Lisa Zeeveld:
Welcome back to One Next Step. So let’s just jump right in. In the episode, we talked a lot about what attributes to look for in a great VA, but for this bonus question, I’d like to talk about what red flags to look for. What are some of the key red flags to look out for when someone isn’t doing the job?
Tricia Sciortino:
I mean, that’s a loaded question.
Lisa Zeeveld:
I feel like we’ve seen quite a few things.
Tricia Sciortino:
There’s been some, well, we’ve seen some things. I mean, as you can imagine, probably collectively over the last 10 years, we must have interviewed tens of thousands of people as a staffing organization. Literally tens of thousand. Yeah, and so little things that I look for, because I feel like they say things about people would be some of the simple things you might overlook. For example, they’re late to the interview. If they’re late, in my opinion, it’s over. That just goes to preparedness how strongly they take the commitment, what it means for how they may show up in the day-to-day. Is this their thing? They’re always late, so your time is valuable. So I think that people that appreciate and honor you are on time because they know that your time’s valuable. So lateness for me is a red flag.
Tricia Sciortino:
And then if you’re working virtually and you’re like us, and we absolutely believe video is a must. Another thing would be, you know, tech flags that would show up on their Zoom. Can they not figure out how to work a webcam? Can they not use the Zoom link? They couldn’t click it. Like are there issues, are they having technology issues on the interview? That to me might be something that you would dig into if it’s a remote job and you’re looking for someone who’s resourceful, those to me are two items that would raise a red flag for me on an initial interview. How about you?
Lisa Zeeveld:
I love that.
Tricia Sciortino:
Do you have any?
Lisa Zeeveld:
On an initial interview? Yeah, I feel like somebody who doesn’t have a good rapport, like they’re just not a good communicator. I feel like you have to have a lot of energy to be a VA. And so if you kind of come to the interview and you’re a little, I’m gonna, I hate to say it, but overly professional, and so it comes off as cold and not warm, and you as the interviewer feel like you’re just pulling the information out of them then they’re probably not gonna be a good fit for your organization. Because a, kind of going back to a good attribute, right, is your VA is going to have to work with a lot of different people in your organization and outside your organization. And so they have to be a good communicator and be warm and friendly. And so if they’re like a cold fish on the interview, it’s not worth it. That’s a huge red flag.
Tricia Sciortino:
I could not agree more. I mean, there’s literally something to be said whether you think so or not at the time for there being a connection. I mean, especially for this particular role, you work pretty closely with your virtual assistant. She’s actually, my assistant Cameron is probably the person I talk to the most inside the organization. I spend the most time working with her than anybody else. And so me and her feeling like we can connect with each other and we enjoy working with each other and you kind of, our personalities align is super important because the amount of time you’re invested in that relationship. So I think you add a great point about the warmness and what the connection that you’re feeling during the interview. I think there’s gotta be something there to make it be long-term successful.
Lisa Zeeveld:
Yeah. And I definitely don’t want this to sound like a sales pitch, but here it goes anyway. That’s one of the things that makes us at BELAY so successful in our matches is that we know that the relationship actually does matter. It’s not just about the hard skills because again, we could go through a list, can you do all these things, but you gotta like the person who was so close to you, who was acting on your behalf, there’s gotta be that connection. And I think we do a really doggone good job of that.
Tricia Sciortino:
Amen. Preach sister. And with that.
Lisa Zeeveld:
I know. And with that. This has been awesome. So thank you for joining us for the bonus next step. Be sure to join us next week for more practical tips and actionable tools to advance your business one step at a time. Start by making today count.
