Most failed VA hires fail before anyone is hired. The scope was vague, the trial was unpaid and unrepresentative, and onboarding was a login list. Here is the process I would run if I were on your side of the table.
Step 1: Write down where your week actually goes
Track one normal week in 30-minute blocks. Do not estimate from memory; memory flatters. You are looking for the recurring low-judgment blocks: inbox triage, scheduling, data entry, follow-up chasing, reporting. Those are the delegation candidates.
Step 2: Scope outcomes, not tasks
A task list produces a task-doer you have to feed daily. An outcome brief produces relief. Compare: "reply to emails" versus "inbox at zero by 6pm daily, anything needing my decision surfaced with a recommendation attached". The second is hireable and checkable.
Step 3: Write a brief that filters
- The two or three outcomes you are buying
- Tools they must already know, and tools you will train
- Required time-zone overlap in hours, not vague words
- How the work will be reviewed and reported
- Budget range, stated openly to save both sides time
Step 4: Screen for judgment, not enthusiasm
Ask one scenario question in writing: a client emails angry about a missed deadline while you are offline; what do you send in the next ten minutes? You are reading for structure, ownership and tone. Polished CVs are common; good judgment under mild pressure is not.
Step 5: Run a small paid trial
Pay for it, keep it to two or three hours, and make it representative of the real work: clean 50 CRM records, draft three follow-up emails, build one weekly report from raw data. Score the output on accuracy, format discipline and questions asked before starting. Good candidates ask two sharp questions first.
Step 6: Onboard properly in week one
- Day 1: access, tools, and a written definition of done for each outcome
- Day 2: shadow the workflow live, they document it as an SOP
- Day 3: they execute, you review everything
- Day 4: they execute, you review a sample
- Day 5: first weekly report, plus a 20-minute retro on what was unclear
Red flags worth walking away from
- Cannot describe how they would report progress
- Agrees to every scope expansion without questions
- No examples of owning a recurring workflow end to end
- Vague about availability, or unwilling to commit to overlap hours
What good looks like at 30 days
At 30 days you should be reviewing samples rather than everything, receiving a weekly report you did not chase, and seeing at least one SOP written by them that you did not ask for. If you are still assigning work daily, the scope was task-shaped, not outcome-shaped, and it is fixable with one honest conversation.