Finding Your Personal Assistant

Finding Your Personal Assistant

Are you searching or thinking of employing a personal assistant? Choosing your personal assistant is a highly personal and sometimes stressful process. The first thing you should do is write down why you need an assistant. What tasks do you need them to perform? What will their job responsibilities be? What hours will they be expected to work? How much will they be paid? These are all things you should know before you begin your search. You might need an assistant who lives with you or one who works specified hours. It all depends on your particular lifestyle and your needs.

You might want to begin searching on the Internet. You can research various personal assistant agencies and freelance assistants online. Going through an agency is often a good bet because the assistants who are placed by the agency are trained and screened. If you go for a freelance assistant who is not affiliated with such an agency you may need to check work history, references and even perform a criminal and background check which is always a good idea. Once you've got a list of potential candidates, it's time to begin the interview process.

The interview process is very important when it comes to choosing the right candidate. At this time you will get a first impression of each potential assistant. First impressions can be very important and you should trust your gut. From there you will get to converse with the candidate, get an idea of their work history, explain your requirements, let them ask any questions they may have and let them explain why they feel they are the best candidate for the job. After several interviews you may have a few standouts or you may have made your choice.

When you are ready to hire your personal assistant you should have legally binding contracts drawn up by an attorney. These contracts should protect both you and your employee and state all requirements and expectations of both parties. Before starting work your assistant will need to sign the contracts and submit any tax documents necessary like W-4 forms or W-9 forms depending on whether they are your employee an independent contractor. Depending on which option you go for, you will either be responsible for subtracting taxes from your assistant's pay or they will be responsible for paying their own taxes as a self employed contractor.