bizMe

You’ve been toiling your toned butt off for months, maybe years, and you just got the news you’ve been dying to hear since you collated your first set of office documents: you’re getting an assistant of your very own. For the first time since you paid your younger brother to handle all the grunt work at home for you, you now have someone you can dump—er, delegate—all the administratrivia that’s been piling on your desk for months, thus allowing you to focus on the really juicy, exciting stuff you went to college or graduate school for.

Of course, here comes the hard part: actually finding, training, and more importantly, keeping that all-knowing, valuable assistant who could make your professional life the stuff of dreams.

Don’t worry, though. Hiring an assistant that you can groom to be your second-in-command is a challenge, but not an impossible one. Before you call your Human Resources department, check out the invaluable advice offered by some savvy managers on finding your able lieutenant.

Know your needs, both now and in the future

You need to know what you want out of someone first before you try and find the person who’ll fill that role for you. You don’t have to know everything about what her duties will be—that will likely evolve over time as she becomes more skilled and you become more comfortable with her—but at the very least, you’ll be well served with a list of what you expect of the person on whom you’ll be soon be very dependent.

Katie Gutierrez, founder and CEO of Assistant Match, says that this first step is crucial when looking to hire your assistant. She’s recruited assistants not only for herself but for the many clients who retain her services.

“Be very clear on what you need the person to do both now and in the future [so that you'll] be able to identify the skills, knowledge and software experience the person will need,” she says.

Gutierrez recalls an incident with a client who initially said that they only wanted someone to do traditional administrative support. The client company and the assistant whom she recruited for them got along phenomenally for a few weeks. That is, until the company began assigning sales calls to the assistant, who neither liked nor excelled at the task. She was eventually replaced.

Bottom line: think really hard about what you want out of your assistant before you make the first move in the hiring process. You’ll save yourself potential trouble down the road if you go through this simple step first.

Consider all avenues of recruitment

Think creatively about how to market your job advertisement so that you’re catching all the available eyeballs out there. Some people still depend solely on the trusty Sunday newspaper classifieds, but others also visit numerous online job boards and have learned to navigate their way around the hundreds of social networking sites that have mushroomed over the last few years.

Neen James, a productivity expert and speaker, is a big believer in casting your net far and wide for that perfect assistant and thinks it’s important that hiring managers be flexible when considering advertising outlets.

“Post a note on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn letting people know of your needs,”  she says. “They can respond to you with recommendations directly. Send an email to your friends and colleagues. Advertise in your local paper and recruit from your community. Use electronic recruitment Web sites.”

She also recommends not limiting your recruitment activities to your professional network but to expand it to include those in your personal social circle as well.

“Is there a mom that you know who would be perfect? A college student who is studying business and wants to break into your field? An intern who is wanting more experience who could become your assistant when they graduate? Look close to you for possible sources.”

Separate the wheat from the chaff

This particular step is essential, but many inexperienced hiring managers are unsure on how to best review the deluge of resumes that inevitably reach their desk. If you don’t have a human resources manager who’ll do the initial review, you’ll likely find yourself reading everything from handwritten resumes on torn notepaper—and yes, I’ve seen this a few times—to 20-page curriculum vitae from former Supreme Court justices of politically unstable African countries. And yes, I’ve seen that one, too.

Gutierrez of Assistant Match recommends scanning a candidate’s employment history and noting any unusual patterns of job hopping.

“When a person changes jobs every few months, I expect that pattern to continue,” she says. In addition, she makes sure that a potential candidate’s career trajectory reflects that person’s commitment to executive and/or managerial administrative support as a profession.

“I look for people who truly enjoy supporting others if there will not be room for advancement in the position.”

Management consultant Madeline Kaplan with Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP of New York City, agrees that an erratic history can be a red flag.

“I avoid people who have jumped from job to job every year,” she says. “It suggests someone who has not thought through their career goals and someone who likely will move to where they think ‘the grass is greener.”

Instead, she looks ” for a pattern of continuous achievement on a higher and higher level. I look for someone who is a team player, who values the success of the whole team, rather than individual success.”

Teresa Mogush, director of talent for Euro RSCG Chicago, adds that resumes not only showcase a person’s talents and background but also the person behind the paper. She suggests checking out how it looks beyond the words on the page.

“An error-free resume, well-laid out, no spelling errors [is a must],” she says.

The moment of truth

Okay, this is where the rubber really meets the road. Think interviews are all about telling the person what the job entails, the benefits and asking her where she sees herself in five years? Not exactly.

Joy Gendusa, founder and CEO of PostcardMania, listens carefully to the kinds of questions candidates pose during the interview process.

“They should be willing to do whatever is needed and wanted in order to give the executive more time to do their job,” she says. “If they have a list of any kind of things they won’t do, I wouldn’t hire them. [A red flag would be if] they are more concerned with their benefits and what’s in it for them than what the job entails and how they can best assist.”

Melinda Janicki, a lead virtual assistant (VA) and marketing specialist and productivity strategist with OnDemand Virtual Services, starts out their interview process with ” tele-interviews,” after which candidates are requested to come in for face-to-face interviews, if applicable.

“I look for smart answers and the ability [of the candidates] to sell themselves,” she says. “There is nothing more frustrating than asking someone what expertise do they have or how would they add value to our situation, and they can’t answer.”

Just as when you drew up the job description, you need to focus on what you need and how the person in front of you can articulate their ability to fulfill it. Let them do most of the talking. Observe them carefully, from the way they speak to the way they dress. Have them meet other members of your team and see how they interact with the rest of the staff. If possible, take them to lunch somewhere off-site. It’ll give you an opportunity to see them in a social-but-still-professional setting, which may be important if your job involves heavy people contact such as fundraising or public relations. If you can easily see them fitting immediately into the office environment and they have proven their value in previous positions, it’ll be easier when the decision comes to determine the successful candidate.
Which brings us to…

Making the job offer

Review the resumes once again and, if necessary, chat with other team members who were involved in the hiring process and request their input. Call the person back with any follow-up questions, if any. Don’t wait too long to tender a job offer —if you think this person’s The One, you’re likely not the only potential employer to think so. Work with your human resources department so that the process goes as smoothly as possible.

James insists on checking references, a critical piece of the hiring puzzle that helps you get a fuller picture of the candidate.

“Ensure that you do your due diligence when you get close to hiring someone to make sure that you fully understand the person and their personality,” James says.

Training Days

For the new assistant, the first few days will likely be a flurry of ordering office supplies, meeting the rest of the team—if she hasn’t already—familiarizing herself with the office layout and the stack of takeout menus, and orienting herself with the workflow. It’ll already be a slightly overwhelming experience for her, regardless of her experience, but you can ensure that the first week will be an efficient and productive one for the both of you.

“When training a new assistant, I consider how much the person can take in and retain at one time, as to not overwhelm,” says Gutierrez. “We all have different learning styles, so I offer training in different ways to be sure the person understands and is getting the information in the most effective way.”

Kaplan, the management consultant, concurs. With the manager/assistant relationship such a close one in many ways, open lines of communication are crucial in ensuring a productive relationship and office environment. “[Spend] time on clearly defining the mission, the expectation of management and the results to be achieved,” she says. “[I also spend] time on thoroughly communicating my management style and ensuring that my assistant understands when to take initiative and when to ask for direction. [I teach] open communication and [ensure] that my assistant understands that an ‘open door policy’ means that I am accessible at any time.”

So don’t just plop her down at her desk and expect her to pick up on your needs and the office culture immediately. Invest the time necessary to educate her on the company, the team and especially your own work and how you would like her to work with you. Remember that she’s your assistant, but that she can’t read your mind, or at least not on the first day! Give her the opportunity to grow into the job and learn from you.

If you’re smart, you’ll understand that a great assistant will do more than get you coffee or that file you wanted on the all-important Project Whatever. She’ll be your partner in the business, making it her job to make sure that you can do your job without having to worry about the little administrative details that, while critical, can eat up all of your time and energy. Use her skills and knowledge and make sure that you spend quality time with her—especially in the beginning—as she learns her role in the success of your department. Trust me: it’ll be time very well spent.