Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: Hiring now intelligent capable trustworthy secretary -for 8 days-Edmonton Canada ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Hiring now intelligent capable trustworthy secretary -for 8 days-Edmonton Canada
Category: Business and Money > Employment
Asked by: ghost2006-ga
List Price: $40.00
Posted: 02 Aug 2006 17:29 PDT
Expires: 01 Sep 2006 17:29 PDT
Question ID: 752021
Hi.  The actual question is at the bottom of the page, after I have
explained what I need.  Please read on.  Thanks.

I have a number of administrative tasks that have a deadline
of August 10th (8 days left, including one long weekend), to be done
in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
  

I figured out that I need help.  I am looking for a secretary, who is:

1) trustworthy

2) with excellent and verifiable references

3) intelligent, capable, reliable, flexible, mature (in experience and
judgement, not necessarily age), and able to work indipendently.
 
4) available immediately, and hopefully willing to do some work (or
lots of work) during the long weekend.

5) reasonably priced

6) able to work on the tasks in their own home / office.  Having their
own computer would be a great asset.


The tasks will be briefly explained by me, but the secretary will have
to work independently.  Some example of tasks for the secretary are:

1) Complete a "small claim court" application.  The necessary
documentation is already done.  I believe what remains to do is to
fill out a form and deliver it, but I am not sure.  ***> NOTE: Please
do NOT give any information about applications to a "Small Claim
Court" within this question. I don't need it now. Thanks

2) Do searches on the Internet

3) Make special arrangements with some companies (nothing technical or
requiring special knowledge).

4) Etc.


Please Note:

* The deadline for the tasks is not negotiable.

* All my friends, family, and colleagues are either on vacation,
helping me already, or too busy themselves.

* From previus experience, Temp Agencies seem to send applicants that
do not necessarily have all qualifications, so it usually takes time
and effort to interview more than one.

* DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT, propose yourself as a candidate for now.  I
first want an answer to my question.  If this fails, we'll see.

* I need an answer ASAP, but it has to be a good one, that will
actually help me really soon.  I am running out of time.


The QUESTION is:
 
1) how do I get such a person in such a brief time, without having to
spend a lot of time looking around and checking references?

2) how do I make sure this person is trustworthy and will not devulge
any private information acquired during his / her work?

Thanks

ghost2006

Request for Question Clarification by czh-ga on 02 Aug 2006 17:35 PDT
Hello ghost2006-ga,

Have you tried craigslist? I have a lot of friends and acquaintances
who have had very good luck with this kind of job postings.

http://edmonton.craigslist.org/

Good luck.

~ czh ~

Request for Question Clarification by umiat-ga on 02 Aug 2006 18:43 PDT
Hello, ghost2006-ga! 

I think your solution might lie in hiring a Virtual Assistant. I don't
want to post this suggestion as an answer unless you consider it a
worthwhile route.


For the benefits of hiring a Virtual Assistant, see:
http://canadianva.net/files/hire-va.html


* If you want to stay local, there are several names within Alberta
that would probably be up to the tasks you have in mind. I cannot
suggest particular names, since it will be up to you to determine if
they are qualified and trustworthy according your own standards.

The following webpage has links for VA's in your province.
http://www.va4u.com/registers/namerica/alberta.shtml


Here is another page of Alberta VA links (there may be overlap)
http://www.abcsvcs.com/can.htm


Virtual Assistants located throughout the rest of Canada can be found
on the following link. Keep in mind that they do not necessarily have
to be near you in order to be effective!
http://www.va4u.com/registers/canadian_virtual_assistants.shtml

=


Please let me know if this route is an acceptable suggestion as an answer.


Sincerely,

umiat

Clarification of Question by ghost2006-ga on 02 Aug 2006 19:19 PDT
Thanks guys, I will certainly look these up.  This is for umiat. 
Could you please tell me what a VA is? Thanks

ghost

Request for Question Clarification by boquinha-ga on 02 Aug 2006 19:22 PDT
I believe by "VA," Umiat means "Virtual Assistant." 

Cheers,
Boquinha-ga

Request for Question Clarification by umiat-ga on 02 Aug 2006 19:25 PDT
Yes - VA means Virtual Assistant.

What's a Virtual Assistant?
http://canadianva.net/files/whats-a-va.html

Clarification of Question by ghost2006-ga on 02 Aug 2006 19:37 PDT
Sorry guys.  I did understand that.  What I do not know is what a
Virtual Assistant is!  What do they do, who are they, how are they
selected, etc.  Thanks

ghost

Clarification of Question by ghost2006-ga on 02 Aug 2006 19:48 PDT
P.S. Only UMIAT-GA needs to answer my previous clarification.  Thanks to all

ghost

Request for Question Clarification by umiat-ga on 02 Aug 2006 20:40 PDT
Hello again, ghost!

 You certainly don't want to hire just anyone who hangs out their
shingle and advertises as a Virtual Assistant. Many VA's go through a
certification program and advertise through an organization like the
Canadian VA network or work for an established group of individuals.
 
* Certification is NOT necessary, however, especially when one has
many years of experience with a variety of companies and diverse
office responsibilities.

 Some VA's specialize in certain aspects of administrative office
work. Others are more general. In either case, it is essential to hire
someone who is serious enough about their profession to maintain a
good web presence and tell about their prior work experience.

=


 Those Virtual Assistants affiliated with the Canadian VA.net must
agree to a certain code of ethics.

 See the following link
 http://canadianva.net/files/ethics.html


==


 I have gone through a few of the links for Alberta-based VA's who are
affiliated with the Canadian VA network site and have culled out some
names that have a good web presence and list their work experience and
certifications.
http://canadianva.net/files/va-directory.html#alb



Martin Management Virtual Professionals
Jill Martin, Owner/Operator
P.O. Box 48115
St. Albert, AB T8N 5V9
P 780-868-8063
F 780-418-4070
http://www.virtualprofessional.ca/

About and Code of Ethics
http://www.virtualprofessional.ca/index-1.html

Martin Management Virtual Professionals ("MMVP") was founded in 2005
by Jill M. Martin. A graduate of the University of Alberta and Grant
MacEwan Paralegal Program, Jill worked in the legal field for 10 years
before starting her own Virtual Assistance firm. Having worked for one
of Canada?s leading law firms, alongside top-tier lawyers and their
international clients, she understands the challenges businesses face
on a daily basis and the need for highly-skilled administrative
support. For this reason MMVP was created.
Headquartered in St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, to MMVP there are no
geographical boundaries.


==


King & Associates International 
Virtual Office Assistance 
Phone: 780-458-8244 Cell: 780-995-8244 email: rcmking(at)telus.net
42 Delage Cres., St. Albert, Alberta Canada T8N 5Y8 
http://www.pcpages.com/kai/

 The Staff
 http://www.pcpages.com/kai/assist.html


==


I like this one!

The Timely VA
Stephanie Sutton, Professional Virtual Assistant
Calgary, AB 
P 403.255.3223
F 403.255.3285
http://www.thetimelyva.com/

About
http://www.thetimelyva.com/pages/about.html


==


 You can continue down the list and look at the other websites for
Virtual Assistants throughout Canada. You do not need to stay in
Alberta. It is quite easy to cull out the more professional services.

 I would not recommend contacting those who have not even bothered with a website!

==

 Let me know if this helps!

umiat

Clarification of Question by ghost2006-ga on 03 Aug 2006 11:26 PDT
Thank you UMIAT for your furtehr research.  Thanks CZH for your
suggestion.  Please both STOP now.  I am now going to look into the
options you have given me, and I will let you know soon who is the
winner! Cheers

ghost2006

Request for Question Clarification by tisme-ga on 03 Aug 2006 18:03 PDT
Hello,

I would recommend calling local schools and seeing if you can get a
secretary from them. I know from direct experience with multiple K-12
schools that the average school secretary is amazing. Since they don't
work for the summer, I am sure if you called a few schools they would
be able to have some interested candidates call you back.

Just an idea,

tisme-ga

Clarification of Question by ghost2006-ga on 07 Aug 2006 22:29 PDT
Hi.  I am back.  The results are: 

CZH-GA: No, actually the site was of no help to me.  I am ready to
assume that if I had had the time to look through it more thoroughly
it could possibly have helped.  However, after about 20 minutes of
going through it, I did not find anything useful.  Thanks anyway, it
might work for someone less rushed than I am.

UMIAT-GA:  Hi. This was a valid suggestion, and well researched.
Again, it would have needed more time checking references etc. than I
had.  Also, I did need my to-be secretary to come and work with me at
my place at times, so the VA option was not really good for me. 
However, if in the next cuple of months I find a need for a VA for
other reasons, I will happily post another question ($20) just for
you. You can answer it right away. UMIAT, please let me know what is
the best way to make it easy for you to become aware of the new
question, if any. (do I make a new question called "For UMIAT-GA"? 
and/or do I post a comment here?  or what?)  Thanks... but stop
checking past the end of October.

TISME-GA: Hi.  Yours was actually the best answer I got, since it had
the advantages of my being able to get quickly some solid references
(like the principal, vice principal, teachers, etc), it was aimed at
local people that likely was available for the summer, and I agree
with you on the abilities of school secretaries.  So you get the
award!  Even if it turned out after all that before I had time to
start searching schools, a friend of mine did find me the exactly
right person. I still think that you do deserve to answer this
question.  Could you please do it ASAP?  I'd like to rate it now. 
Thanks

ghost2006
Answer  
Subject: Re: Hiring now intelligent capable trustworthy secretary -for 8 days-Edmonton Canada
Answered By: tisme-ga on 07 Aug 2006 22:43 PDT
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
Hello ghost2006-ga,

Thank you! I hope everything works out for you!

My answer:
I would recommend calling local schools and seeing if you can get a
secretary from them. I know from direct experience with multiple K-12
schools that the average school secretary is amazing. Since they don't
work for the summer, I am sure if you called a few schools they would
be able to have some interested candidates call you back.

tisme-ga

Clarification of Answer by tisme-ga on 07 Aug 2006 22:44 PDT
Something I forgot to mention was that schools generally do deep
background checks on all employees because children are involved.

tisme-ga
ghost2006-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars
Great answer, common sense and a good understanding of what I needed.  Thank you

ghost2006

Comments  
There are no comments at this time.

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy