Hiring a Personal Assistant
There are problems with having a large workload, however, and although you might be grateful for the business, you’ll find yourself spread too thin in a matter of weeks. When business owners try to do everything themselves, they become overloaded by too much to do every day.
Thankfully, there is an answer to that problem! Corporate executives who work from fifteenth-floor corner offices have secretaries and administrative assistants to handle some of their work, so why shouldn’t you? Even if you work from home, you can still hire someone to send out invoices, answer e-mails, make phone calls and build spreadsheets. A personal assistant can take some of the burden out of your life and alleviate a surprising amount of stress.
What does a personal assistant do?
Depending on the type of business your run, a personal assistant can be responsible for a myriad of tasks. As with any position, personal assistants usually excel at particular forms of administrative support, so before you begin the hiring process, look carefully at what you’ll need and expect from your assistant.
In many cases, the personal assistant takes on the role of secretary, handling your correspondence, invoicing and billing. Others work in more of an administrative capacity by taking care of filing, bookkeeping, marketing and data entry. You can also find personal assistants who will run errands for you while you work, such as picking up dry cleaning, ordering lunch during a meeting, fulfilling your grocery list and picking up associates at the airport.
How do I find a personal assistant?
The best way to find a competent personal assistant is to put an ad in the paper and begin the interview process. You can also go through a staffing agency, but your costs will go up for finding the right candidate. You’ll probably want to interview each applicant at least twice because a personal secretary should be perfect for your needs, and you shouldn’t take the hiring process lightly.
What should I look for in a personal assistant?
Again, this depends on what the assistant will be doing for you. Each case is different, and since a personal assistant must conform to your expectations, the hiring process will be more involved than when hiring sales associates or administrative assistants for a large company.
1. Carefully outline your expectations. From the very beginning, you should have a detailed and all-inclusive job description that you can provide to each candidate. Be as honest and forthright as possible about what will be expected and what jobs must be performed. Be sure they understand that the job will meaning coming to your home and working there, so they must be comfortable with working in your house.
2. Ask as many questions as possible. Get to know each candidate from both a personal and professional standpoint. Ask about job history, experience and abilities. You should also give the candidates time to ask you questions about your work habits and so forth. You must be comfortable with your assistant, and they must be comfortable with you.
3. Request references. Obtain at least three references from each candidate – two professional and one persona. Call each reference and ask questions about the applicant’s character, moral fiber, work ethic and personality. Prior employers should be willing to answer your questions.
4. Run a background check. You must never forget that your personal assistant will be working in your home, perhaps unsupervised. Run an extensive background check to make sure that the person you hire has no discrepancies on their record. Bringing the wrong person into your home could have disastrous consequences.
What should I pay my personal assistant?
In most cases, salary should be commensurate with experience. On the application, you can ask for the desired salary, or you can make the pay clear from the very beginning. It should also depend on where you live – pay rates should reflect the standard of living in your state and the economy.
If you go to monster.com, you can run a salary calculator for personal assistant, and find out what the typical pay averages for such professionals. Based on that number, you can adjust it to fit your situation and the assistant you hire.
Do I hire a personal assistant as an employee or as a contractor?
To avoid legal issues, you should hire your assistant as an employee, because he or she will be working a certain number of hours and performing delegated tasks. If you hire as an independent contractor, however, make sure that you have a contractor agreement and that you’ve checked with a CPA about tax issues.
Hiring a personal assistant will make your life much easier, and will allow you to concentrate on the larger issues that demand your attention each day.
