Hey friends,
I am hiring a virtual assistant for the first time. I have limited my candidates down to two ladies. I was hoping you could help me decide.
Terri. – USA
983 hours worked
25 jobs
5.56/hr (I am curious as to why she is charging for so little, I am concerned that she would become discontent with the current rate and might negotiate for more. I wish to stay at the 7$ or less price range)
She has good reviews from all of her previous employers. But her history is not exactly applicable to Real estate. The majority of her past jobs were transcription. I asked her to exemplify some RE tasks (CMA) and she didn't understand the tasks at hand (something that can be trained)
Audrey J. - Phillipines
136 hours worked
1 job
6.67/hr (common wage in her country)
She does not have as much history on Upwork, but has been working for sprint since '13. She does have a 12 hour time difference, but assured me that she can work on my schedule, causing her to work 1AM-5AM her time. I am concerned this will cause burnout/schedule conflict. But her interview went AMAZING. She understood exactly what I was trying to accomplish. She completed a CMA no problem. I asked all applicants to record their voice with no further instructions. Her recording was a monologue with a fictional foreclosure victim. Recording: (http://vocaroo.com/i/s08awVTWRByJ) This indicates that she knows exactly what type of tasks she will be doing.
Unfortunately there are few written errors that indicate that English is a second language. Not enough to be an issue, there have been one or two errors in our entire conversation, but it might come across as unprofessional. Is this a big problem?
On paper terry looks to be the better candidate, but my heart is leaning towards Audrey.
Who would you hire? Have you hired a VA before?
