When I hired my first VA it was through an agency. They asked:
“Do you want him to work on your timezone?”
I was like, “Sure!”
I didn’t know any better.
A few weeks in he emailed me and said:
“Sir, working at night is really affecting my health. I’m not sleeping during the day, I’m always grumpy, and I’m not productive. Would it be possible for me to work during the day my time?”
I was like, “Of course!”
When I asked for the night shift I didn’t even think about how it might affect him. The company just offered it to me so I said yes.
Now, I know better. People on my team can work whenever they want, except for the few for which we have a schedule (so that we can cover 24/7 customer service).
Can you get people to work on your time zone?
Yes, it is possible to get an OFS to work the night shift. In your time zone. In fact, some people prefer it!
Take Harold, he’s part of our customer service team. He prefers to work at night because he’s used to it and he can stay awake for his newborn through the night.
Ben from our social media team also prefers to work nights so he can take care of his son early in the morning. His mother-in-law takes over the rest of the day.
Drew, also from our social team, is a call center veteran. She works nights because it’s cooler and her internet’s faster at night .
The key to finding an OFS who can work the night shift starts in the recruitment process. In the job post, you can specify that the person must have call center experience or have worked in the call center. They’re used to shift work so asking them to work in your time zone would be easier.
Another way to figure out if an OFS can work nights is to ask whether they’re early birds or night owls in the email interview. There are a lot of Filipino workers who prefer to work nights because it’s cooler, there are fewer distractions, and the internet is faster here at night.
John