The journey to getting a $2,000 a month job and beyond is not a single step.
You must diligently put in the time to learn communication skills, technical skills, and build connections. Once you have these 3 components solidly– to be qualified enough to work with the clients who expect excellence– then and only then can you begin at this level.
It may seem unfair that we (our agencies and those businesses who follow us) won’t hire people who aren’t qualified or won’t start paying on your first day of training.
But this is what causes so many young adults, who are otherwise bright and hard-working, to be stuck where they are. They might have great technical SEO skills, but lack communication skills or lack the network.
You need to have all 3 components— and this is what we teach.
Over the years, I’ve hired hundreds of freelancers, VAs, and team members and I’ve noticed three common mistakes that candidates keep making. We want to help you improve your chances of getting a job with us by highlighting these mistakes and how to avoid them.
Mistake #1: Reaching Out to Me Directly
One common mistake applicants make is reaching out to me or other team members without any preparation.
I’ve seen thousands apply, and the biggest mistake is sending messages like, “Please, sir, I need a job,” or simply attaching a resume or a list of past accomplishments. What stands out is showing that you understand what we do.
With so many people applying on platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and onlinejobs.ph, standing out can be tough. In our system, where we pay more as you prove yourself, the key to success is showing that you truly understand the work.
When you don’t, it’s clear you haven’t taken the time to research our company. This lack of effort makes you blend in with the countless others who are just blasting out their resumes.
We have a structured hiring process, and it’s essential to follow it. Don’t message me directly—I’m not the one handling hiring. We have a dedicated team for that, and we want to see that you can work in a team.
Sometimes, I’ll reply by copying others on the hiring team. This is to see if you collaborate effectively or just keep replying to me, assuming I’ll handle everything.
Before you post or message with “Hi sir” or “Hire me” watch this video:
We have a structured hiring process in place, so it’s crucial to follow the instructions and personalize your approach. Doing so will help you stand out and put you ahead of 95% of other candidates.
Mistake #2: Lack of Personalization
A big mistake many applicants make is opening their message by listing their resume or past achievements without ever showing that they understand the company they are applying to.
Simply sending your resume or mentioning past accomplishments doesn’t demonstrate your ability to relate your experience to the specific needs of our company.
It signals to us that you may not have taken the time to research our company, understand our goals, or consider how your skills would specifically fit into what we do.
This lack of personalization can make you seem like you’re mass applying to many companies without tailoring your approach to each one.
If your potential client already knows who you are, they are 10 times more likely to hire you and they will pay 10 times more. Hiring someone halfway across the planet is all about trust. The best way to build trust is to engage professionally.
For example, look at this guy. He has no idea what we do, but expects us to hire him to manage our team.
Before you reach to a potential client, spend 5 minutes looking up what they do.
This is the most common mistake freelancers and agencies make. They believe if they message enough people, they will get clients.
Build a relationship before asking for business.
Mistake #3: Not Checking Your Message for Grammatical Errors
Always pay attention to grammatical errors, capitalization, and punctuation. We assess your ability to communicate clearly, and mistakes in your message can hurt your chances, even if English isn’t your first language.
While you don’t need to be a professional writer, it’s important to avoid sloppy errors. Clear communication is crucial, so make sure your message is well-polished before sending it.
A Players Only – No Exceptions
We have an A Player only rule. The key is that competent people should rarely ever need correcting. And they are fast– not because they hurry or are sloppy, but because they are competent.
Anyone coming into the company needs to be qualified before they can start charging us. We want everyone to become excellent at processing content– these are paid positions where we expect excellent work. In the case of clients who pay us to provide support and training, we render services.
We’ve made our training 100% free to anyone who wants to learn and demonstrate the necessary competency to be hired at Level 1, the lowest acceptable level of quality. And then we expect them to progress up through the levels.
It usually takes a few iterations to get something of decent quality, since there is a learning phase– and hopefully not too much QA or personal support to get there. With any task or skill, there is a clear pattern to follow which anyone can publicly and openly learn from for free, though many prefer private one-on-one mentoring for grammar and such.
Most people will take 10-20 iterations to get something of barely usable quality, if they can even get to that point. And if they’re not reliable, this can drag on for weeks and months– taking up a lot of my time and other people’s time to chase– which is a multiple of the minutes it would take a competent and reliable person to do it.
Understanding the GCT (Goals, Content, Targeting)
Being capable of adding critical context requires understanding the GCT (goals, content, targeting) of the original video/article.
When VAs disregard GCT, for many reasons that appear valid to them, they make the #1 VA mistake. The result is vandalism of our assets, the need for someone senior to come repair, and also providing one-on-one coaching to the VA about why skipping GCT isn’t a good thing.
Trying to convince a vandal usually results in failure– because they are unwilling or unable to see the problem. They insist on how they’re well-meaning and are competent. And when that fails (it always does), we attempt to ask them to practice active listening (which sometimes works).
Anyone who works on ANY content must understand the GCT of that particular piece of content, which also means understanding how it fits into the related topics– not just the tangential topics, but the ones upstream (larger topics) that fit into the bigger picture.
The “expert” in video editing, copywriting, Google Ads, or whatever technical skill is most likely to make the #1 VA mistake– because they blindly believe their one functional expertise exempts them from having to understand the content they’re working on.
And, thus, the reason why the #1 VA mistake is so powerfully endemic and so hard to convince vandals of the damage they cause.
How to Apply for a Content VA Job
We’re always hiring excellent content VAs, and we’d love to hire from our 43K Facebook group.
We have a step-by-step process that you can follow to qualify for a job with us. If you’re serious about securing a position with us, it’s essential to follow instructions carefully and practice active listening.
Any featured post you see there, even if a long time ago, we will hire you for that position if you take steps to get qualified.
The #1 thing that disqualifies candidates is being unable to follow directions. Read the posts carefully for instructions.
#2 reason is not being willing to invest the time to learn the skills— since many expect to get hired instantly.
#3 reason is bad grammar— something that Western clients won’t concede on.
#4 is lack of persistence— which is related to the other points. You’re here as a professional who wants to build a career that will support you and your family for the rest of your life.
If you’re in our group of 43,000 members, you’re in the right place to learn and connect with others.
We have hired dozens— but that number needs to be thousands.
We need to filter applicants ahead of time, so we want to highlight the most common mistakes we see. Our goal is to hire you, even if you don’t meet all the qualifications right now. We genuinely want to help you succeed, but we also don’t want you to struggle with client work and end up delivering subpar results.
Our aim is for you to excel and demonstrate competence.
