Anyone can post a job and collect two hundred applications. The hard part is the next step: telling the one person who will quietly run your inbox, your pipeline or your support queue apart from the many who interview well and fade by week three. That is the part we do. We define the outcome, source widely, screen on evidence, run a paid trial, and hand you a hire, backed by a 60-day replacement guarantee.
Why most virtual assistant hires fail
The failures are rarely about the person. They come from how the hire was set up, and they show up in the same three places almost every time.
The brief describes tasks, not outcomes
"Manage my inbox and book calls" cannot be evaluated. "Every lead gets a reply within the hour and every call is on the calendar" can. If you cannot say what good looks like in week four, no candidate can be screened against it.
The filter is the résumé and the rate
Both are easy to optimize for and neither predicts reliability. English polish and a long list of tools tell you how someone interviews. They do not tell you how they behave unsupervised on a Tuesday afternoon.
There is no trial between the interview and the offer
If the only evidence is a conversation, your first real data arrives after you have committed, which is the most expensive possible moment to learn it.
Evidence beats impression. Every stage of our process exists to replace an opinion about a candidate with something you can actually observe.
How the process works
- Define the outcome. We turn your brief into a one-page scorecard: the result the role owns, the work it takes, the hours and timezone overlap you need, and the dealbreakers. Every candidate is scored against this document, and it is the biggest single determinant of whether the hire works.
- Source wide. We advertise the role and approach candidates directly, because the strongest people are rarely the loudest applicants. We cast broad, then narrow hard.
- Screen on evidence. A written application with a question specific to the role, a short recorded response, then a live screen. Communication, track record and judgment are scored separately, so a polished talker cannot hide a thin track record.
- Run a paid work trial. The shortlisted few complete a small, real piece of the job, paid. You see the work product, the questions they ask, and whether they delivered without being chased.
- Offer and handoff. You interview the finalists we put in front of you and make the call. We then handle the offer and the first-week handoff: access, expectations and the first 30 days of goals.
- Stand behind it. If a hire leaves or is not working out inside 60 days, we rerun the search.
The roles we source
Different roles fail in different ways, so we screen for different things.
Sales (setters, closers and SDRs)
Prospecting and closing are different skills, so we score them separately. A candidate who closes well but has only ever worked handed-over leads is a closer, not a hybrid. What we test: a cold-outreach sample, a recorded pitch, and live objection handling.
Admin and executive assistants
The job is judgment under ambiguity: conflicting priorities, half-finished instructions, and the knowledge of what to do without asking and what to confirm first. What we test: a mock inbox with competing priorities and an incomplete instruction.
Customer support and operations
Tone under pressure and process discipline matter most, along with knowing which issues to escalate and which to quietly resolve. What we test: a set of realistic tickets, including one that should be escalated.
Marketing and creative
A portfolio is a claim. A small commissioned piece against your brand is evidence, and it shows how they take feedback. What we test: a short paid brief covering social, content, design or editing.
Not on the list? Ask. The process generalizes and only the trial task changes.
Who this is for
- Owner-operators and small businesses hiring a first virtual assistant who are not sure what to ask for, or what to screen on.
- Agencies and consultancies that need dependable capacity behind client work and cannot afford a revolving door.
- Startups and lean teams that need a role covered by someone who can work without daily management.
What a good screen actually measures
Six signals, scored independently. The weights shift by role: sales weights prospecting and closing most heavily, while admin weights judgment and attention to detail.
| Signal | What we look for | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Communication | Clear, concise written answers; asks clarifying questions before starting | Fluent but vague, and no questions |
| Track record | Specific outcomes with numbers and context | Duties listed, results absent |
| Judgment | Sensible calls on ambiguous input; flags what they cannot decide | Guesses silently, or stalls |
| Reliability | Delivers the trial on time, unprompted | Needs reminders before the work has even started |
| Tool fluency | Has used comparable tools and can walk through their workflow | Lists tools but cannot describe how they used them |
| Hours and setup | Real overlap with your day and a stable working setup | "Flexible" with no specifics |
Hire, or automate?
Not every task needs a person. High-volume, rules-based work such as reminders, lead routing, follow-ups and reporting is cheaper and more dependable when it is automated, and a VA who spends half the week on it is a misallocated hire.
The right order is to automate what is mechanical, then hire for what needs judgment. We do both. Our guide to AI automation vs. hiring a virtual assistant explains where the line sits, and a free AI audit will tell you which of your own tasks fall on which side.
What we need from you
- A rough idea of the outcome the role should own
- The hours and timezone overlap you need
- The tools and systems they will work in
- A budget range, so we do not screen people you cannot hire
- Time to review a shortlist and interview the finalists
The 60-day replacement guarantee
If a placed virtual assistant leaves or is not working out within 60 days of starting, we rerun the search for a replacement. The exact terms are agreed in writing before we begin.