How to Hire an Assistant - Brownell Hosting

How to Hire an Assistant

Brownell’s Vice President of Talent Development Kerry Dyer shares her tips for hiring an assistant. 

You understand why you should hire an assistant and are ready to get started with the process. But how do you get started? Read the steps below to learn how to hire an assistant.

Step 1: Evaluate Your Needs

Look at Your Sales

Are your sales growing at a steady rate? Do you have – and will you continue to have – the revenue to pay for an assistant? If you aren’t sure you have the finances in place to hire someone, it may be that you need to organize and prioritize. If you do have the finances available to invest in an assistant, keep reading!

*If after evaluating your needs you’re not sure you need to hire your own assistant AND you’re a Brownell Independent Advisor, good news: the Brownell Hosting Program offers limited assistant services!

Step 2: Prep for the Position

Job Description

Decide what specific tasks the assistant will help you with and if this will be a full-time or part-time position. The skills required to complete those tasks will determine what skills are most important as well as prior experience.

Fine Print

Make sure you know all the steps you need to take from a legal standpoint before you hire an assistant. A full-time employee may come with legal and tax matters that you need to address before hiring. An experienced host agency like Brownell will be able to guide you (and may even have templates!) through the process.

Step 3: Start the Search

Post the Job

Where you post the job depends largely on what type of assistant you decided you need in Step 1. If it is a full-time employee, consider job boards, LinkedIn, and college career centers. Word-of-mouth, via friends, family, and even social media, is another great way to find candidates – some you may even know already!

Interview

Take time to interview and get to know each candidate for your assistant position. This can be time-consuming, but it is more costly to hire someone, realize they are not the right fit after several months, and start the search again.

Interview Tips:

  • A job in travel seems like a dream…but anyone in the travel industry knows that it’s not all jetsetting and adventures. Make sure each candidate knows that this job does not just mean travel perks and all-expenses-paid trips.
  • Consider giving the last few candidates some sort of hands-on test. Whether it is writing a sample blog post, shadowing you for half a day, or something else that relates to the job description, this can put their resume to the test.

Hire

Once you find the perfect candidate, offer them the position pending a credit/background check. There may be some negotiating about salary or benefits, so make sure everything is in writing.

Step 4: On-boarding

Get Set…

Have all the pertinent information and needed supplies ready for your assistant’s start day. Be sure to keep any receipts for your accounting – those can be classified as business expenses.

Go!

Block off time to train your assistant. Again, this can be time consuming but will ultimately save time in the long run. Some host agencies, like Brownell, offer assistant training.

And you’re off! Now with an assistant at your side, you can continue to grow your business even more!

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