3 October 2026 · 8 min read · Hiring
A vague job brief attracts vague candidates. Here's how to write a brief for your first virtual assistant that brings in the right person the first time.
"Looking for a VA to help with admin and social media. Must be organised and a self-starter."
If your job post looks anything like that, you'll get two hundred applications and almost none of them will be right. Not because good assistants aren't out there. Because nothing in that brief tells them whether they're the person you need.
Hiring your first VA usually goes wrong long before the interview. It goes wrong in the brief. Get this part right and everything after it gets easier.
Don't start with "VA" and work backwards. Start with what you actually want off your plate. Open a doc and list every task you'd hand over tomorrow if you could. Be specific. "Social media" isn't a task. "Schedule three Instagram posts a week from captions I approve in Canva" is.
Then group them. They usually cluster into one or two areas: inbox and calendar, content, client admin, bookkeeping support. If they're scattered across five completely different skill sets, you're trying to hire one person to do three jobs.
Time each task the next time you do it. Add them up. Then add 25% for learning and communication in the first couple of months.
Most first VA roles land somewhere between 5 and 15 hours a week. Starting smaller and growing is far easier than hiring for 20 hours and scrambling to fill them.
If you're in the UK and want someone answering client emails during your business hours, say so. If the work is fully async and can happen whenever, say that too. It opens up a much bigger pool of good people.
Same with money. State your rate, how often you pay and which platform you use. Good assistants run businesses too, and they'll skip a post that hides the money.
Most briefs leave this out, and it's the section that attracts the best candidates. "After 90 days, you'll be running my inbox so I only see what needs a decision from me, and the weekly newsletter will go out on time without me touching it."
A strong VA reads that and knows exactly what they're signing up for. A poor fit reads it and opts out on their own. Both outcomes save you time.
Ask applicants to put a specific word in their subject line, or answer one short question about how they'd handle a task from your list. It sounds petty. It isn't. Following a simple instruction in a job post is a decent preview of how someone will follow your SOPs.
The clearer the brief, the fewer applications you get, and the better they are. That's the goal.
Writing a wish list instead of a role. Graphic designer, copywriter, bookkeeper, tech wizard and personal assistant, all for 10 hours a week. That person doesn't exist. If they did, they wouldn't be charging entry-level rates.
Hiring on personality alone. Warmth matters, and you'll be working closely together. But someone delightful who can't follow a process will cost you more time than they save.
Skipping the paid trial. Before committing, give your top two candidates a small paid task from your actual list. Two or three hours of real work tells you more than any interview.
For a first hire, a generalist with experience in your main tools is usually the right call. Specialists make sense once you know exactly which area is eating your time. If one area dominates, say content or bookkeeping, hire for that specifically.
It varies widely by experience, location and skill set. Research current rates on the platforms you plan to hire from and decide your range before you post. A cheaper hire who needs constant correction often costs more in your own time.
Your own network first. A post on LinkedIn or in a community you're part of often brings in referrals who arrive with some trust already built. After that, VA directories and freelance platforms work well when the brief is clear.
Track everything you do for a week, in 30-minute blocks. At the end, highlight anything that doesn't need your judgment. That's your task list.
You need them ready before the person starts, not before you post. Writing the brief and the first few SOPs in the same week works well, because the task list feeds both.
Sometimes the task list makes it obvious you need a VA. Sometimes it shows the real gap is someone owning the whole operational picture. The AI Operations Audit is how you find out before you spend money on the wrong role. Ninety minutes and a written plan.
Or get in touch and send me your rough task list. I'll tell you honestly what kind of support it points to.