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Hire a Virtual Personal Assistant, Recruited from India
Alliance recruits a permanent personal assistant who joins your payroll and works only for you, sourced from India and screened on judgement and written English rather than a CV. Not a shared subscription service. Not domestic or household staff. 16+ years, 36+ countries.
We handle sourcing, screening and interviews so you can hire a dedicated personal assistant who takes routine work off your plate, improves day-to-day efficiency and gives you more time to focus on higher-value business priorities.
16+ Years Of Experience
550,000+ Placements Delivered
36+ Countries Served
350+ Expert Teams
50+ Top Level Positions
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What Is a Virtual Personal Assistant?
A virtual personal assistant handles the administrative and coordination work a principal cannot delegate to software: inbox and calendar management, travel, research, expenses, scheduling, supplier coordination and follow-up. Remotely, and for one person or a small leadership team.
Two things this page is not about, because the phrase carries both meanings.
It is not domestic or household staff. If you are looking for household help, a maid or in-home support, that is a different service and a different desk.
And it is not a managed VA subscription. Those services employ the assistant, bill you monthly and often share them across several clients. Alliance does not provide that. We recruit a person who becomes your employee, works only for you, and stays.
The commercial difference is straightforward. A subscription is a recurring monthly fee for as long as you use it. Recruitment is a one-time fee, after which you pay only the salary. Below roughly fifteen hours a week of routine work, the subscription is cheaper and we will say so.
For the wider practice, see our virtual assistant staffing agency page.
A Personal Assistant Who Stays
Most online personal assistant services sell access to their staff. The predictable failure is continuity: the assistant who learned how you work, who your key contacts are, and what you never want scheduled before 10am gets reassigned, and you start again. As a personal assistant agency we place someone permanently, which is slower to arrange and the only version where that knowledge accumulates.
How Long Does It Take to Hire a Personal Assistant?
Brief and shortlist: 1 to 2 weeks.
Client interviews and a paid practical task: week 2 to 3.
Offer, notice and onboarding: week 3 to 5. Realistic total is 3 to 5 weeks from brief to start date.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Personal Assistant in India?
Two separate costs, and conflating them is where comparisons go wrong. Our recruitment fee is a one-off charge, a percentage of first-year salary or a fixed placement fee. The salary is yours and ongoing, and an India-based PA salary sits well below a UK, US or Gulf equivalent. A managed service quotes a single blended monthly figure instead, which looks simpler but costs more over a year.
What We Offer
A permanent hire onto your payroll
Your employee, your hours, your tools, your confidentiality agreement. Not shared, not billed hourly, not reassigned.
A paid practical task before you decide
Real work: an inbox triage, a travel itinerary with a disruption in it, a research brief with an ambiguous question. Judgement and written English are the job, and an interview tests neither.
Written English is assessed directly
because most PA work is written and most of it goes out in your name.
Discretion is screened explicitly
A PA sees your calendar, your inbox, your travel, and often your household arrangements. We assess how candidates have handled confidential information in the past rather than assuming it.
Timezone overlap agreed before sourcing
India sits 4.5 to 5.5 hours ahead of the UK and 9.5 to 12.5 ahead of North America. That is workable with a defined overlap window and unworkable without one, and it should be settled before anyone is presented.
A replacement guarantee
if the placement does not work out.
Our Personal Assistant Recruitment Process
Requirement and Reality Check (Week 1)
The actual workload, the hours needing cover, the tools and the access level. This is where we tell you if recruitment is the wrong route. Under roughly fifteen hours a week of routine admin, a managed service costs less and we will say so rather than take the fee.
Sourcing and Screening (Weeks 1 to 2)
Sourced in India against your brief. Screened for written English, judgement, tool fluency, timezone willingness and discretion.
Paid Practical Task (Week 2)
Shortlisted candidates complete real work you set. Expect this to eliminate people who interviewed well, which is exactly its purpose.
Client Interviews (Weeks 2 to 3)
Usually two rounds, at least one at the hours the role will actually be worked. Interviewing an India-based candidate only during your comfortable afternoon tells you nothing about whether the overlap will hold.
Offer, Notice and Onboarding (Weeks 3 to 5)
Offer, notice navigation and a structured first-thirty-days plan covering tool access, escalation rules and a written communication protocol. The most common cause of a failed remote PA hire is week one with no handover, not the candidate.
Post-Placement Check-In (Week 5+)
We check in after placement to confirm the PA is meeting expectations, the workload is balanced and communication is working effectively.
Choose the Right PA Hiring Model
Not sure whether to hire a dedicated PA or use a managed service? Send us your workload and hours, and we’ll recommend the most cost-effective option for your business—even if it isn’t us.
Roles and Scope We Recruit For
Personal assistant to a founder or principal
Calendar ownership, inbox triage, travel, and the judgment calls that come with acting on someone’s behalf.
Executive assistant
Where the role supports a formal executive function with board or stakeholder coordination. See our virtual executive assistant page.
Private and blended PA
Business and personal support for founders and principals, with a higher confidentiality bar. Still a business hire, not household staff.
Administrative and office support
Broader administrative coordination. See admin recruitment agencies.
Research and operations PA
Where the role extends into market research, supplier coordination or light project work.
Sourcing market
India primarily, with the Philippines and other markets available on request.
Employer markets
The UK, Europe, North America, the Gulf, Australasia and India itself, with the overlap window agreed per role.
What we do not place here
Maids, housekeepers, nannies, drivers and in-home domestic staff. Alliance recruits some of those through separate desks. This is not the page for them.
Legal and compliance support
Document preparation, follow-ups, records management and coordination with legal, finance or external advisers where the PA role requires high discretion and accuracy.
Who We Serve
Founders spending hours a week on their own calendar and inbox
where the cost of not hiring has clearly passed the cost of hiring.
Employers priced out of a local PA salary
and open to an India-based hire if the overlap and written communication hold up.
Principals who used a managed VA service and lost continuity
usually after a second or third reassignment, wanting someone who stays and learns.
Small leadership teams sharing one assistant
where prioritising between two or three principals is the actual skill.
The Alliance Advantage
We tell you where the assistant is based, in the first screen. India. If that is a problem, better known now than on the first call.
Permanent placement onto your payroll. We do not employ assistants and rent them to you.
A paid practical task in every process, using real work you set.
Written English assessed directly, not inferred from a CV.
Discretion screened against prior handling of confidential information.
Timezone overlap agreed before sourcing, not negotiated at offer stage.
We tell you when not to hire. Under roughly fifteen hours a week, a managed service is cheaper.
One-off fee, not a monthly subscription. After placement the ongoing cost is the salary, which is yours to manage.
Business personal assistants only. No domestic or household staff on this desk.
Why Choose Alliance Recruitment Agency to Hire Your Personal Assistant?
The honest version is short. A personal assistant is one of the few hires where the value is almost entirely accumulated knowledge — of your preferences, your contacts, your calendar logic, the things you never want booked. A subscription service cannot give you that, because the person is not yours and will eventually be moved.
What Alliance offers is a permanent, vetted assistant at an India-based salary, working an agreed overlap with your day, who becomes your employee. Slower to arrange, one fee rather than a subscription, and the only structure in which that knowledge compounds.
We are the wrong choice in three situations, and all three are common.
If you need cover starting Monday, recruitment cannot do that and a managed service can.
If the workload is under fifteen hours a week of routine, non-confidential admin, a subscription will genuinely cost you less.
And if you are looking for household staff, a maid or in-home help, that is a different service entirely.
For broader remote hiring, see home based virtual assistant hiring.
Our Client Reviews
I was spending too much time managing my calendar, emails and follow-ups, so we decided to hire a dedicated PA from India. Alliance understood the level of judgement and confidentiality the role required and gave us a shortlist of people who were genuinely relevant. Our assistant has taken over a large part of the daily coordination, which has freed me up to focus on the business.
We needed someone who could work closely with our executive team and handle sensitive information without constant direction. Alliance was very practical about the requirements and screened for communication, discretion and working-hour overlap. The person we hired adapted quickly and has become a dependable part of our day-to-day operations.
We had tried using a general VA service before, but the lack of consistency became frustrating. This time we wanted a permanent PA who worked directly for us. Alliance helped us recruit someone with the right experience and approach, and the transition was much smoother than our previous experience. We now have one dedicated person who understands how our business operates.
Awards
Meet Our Leadership Team
Molly Anderson
Franchise Lead | Recruitment Franchise
Alex George
General Manager | RPO & Enterprise Recruitment
Nikki Miller
Head of Recruitment | Recruitment & Staffing
Frequently Asked Questions
A virtual personal assistant handles administrative and coordination work remotely for one person or a small leadership team: inbox and calendar management, travel, research, expenses, scheduling and follow-up.
Primarily India, with the Philippines and other markets available on request. We state this up front rather than after the first call.
No. Alliance recruits a permanent assistant who becomes your employee. We do not employ assistants and bill you monthly for their time.
Under roughly fifteen hours a week of routine, non-confidential admin, a managed service usually costs less. Above that, or where confidentiality and continuity matter, an employed assistant is better economics.
Two separate costs: a one-off recruitment fee, and the ongoing salary, which for an India-based PA sits well below a UK, US or Gulf equivalent. A managed service quotes one blended monthly figure instead.
Three to five weeks from brief to start date, including a paid practical task and two interview rounds.
India is 4.5 to 5.5 hours ahead of the UK and 9.5 to 12.5 hours ahead of North America. We agree a defined overlap window before sourcing rather than after offer.
Written English, judgement, tool fluency, timezone willingness, and prior handling of confidential information, plus a paid practical task using real work you set.
The decisive question is who employs the assistant. With a subscription service, the person is the provider’s employee, and your confidentiality terms reach them indirectly. With a direct hire, they are your employee, bound by your agreement, with access you control and revoke.
No. This desk places business personal assistants only. Household staff, maids, nannies and drivers are handled by separate Alliance desks.
Yes, with the period written into the engagement.
Send the workload, the hours needing cover, and the access level. We will confirm whether recruitment is the right route before quoting.
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