At Remote Workmate, we like to make the grueling recruitment process in finding your Filipino virtual staff our problem and your ultimate win. But what if you want to find your online staff by yourself?

The virtual assistants in the Philippines world is a wonderful but wild marketplace, so here are a few things to look out for if you want to try it out alone.

Pool Quality Candidates

In hiring, starting with a good range of candidates can be difficult, but it’s vital to get more than a handful of applications in your inbox. You want to be able to shortlist the best of the best, not the best of a bad bunch. The key is to understand what quality virtual assistants are looking out for. Compensation, benefits, nature and schedule of work, and stability of the employing company are just some of the things that experienced candidates take into consideration when applying for job opportunities.

VA Location Matters

To maximise your candidate reach across the Philippines, you will want to look into as many online job platforms and recruitment sites as you can. When looking for those candidates, keep in mind their geographic locations. There are plenty of fantastic virtual professionals in the Philippines, but if they are working in towns where electrical outages are common, this will seriously impact your business’s outcomes. The Philippines is a beautiful country, but fraught with unpredictable weather changes. Infrastructure, population, and the area’s ability to deal with natural disasters are all considerations you need to take on board when hiring your candidate.

Beware of Phonies

Finally, it’s important to get authentic candidates. Sourcing for the right experience is hard enough, you don’t want to deal with phony resumes as well. Once you’ve finally gone through the arduous task of shortlisting your candidates, you will want to call some referees. Remember to think outside of the box when it comes to reference checks. Often there is an opportunity to call a referee who isn’t on their list. Look at who they’ve chosen and what companies or organisations they’ve chosen to represent them. You may want to contact an alternative manager who isn’t on the list to make sure you know what kind of person you’re getting.

The reality is, there’s opportunity out there, it’s just a case of finding the best virtual staff to suit your needs. If you want to source alone, be armed with the tools to help you best succeed. Call our dedicated sourcing team at +61 8 7111 3393 if you need any support.