Frequently Asked Questions
Learn how Valatam’s personalized support helps you find quality talent by reading answers to some of our most frequently asked questions.
Our Services
Pricing & Payment
Recruitment Process
Our Trial Period
Our Talent
All our Virtual Assistants are based in Latin American countries, such as Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, and Ecuador. We have found this to be a great nearshoring location because of time-zone similarities, the high rate of university education, and the access to bilingual professionals.
We divide our VA plans by the level of experience and expertise required for the role. On a Discovery Call, our Talent Management Team could guide you on what type of VA best suits your hiring needs. Take a look at the 4 key points we consider in each category:
Regular VA:
- Virtual Assistants with 1 to 2 years of experience in administrative assistance.
- Professionals in this category possess a basic level of knowledge in administrative-related roles.
- They can take ownership of tasks and projects with clear instructions.
- They are very helpful in documenting and following established processes.
Senior VA:
- Virtual Assistants with 3+ years of experience in the required role or area.
- Professionals in this category possess a significant level of knowledge and relevant work experience related to the requested role.
- They could lead projects within the scope of their experience.
- They can not only follow and document processes but also help to create them.
Specialist VA
- Expert Virtual Assistants in selected fields. Consult our Talent Management Team for specialized roles.
- Professionals in this category possess specialized training, skills, and knowledge essential for the required role or area. These individuals offer unique expertise in fields such as Digital Marketing, Accounting, Customer Service, and more, bringing specialized education, training, or skills specific to the project’s needs.
- They can lead projects, establish direction, and manage advanced tasks.
- They can assess and develop processes, and help your teams establish a strategic direction.
Our VAs usually work from home or in co-working spaces. Valatam doesn’t provide office space. However, as part of our pre-vetting process, our recruitment team makes sure that all approved candidates have a strong internet connection and meet the required conditions to perform their work remotely.
Short answer, no. Valatam provides all Virtual Assistant services and resources as independent contractors. Therefore, all candidates we place with clients are not considered employees, agents, or contractors of their business. They are part of the Valatam team, and we take care of their compensation and benefits plan.
Our Services
After our first Discover Call, our Talent Management Team will select the most qualified candidates from our pre-vetted “Team Members” network and introduce them to you for approval. This process usually takes 1 to 2 weeks depending on the VAs available and your feedback.
Absolutely! If you’re unsure about which type of VA might be best for you, we’re here to help. Book a call with one of our Talent Management Team. With their expertise in assessing business requirements, they can guide you toward the most suitable VA plan for your business needs.
Valatam currently only offers VA resources on a Monday-to-Friday work schedule, from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm EST only.
We use third-party software installed on the VA’s equipment to track working hours and performance. This helps us keep detailed records of the hours worked and productivity levels.
Pricing & Payment
All our VA plans are billed monthly and the pricing rate depends on the role and level of expertise required. The cost for a dedicated full-time resource starts at $1800/month (approx $10/hr). We can provide an exact quote after discussing your business needs. We don’t charge any set-up fees, so you’ll only pay us when you hire.
All our VA plans are all-inclusive, meaning that our HR, recruiting, and account management services are included in your VA monthly fee. We don’t charge any additional set-up fees, and you’ll only be billed for your plan once you select a Virtual Assistant and agree to a Start of Activities Date.
Transparency is key to us, so feel free to check out our Pricing Page for more details or Contact Us if you have any questions.
We currently work with ACH and credit card payments through the company’s payment processor, Bill.com. ACH payments carry no fees and credit card payments have a 2.99% convenience fee added on top of the invoice. This last fee is charged by the processing software, not Valatam.
We work with monthly pre-paid services. When you hire a VA with us, your invoice will be sent during the first 5 days of the month or on the team member’s starting of activities date. We bill for our services in advance and provide 7 days to pay them before they go overdue.
Our Trial Period
Our Trial Period is one key part of our 9-step recruitment process. Candidates need to approve this final step in order to become part of our “Rockstars Talent Pool” and be introduced to our clients. This process is one of the ways we ensure a high-quality standard in all the Virtual Assistants we hire.
After our team recruits a candidate, they are enrolled in a one-month Trial, during which they are trained in the most common tasks our clients need help with. This period also serves as a whole extra month of testing, assessing, and vetting to ensure we only get the best talent that matches our high-quality standards with the appropriate set of soft skills.
Recruitment Process
To ensure we recruit and place the best Latin American talent, we follow a proven process we like to refer to as our “4 Recruitment S’s”:
Screen and Source:
Our 9-step recruitment process includes dedicated sourcing, English writing and speaking checks, competency assessment, infrastructure tests, background checks, reference checks, and 2 rounds of interviews, all managed by our Recruitment Specialist team before being put in front of clients.
School:
After our team recruits a candidate, they are enrolled in a one-month Trial, during which they are trained in the most common tasks our clients need help with. This period also serves as a whole extra month of testing, assessing, and vetting to ensure we only get the best talent that matches our high-quality standards with the appropriate set of soft skills.
Once a Virtual Assistant approves the trial month, they start to form part of our “Rockstars Talent Pool”, which means they are now part of the Valatam team and are ready to be put in front of client placements.
Select:
When a client requests to find a new hire, our Talent Management Team takes a detailed look at our Talent Pool and selects the profiles that match their job description and business needs. This curated list is presented to clients for them to choose their favorites and schedule a call to interview or meet them. With this process, we make sure you can find the right talent for the role.
Support:
Our quality assurance doesn’t stop when a candidate is placed with a client, our service includes Account Management support, regular feedback sessions, and monitoring software that can help you track productivity and performance.
Unfortunately, we don’t offer recruitment services to hire employees who are outside of our “Rockstars Talent Pool” and Valatam’s Virtual Assistants network. We follow a strong 9-step recruitment process that helps us maintain the utmost quality standards in every role we provide. All roles we offer have been pre-vetted by our recruitment team and enrolled on a one-month trial period where we test their skills, with a few exceptions for specialized roles.
If you have any questions about our available candidates and roles, you can connect with our team by filling out the Contact Us form.
Cancellation Policy
If you aren’t satisfied during the first week of services, just let us know, and we’ll give you your money back or replace the team member for free (you choose!). On an ongoing basis, we just ask for a 14-day notice to stop services or change a team member.
If you wish to terminate your contract with us, you just need to provide us with a written 14-day notice specifying in detail the reasons behind your decision to terminate the contract.
If there’s an issue related to talent, our Account Management team can also help you find a replacement or build an action plan oriented on solving the problem.
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