12 Step Hack for Hiring Rockstar Virtual Assitants

If You Want “B Players” Don’t Read This

So apparently a glass or two of red wine is supposed to “chill you out” before bed. Well not Mr. Boatright! Now I’m wired like a rabbit that just snorted coke! (nice visual eh?) What to do? Drop some management and hiring tips on you of course! — ;0)

Q: Cory — how do you hire or build your team? I mean I know how to train people, but how do you do it?

Thanks bro — Ken

Ken,

This is exactly how I hire and train. I pick up team members only if they are cool, care about their work and we do multiple jobs together.

Here is my exact 12 step hiring process for outsourcing virtual assistants for Shortsaleology:

1. I define what exactly I want to have accomplished

2. I define exactly when I want to have it completed

3. I break projects into categories or little boxes in my head from a technique called “chunking”. This means If I want to train a Technical person. He/She goes into the “Technical” box.

4. I find out who is the expert in the respective field for the work I need completed. For example. If I want to find a coder for Ruby on Rails. I find out what company is really good at creating code for ROR. In this case that would be 37signals and owner Jason Fried. He’s Founder of 37signals and he’s a futurist and pragmatic in a good way as well as a certified-technology-P-I-M-P and TEAM creator. (side note: read his excellent management book “Rework”. Another fantastic book (one that’s really long and only about 100 pages are most relevant) is called “Top Grading” by Brad Smart. It’s what Fortune 500 companies use to pick “A players”.

5. Then I go to people I respect first and send an email or text asking a question like this.

“Hey i’m looking to accomplish X in X time. I want use a Ruby on Rails coder You know a rockstar in the making? If so…hook a botha up!

6. If I don’t get a referral, I go to oDesk or Elance and post something like…

**************

Post: I am looking for the impossible..I think. I need to find a “rockstar-genius-expert” that knows how to code Ruby on Rails like none other. I’m talking about the he/she that dreams about Ruby on Rails at night. They possibly have went to Ruby on Rails “therapy sessions” and have challenges sleeping at night. ;0)

Are You James Bond?

Here is your mission should you choose to accept it.
- I need to accomplish X project by x date. If you fail your computer will burst into flames! Seriously… this is an important project so… SERIOUS INQUIRES ONLY!

If you think you got what it takes respond back with something that isn’t boring and makes me notice you and your accomplishments. Then let’s chat further. If not… I totally understand. I mean not everyone can be a “Ruby on Rails Super hero”

Sincerely and I’ll be waiting patiently by my Inbox for your response

- cb

*****************

7. Then I set the rating to a minimum of 4 stars and completed hours to at least 500 so I can look at some track record of their past work.

8. I go back and forth on a few messages and ask questions like…

Q: Are you a family person or pretty much working solo?
Q: How long you been coding?
Q: Do you enjoy learning new things fast?
Q: Do you prefer being told what to do or are you a self driver type personality?
Q: Who are some of your favorite influences in work?
Q: If you didn’t finish a task in time what do you feel is the correct way someone should respond to that?
Q: Are you cool with working a week together on a trial basis to get a feel if we “gel” or not?
Q: What do you think is your greatest strength besides coding both personally and in business?
Q: Do you have fast Internet and reliability or is it “sketchy?”
Q: Do you get sick a lot or pretty healthy? I mean I know you get sick…but not like 10 times a month right?

9. Then I chat with them on Skype for a bit, look at their work and make a decision to hire from there.

10. I recruit them from inside Odesk, eLance or wherever first and eventually hire them direct away from those sites.

11. Once I decide they are a good “fit”. I tell them I’m going to PAY YOU to learn some things. Then look to see if I have any courses that I bought or anything that is recommended for the task. You would be surprised on what you can drum up by Googling or simply looking on YouTube for things you want this person to know.

12. Then I put together a S.O.P. (Standard Operation Procedure) of links and courses in zip files in a collaboration tool called Basecamp by 37 Signals (Jason Friend is my hero). These are things I want this person to learn and report back to me daily on their progress.

That’s pretty much it.

The last two project managers I hired stayed with me for over 2 years. One left (I actually paid him a bonus and an iPad when he left) because AOL Europe offered him a financial and benefits package that was 3 times what I was paying him. It made perfect sense for his family. I hated to lose him, but in my heart I knew it was best for him. (Side note: I was in China when this happened. I don’t recommend encouraging your Senior PM to leave when you are in a different country!)

My other PM got hired by Google. The point is this. Rockstars are challenged and pay is important, but feeling valuable and putting them on missions is way MORE important.

Here is some psychology behind why I ask these types of hiring questions.

1. You want to hire people that you know care more about being a rockstar/-ette at something then consuming the conversation with boring “how much you gonna pay me” chatter. We discuss that, but it’s a byproduct of having a cool conversation first and discovering more about what really makes them “tick” and how they get excited and challenged first. I want to know if they have sense of humor or if they are stoic and they aren’t comfortable with the questions. Many are not — AWESOME! I just weeded out and saved months of time and frustration later on when all they care about is getting paid to do a routine job.

2. I want to know if they have a family because that often means they have a bigger purpose for working. They want to support their family and be a provider. Often if you hire from India it isn’t uncommon to take care of your family financially. That is a fantastic accountability factor and great motivator. They are probably not going to jack around and not work especially since they are virtual independent contractors.

3. I ask if they often get sick because virtual independent contractors are notorious for telling you…

“I got food poisoning”

I know it happens, but I want to know how often they get sick because I don’t want to hire someone that gets sick a third of the month. Something is “up” with that.

What do I pay virtual assistants?
Non-technical: $2-5 hr
Semi-Technical: $5-10
Technical: $10-20 (maybe more if they show really great track record for specific talent I need)

What countries do I typically outsource virtual assistants from?
Philippines
Russia
Malaysia
India
Israel

I hope this is helpful. I get asked this question a lot since I run my business with many VA’s (virtual assistants) outsourced and I’ve learned a thing of two doing it.

Yawn…. bed time.

Remember… be a servant,

Cory Boatright
The Real Estate Servant
Shortsaleology.com
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