How to write a VA job post that good candidates answer

Specific salary ranges, real tool names, and one well-placed screening question get you stronger VA applicants and fewer generic cover letters.

Most VA job posts are written for the person posting them, not for the person reading them. They list responsibilities in passive voice, say "competitive salary," and ask for a CV and cover letter. Strong candidates, the ones who are currently employed and have options, skip these. Here is what to write instead.

Put an actual number in the salary field

"Competitive" and "DOE" tell candidates you want the upper hand in negotiation. Candidates who are already earning well skip those posts. If you are hiring a Filipino VA for admin and scheduling, the market rate in Manila runs PHP 25,000-40,000/month (roughly SGD 600-960). A social media and content specialist with 3+ years experience sits around PHP 40,000-55,000/month (SGD 960-1,320). A senior executive assistant runs PHP 55,000-75,000/month.

Post the range. Candidates do the math. The ones who see a fit apply. The ones who don't, don't. You skip two rounds of back-and-forth and stop attracting candidates who will leave after the salary conversation.

Name the actual tools

"Proficiency in project management tools" tells a candidate nothing. A post that names Asana for task tracking, Slack for communication, Google Workspace for documents, and Canva for social graphics tells them exactly what they are walking into.

The same applies to marketing roles. "Social media experience required" is vague. If you write that the role uses Buffer for scheduling, Google Docs for captions, Meta Business Suite for analytics, and Canva for graphics, candidates who know that stack recognize it. Candidates who don't can decide whether they want to learn it before applying.

Describe what an actual week looks like

Job descriptions list duties. Candidates want to know what Tuesday afternoon looks like. Write it out:

• Monday: Team standup at 9am SGT (10am Manila), clear the inbox, flag anything urgent
• Tuesday to Thursday: Draft and schedule three LinkedIn posts, respond to comments, compile engagement numbers into the weekly report
• Friday: Send the weekly report, prep the agenda for Monday

This takes 20 minutes to write. It filters out candidates who want a vague inbox-management role while you actually need someone who owns a content calendar. It also helps candidates tell you honestly if the workload is too much for one person. You would rather hear that in the application than at week three.

One question that cuts mass-appliers

Add a specific question at the end of the post. Tell candidates to answer it in their first message. Not a generic prompt. Something that requires reading the post:

• We use Notion for our knowledge base. Describe a process you have documented in a similar tool and what you included to make it useful for someone new.
• Our client is a Singapore-based financial advisory firm. What would you check before posting on their behalf on LinkedIn?

Candidates who send a generic cover letter won't answer it. Candidates who want the role will. You don't need to judge the answer closely at this stage. You are checking whether they read the post at all. That alone cuts roughly 70% of applications in most rounds.

Separate what you require from what you will train

Inflated requirements push away qualified candidates. If you list five years of project management experience for a role that is calendar management and inbox triage, good candidates assume the salary is higher than it is and move on.

• Required: strong written English, 3+ years admin experience, available 9am-6pm SGT (10am-7pm Manila), Google Workspace
• Will train: internal SOPs, Asana setup, client communication preferences

That split takes two minutes to write. It makes the post legible to the right candidate in under 30 seconds.