I hired one early this year through a "virtual assistant" company in the UK (Virtalent), as I don't need enough help for a full time person to be sensible, and they did a nice job of matchmaking. I had an initial call with one of their folks who spent some time going through with me what I'd want done, and then they set me up with someone pre-screened who I had an intro call with and liked. I'd previously tried FancyHands, and that required way too much micromanaging on my part.
paulcole's comment "Are you really ready to stop doing the things you're hiring this person to do?" is a bit on the nose. Learning to let go and delegate is key.
The biggest value I'd say I get is outsourcing decisions that aren't really important but are likely to cause my to spiral into "analysis paralysis". For example, hiring movers - if I tried to do it myself I'd end up spending hours fussing over reviews.
Another major thing is figuring out things I hate doing (phoning people, filling out expense reports, etc) and let my PA handle them.
It's also nice for me that she's British (I'm an American expat living in the UK) and is fairly experienced as an PA/EA and generally knows lots of things that I don't know I don't know. For example, when my partner and I wanted to have a special celebratory meal, she arranged a completely custom menu with a high-end restaurant, which didn't occur to me as something that I could ask for.
paulcole's comment "Are you really ready to stop doing the things you're hiring this person to do?" is a bit on the nose. Learning to let go and delegate is key.
The biggest value I'd say I get is outsourcing decisions that aren't really important but are likely to cause my to spiral into "analysis paralysis". For example, hiring movers - if I tried to do it myself I'd end up spending hours fussing over reviews.
Another major thing is figuring out things I hate doing (phoning people, filling out expense reports, etc) and let my PA handle them.
It's also nice for me that she's British (I'm an American expat living in the UK) and is fairly experienced as an PA/EA and generally knows lots of things that I don't know I don't know. For example, when my partner and I wanted to have a special celebratory meal, she arranged a completely custom menu with a high-end restaurant, which didn't occur to me as something that I could ask for.