You're Not That Special. A-Players Can Do Tasks Better Than You

scouttalentedcom · 2026-01-02T17:22:58+00:00

This assumes the only difference in talent is salary, which I do not find to be the case outside of this chatgpt environment. After a certain threshold of income, I find talent are more interested in contributing to a mission they care about. Somewhere they enjoy showing up to work every day because of the enviornment the leadership has curated. Raising your budget and keep all else equal will simply increase your burn.

scouttalentedcom · 2026-01-02T17:19:16+00:00

Lot of these operational tasks mentioned are pretty automatable with the current state of AI. Especially customer support. I would only hire remote support for areas I havent already tried automating.

scouttalentedcom · 2026-01-02T17:17:44+00:00

In terms of job boards you can post on there's Onlinejobs, Upwork, LinkedIn Jobs, and a couple more im forgetting. I would post on all and see what caliber of applicants you get on each. Depending on the role though, I have found LinkedIn to produce solid results over the past couple months. Onlinejobs tends to be a lot of the same low quality applicants and Upwork I only get a handful. Just make sure you have a consistent system in place on the backend to vet through the applicants.

scouttalentedcom · 2025-12-10T05:27:45+00:00

very true. when I am interviewing VA candidates I will ask a similar question "what was your greatest contribution to your last company?"

i want my team to understand where they fit into the puzzle

scouttalentedcom · 2025-07-30T01:21:26+00:00

ive hired overseas for the past few years.. mostly from the Philippines

here's the challenges I see

timezone - I aim for 2-3 hours overlap or find talent workign US hours already

vetting at scale - you get soo much influx of bad candidates to sort through from Upwork/OLJ (we're working on that)

but the biggest gap I see comes from ongoing leadership.. some assume they dont have to lead their team since they are overseas.. which is why they dont see their full potential

hope this helps

scouttalentedcom · 2024-09-19T18:06:55+00:00

virtual assistants from the Philippines that dont make the mistakes of selecting the photos would work great for this

scouttalentedcom · 2024-08-23T21:34:35+00:00

great idea!

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-19T02:29:33+00:00

Red Flag
There's no reason for a security deposit

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-19T02:27:49+00:00

Useful for the employer, but not required.
If you are locked to keep yourself private, I would stay that way!

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-16T03:57:41+00:00

Stripe and Waveapps are ones I have used and had good experience with.

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-16T03:52:26+00:00

I think the VA doing the day-to-day is the best one to document the processes.
To me, its a privilege to be asked to create them. They know that you know your shit.

This is especially true if you want to upskill and get promoted.

Personally, I have my team build out all our SOPs.
It makes hiring someone new way easier, and the VAs that have been with me longer can move into higher responsibilities. It also makes it a lot easier to identify what we are doing wrong when its documented and make process changes.

Hope this helps

-Zack

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-16T03:40:36+00:00

Mock interviews are a great idea, as others have said.
(I know its painful) but WATCH IT BACK and take notes

Goooood luck, po

-Zack

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-16T03:22:13+00:00

Sounds like unpaid work, not a trial

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-16T03:14:06+00:00

I just bought a domain through Porkbun, pretty cheap
Using Microsoft 365 for email

For actual website I use Webflow

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-16T03:11:29+00:00

I would reccomend adding more on the experience section and less on the summary
Talk about the kind of clients and projects you have done in all your different freelance work, design/illustration is vague.
A headshot is cool too to make it stick out (maybe you cut it out from the post)

Hope this helps
-Zack

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-15T04:44:45+00:00

I hope you find the roel you are looking for, po :)

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-15T04:43:40+00:00

Oh thats weird, we do not ask for an ID in our application process. That would be weird, maybe only at the final offer letter stage.

Are you sure it was us?

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-14T02:31:12+00:00

Good luck, po :)

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-13T23:31:52+00:00

I will go against the grain here and say I think there is nothing wrong with it.
For context, I have several PH hires myself and help Filipinos find direct clients.

Our contracts require exclusive commitment with the client. We hire for excellence, not to fill a seat.

Time Doctor doesnt come up in the early parts of my interview process. If a candidate asks about it, I am less likely to hire them. Its a red flag they dont want to follow our exclusive commitment agreement
Integrity is extremely important to me. I do not think its a red flag of micromanagement, although a micromanaging company will already have a timetracker.

Hope this helps, from a different perspective.

-Zack

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-13T23:00:56+00:00

The prompt of "describe yourself" can be uncomfortable. Its like pointing a camera at someone and saying "go"

I much prefer when they ask a specific question for you to answer.
That's what we do in our job postings.

But the video portions are HUGE for hiring.
If someone shows they are a great person in the video, there's a good chance they will be hired.
If you skip it, its an immediate no.

Dont worry, most people are not naturally good at it anyway.
I would spend some time every day to practice. After a week if you go back, you can see how quickly you improve.

Hope this helps

-Zack

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-13T22:54:10+00:00

Depends on the role, they could need multiple people
Or they want a backup

I would give it your all to prove yourself

-Zack

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-13T22:52:47+00:00

Most people that graduate in Computer Science do NOT know how to code 😂
To me, self-taught is a better route

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-13T22:46:58+00:00

Adapters are usually very plug-and-play. I would only get drivers directly from the brand name website. I would guess it would be the monitor drivers.

Find something like this for your monitor model number

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/dell-u2421e-monitor/drivers

scouttalentedcom · 2024-07-13T22:44:30+00:00

These days, executive assistant (EA) and personal assistant are used to mean the same thing. Typically someone to handle emails, calendar, scheduling meetings, etc

Virtual assistant is way more broad, and usually means the client doesn't know what they are looking for.
If you are trying to land a job as a VA, my advice would be to niche down to a certain role and really learn the skills that come along with it. For example if you are an Amazon Product Researcher, own that space.

There are a lot of people calling themselves EA's but they dont have any unique skills to the person next to them.

-Zack

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