5 Steps to Recruit and Hire Top-Notch Filipino Workers

You want well-rounded, talented, loyal, and enthusiastic online Filipino workers.

You want the best.

Want to know how you can get them?

Use our 5-step process below to help attract and hire the best online Filipino specialists.

1. Attract the Best Candidates with a Great Job Post

2. Have a Big Pool of Candidates

3. Email All of Them

4. Send More Emails to Your Top Candidates

5. Narrow the Field

---

1. Attract the Best Candidates with a Great Job Post

The most qualified Filipino workers are attracted to well-constructed job posts.

I recently saw a job post requesting a Rock Star VA. The required skills were

• WordPress,
• SEO,
• outbound and inbound sales calls,
• social media marketing, and
• design work to make the business owner’s site look good.

Yeah right.

That kind of person does not exist. Not in the Philippines, not in the UK, not in the US…or anywhere.

If you want to find a great worker, focus on finding a specialist.

Hire someone who can do 1 or 2 things really well. That’s how you get tasks off your plate right away.

To do that, you have to write a great job post. When writing one, make sure you take note of the following:

• Include “hard” and “soft” skill requirements.

Hard skills are technical and specific to the job. They may include the ability to write, program, use WordPress, etc.

Soft skills are related to personality and self-mastery and may include the ability to take direction, work under pressure, work in teams, etc.

You don’t need to put in everything, just enough so they have a clear idea of what kind of person you seek.

• Make your posts clear, concise, and easy to understand.

If your job post is too long or contains too many details, you’ll overwhelm and confuse prospective applicants.

• Avoid using generic or template job posts.

Personalize your job post by adding details that are relevant to your business. If you don’t, you might end up attracting unqualified people.

• Make sure your posts are updated and relevant.

Adjust if you change the job’s title, qualifications, or other elements. If you fill out the job, remove the post.

• Use Apply Points to help weed out unqualified workers.

Specify how many Apply Points they need when responding to the job, like “Use 8 Apply Points in your application.” If they use less, this means they didn’t bother reading the job post, and it’s safe to weed them out. 

• Don’t overthink it.

Keep your job post simple. Don’t take more than 10 minutes to write it. It doesn’t have to be perfect on your first try. You can always fix it. You can always improve on it.

---

You can also bypass the job post, browse resumes on OnlineJobs.ph, and contact a wide pool of your hand-picked candidates directly. You will need access to an OnlineJobs.ph paid account to contact candidates either way (but you can cancel your account immediately after you hire someone, with no further obligation). 

2. Have a Big Pool of Candidates

Always start with a big pool. Around 20-30 candidates.

Don’t narrow your list of potential workers too soon. Sometimes, employers will single out a candidate as “the one” and only contact that one person. Then, when “the one” never responds to their email, they feel frustrated and disappointed.

Contact a couple dozen candidates, at least. The ones who respond immediately are those who really want the job. They’re the ones you put through the hiring process and create your shortlist from.

Why won’t everyone respond? Some of them may already have a job they love and just never got around to deactivating their profile. 

3. Email All of Them

If you’re contacting workers from a resume search, send an identical email to each potential candidate.

Your initial email should acknowledge that you’ve read their resume and want to know more about them and their background. Send them the job post and describe the tasks you want to outsource.

TIP: Make sure your initial email is brief.

Longer, more complicated emails (and job posts) usually lead to fewer candidate responses. At the same time, do what you can to make your email stand out. The best online Filipino specialists on OnlineJobs.ph often receive multiple job offers.

4. Send More Emails to Your Top Candidates

Now that you’re getting responses from your initial mass email (or job post), start responding individually.

Ask lots of questions, and expect lots of correspondence.

Questions, questions, questions are the key here. 

Through this correspondence, you can:

• gauge their English skills,
• test their punctuality,
• observe how well they follow instructions,
• ask for work samples and
• get a better idea of how they would fit into your business.

Here are examples of questions and requests to include in your emails:

1. Do you already have another job? If so, where are you working, and how many hours are you working?
2. How much money are you looking to make?
3. Have you worked for foreign employers before?
4. How long have you been doing (state type of work you’re hiring for) work?
5. Please send me a link to your OnlineJobs.ph profile.
6. Please send me three references and examples of your best work.
7. Please write a paragraph about why I should hire you. Don’t send a list of your experiences; describe them to me.
8. When would you be available to start work?
9. Do you have your own computer and Internet access? If you have access, how fast is your connection?
10. Will you work from home or from an Internet café?
11. Where are you in the Philippines?
12. Tell me how you would complete the following task _______.

You won’t get responses from every candidate you email. And some will disappear during the email interview process. That’s why keeping your pool of potential workers broad is essential.

Note: DON’T DO VIDEO INTERVIEWS. Some business owners like to conduct video interviews, but I don’t recommend them.

Many Filipinos are often uncomfortable with video interviews because:

• They’re worried they won’t understand you;
• They’re self-conscious of their English-speaking abilities,
• They’re afraid you won’t understand them
• They’re embarrassed by their slow internet, ugly background, and noisy neighbors.

This creates anxiety, which could cause them to do poorly during the interview,w even if they’re the best person for the job.

I would advise instead of doing the video interviews once you have your top 3 applicants or having them do a recorded video to answer your interview questions.

---

I know some employers who make silly requests in their posts, like “Attach a picture of a pink Cadillac to your response” (or something similar).

Candidates who carefully read and respond to these requests help narrow the field for consideration. You’ll usually get 1 of 3 responses to this kind of request:

Response A: They ignore it.

Not good. They were confused, thinking it was a mistake…in any case, “ignoring your request” is not a good sign.

Response B: They fulfill your request without question.

Great. This is the most common response. They followed instructions even if it seemed dumb.

Response C: They question it, or they fulfill your request but also question it.

Best. Telling you that you asked for something dumb says they’re willing to question instructions. They’re not mindless followers. They think, and they have initiative. You won’t often have this response, but if you do, pay attention!

5. Narrow the Field

 

Those who aren’t serious about the job and realize they’re not qualified will stop responding. Eventually, you’ll narrow your prospects down to 2 or 3.

Here are a few tips to make you confident in your final hire:

• Trust your gut.

Your first impression is usually correct. Pay close attention to how you feel about the candidate. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

• Look for inconsistencies in resumes vs. emails.

Candidates could ask a friend with excellent English to help them write their profiles. Or they could use ChatGPT to make their resume and email responses sound too perfect. It’s hard to see the inconsistencies with just a resume and a couple of emails. It’s harder to hide when responding to 10 or more emails.

• Look for attention to detail.

If they only answer 3 of 4 questions you ask during recruiting, chances are really good they’ll only do 3 of 4 tasks you ask after they’re hired.

• Notice how quickly they respond to your emails. 

If they take too long to respond to your simple email (like 48 hours or longer), they’re either busy doing something else or figuring out how to use AI to respond “correctly.”

• Review work samples.

Ask for samples of their previous work. Nothing beats actual evidence.

If a candidate ever tells you that he or she doesn’t have Internet access or doesn’t have a computer and would like you to purchase one for them, don’t do it. It’s likely a scam.

---

Hiring can seem scary, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be as easy as you want it.

All you need to do is get over your initial fears and hire someone! Once you do that and get stuff off your plate, you’ll start creating freedom for yourself and your business!

About John Jonas

John Jonas is a long-time outsourcing expert and the creator of OnlineJobs.ph.

Since 2005, John has taught hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs how to profitably delegate to VAs in the Philippines (and get their lives back in the process).

With help from his own VAs based in the Philippines, John has created an outsourcing empire that allows him to work 17 hours/week and to spend most of his time with his wife and 5 kids.

Find John at JohnJonas.com and Facebook.

If you liked this you’ll probably also like reading

• • • Can I find qualified people in the Philippines? – Practical Advice
    • Case Study: Design and Marketing OFS – A Case Study with Vincent Aguirre
    • Podcast (Strategy Sprints)