Advice for Hiring Assistant

Software. Marketing. Training. Running your business.
#1
Posts:
12
Joined:
27-Apr-2017 9:28am
Location:
Illinois
I'm looking to hire an assistant to handle clerical and admin stuff. Answering the phone, making appointments, billing, mailing, and e-filing/collating returns are the most important functions I'm looking for.

What kind of advice do you have for finding and selecting someone?

I'm a little worried about the pressure of tax season and keeping them busy in slower times. Should I be looking for somebody to work temporarily during tax season and see how it goes or seek out year-round help and make a change if tax season doesn't go well?

Any key questions to ask in an ad or interview?
Where to best place an ad?
Advertise as an accounting job or admin/office job?
Any red flags to look for?

I'm replacing an office manager who was here before me and did a little of everything and now I'm swamped doing things like print labels or find supplies etc.
Thanks!
 

#2
Posts:
2611
Joined:
24-Jan-2019 2:16pm
Location:
North Shore, Oahu
Suggest:

--- Part Time (less commitment to one person)

--- Indeed.com

----advertise for admin and do not promise them the moon. Sure, if they end up learning and making more, great. But some admin people just want to be admin people. Don't end up with someone that thinks they are a CFO and expects to get paid more, but can't even do a good job answering the phones, let alone learning more advanced items. start and aim low. If you get someone pleasant on the phone and who can make an appointment without screwing it up, that's a good start.

--ask questions like, "tell me about a time where you faced an angry customer".


Don't tell them this, but score them on how little time they spend venting about how tough it was on them personally in ratio to how much time they talk about how they fixed the problem. Some ratios will be 100:0 (red flag).

Don't help them or lead them, just see what kind of problem solver you have in front of you. Don't feel bad for them, the last thing you want in the office is someone with a 100:0 venting to problem solving ratio.

Other questions:

"How was so and so (at your last job) as a boss? What did you like about them? What did you dislike about them?"

"Tell me about a time you had a conflict with another employee."

Score these answers the same way. Don't help them. Quietly observe the ratio. Don't give away the secret at the end either.
 

#3
Posts:
12
Joined:
27-Apr-2017 9:28am
Location:
Illinois
Thanks, those are some good questions to ask and I like your ratio method.
I inherited the employee I'm replacing and she pretty much ran my office so it's new territory for me.
 

#4
ATSMAN  
Posts:
2094
Joined:
31-May-2014 8:34pm
Location:
MA
I inherited the employee I'm replacing and she pretty much ran my office so it's new territory for me.


Looks like your current employee was more like an "Office Manager".

Are you trying to replace all the functions or just the basic clerical functions like, answering phones, making appointments, filing, copying etc.

IMHO basic clerical functions are best handled in our seasonal business by a seasonal employee. That is what I do. But if you have a more involved office with additional employees that must be managed then you probably need an office manager.

I show my seasonal employee, how I want the folders made and what to do with "angry people" or tax questions etc.

Due to COVID issues finding part time employee with no benefits is going to be an issue. Folks who want to really work are in short supply and they are demanding sign on bonus and benefits and they are getting it. A friend of mine just lost a 10 year employee with experience because she almost doubled her salary at a bigger shop.
 

#5
Posts:
8151
Joined:
4-Mar-2018 9:03pm
Location:
The Office
Order Six-Minute X-Ray: Rapid Behavior Profiling by Chase Hughes off of Amazon. Read it cover to cover, download his Behavioral Table of Elements, and keep them both around for reference and to knock the rust off every now and then.

Invaluable IMO for anyone who is going to be interviewing potential employees or just running a business in general. Well worth the money. The observations and methodology described in the book are used by FBI and US police interrogators to get a quick and accurate read of whether someone is being deceptive.

Not that an employee interview is going to be that intense, but you'll be glad you read it.
 


Return to Business Operations and Development



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: missingdonut and 33 guests