Where should I post a VA job description?

OnlineJobs.ph for the Philippines, Upwork for a global pool, and JobStreet or LinkedIn for regional reach. Every marketplace still leaves the screening, testing, and reference checks to you; budget 20 to 40 hours for a proper cycle, or use a placement service that has done it already.

What's a reasonable trial period for a new VA?

Two to four weeks of paid trial on real tasks. Unpaid trials filter out exactly the professional candidates you want, and one-week trials are too short to see consistency. Define the evaluation criteria in writing before the trial starts.

Why do I keep getting bot and copy-paste applications?

Generic titles and no filtering mechanism make your listing a target for mass-apply tools. The embedded-instruction trick defeats most automation, and scenario questions defeat the rest: a bot can paste a CV, but it can't reason through your refund policy.

Hiring

How to write a VA job description that attracts the right candidates

Post a generic 'Virtual Assistant needed' listing and 400 applications arrive in a week. Nearly all of them copy-pasted, many of them bots, and the two good candidates buried somewhere in the middle.

The fix isn't a better job board. It's a job description engineered to make the right people apply and the wrong people filter themselves out. Three changes do most of the work.

1Define the actual workflow, not a title

'General VA' attracts generalists who can sort of do everything. A specific workflow attracts people who've done your exact work before.

Use the specific role in the title: 'Shopify Customer Service VA' or 'Legal Intake Assistant', never 'Virtual Assistant'.
Describe a typical day in five to eight concrete lines, the tickets, the tools, the volumes.
State the tool stack, the shift hours in your timezone, and the communication cadence you expect. Ambiguity here creates mismatched expectations later.

2Build in a self-filtering application task

One embedded instruction eliminates the copy-paste majority before you read a single application.

Bury a micro-instruction in the posting: 'Use the subject line: Green Apple Shopify VA'. Applications without it get auto-archived, which typically removes 70–80% instantly.
Add two or three scenario questions from real situations: 'A customer demands a refund outside policy. Walk me through your reply.' Judgment shows immediately.
Ask for one specific past example, not a skills list: 'Describe a process you documented and handed to someone else.'

3Be transparent about metrics, money, and the trial

Vagueness about pay and expectations doesn't create negotiating leverage. It costs you the professional candidates who won't waste time on it.

State how performance gets measured: response-time SLAs, error rates, throughput. Strong candidates find clear metrics attractive, not threatening.
Publish the rate range and payment schedule. Listings with visible rates draw applicants dramatically faster and better-matched.
Describe the trial period honestly: length, evaluation criteria, and what full engagement looks like after.

The short version

Name the specific workflow, embed a filtering instruction, and publish the metrics and money. Those three changes turn 400 unreadable applications into 30 real ones with the strong candidates visible. Or skip the posting cycle entirely and have a vetted match briefed on your business inside a week.

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