that offer their services through Guru by keywords or country.

Conclusion

There are many free and creative ways to find employees online. You will find that people with diverse backgrounds, skills, and from all over the world will apply to your job role. Candidates will quote hourly rates as low as $5 or as high as $50. Please note that there are no educational standards for virtual assistants. In addition, you may encounter language or cultural barriers. It is your job as a potential employer to assess whether an applicant will be able to perform the tasks you expect and is worth the pay they are requesting.

Have you ever hired someone online? What website or service did you use and what have your experiences been?