Scope the executive assistant role before recruiting
Start with the recurring calendar coordination, inbox triage, travel research, and meeting follow-through. Name the input, expected output, due time, approved tool, and reviewer for each task. A narrow scope makes the work sample more useful and gives a Philippines-based assistant a clear finish line.
Keep commitments, spending, private correspondence, legal matters, and sensitive personnel choices with a named owner. Write those boundaries into the role brief so an assistant knows when to stop and who can make the decision.
Write a definition of done
Attach one strong example, one common mistake, and the evidence a reviewer should inspect. State what must be true before the task can be marked complete.
Test representative work with safe records
Build a paid sample from realistic calendar coordination, inbox triage, travel research, and meeting follow-through, but replace customer, employee, patient, financial, or account data with invented records. Score the same output for every candidate.
Assess accuracy, source use, communication, and escalation judgment. A candidate who identifies an unclear instruction can be safer than one who completes the sample quickly by guessing.
Use one review scorecard
Record accuracy, completeness, tone, tool handling, questions asked, and whether every exception reached the correct owner.
Open access in measured steps
Use a named account, multi-factor authentication, and the smallest permission set needed for the first task. Keep administrative, billing, export, and recovery rights with a limited owner group.
Move from a safe sample to reviewed drafts, then low-risk live work. Add access only after the earlier stage is accurate and remove access when a task or relationship ends.
Review the first month without losing context
Review every early output against its source and save corrections beside the instructions. Group repeated errors by cause so the manager can repair the source, example, access, or training rather than only fixing the latest record.
After the first lane is stable, sample work on a documented cadence. Add one related duty at a time and keep attendance, coaching, backup, and replacement questions with the staffing manager.
Run a useful weekly review
Discuss completed work, exceptions, corrections, access changes, and one improvement to the written process. Keep the meeting tied to evidence from the actual queue.
Ask providers for role-specific proof
Ask how candidates are tested on calendar coordination, inbox triage, travel research, and meeting follow-through, who reviews the first live outputs, and what happens when quality or attendance slips. Request current terms for management, backup, replacement, access, and offboarding.
Compare every provider against the same role brief and sample. A public claim or directory position does not replace direct verification of current services, contracts, staffing location, and support ownership.
Sources
Open the original publisher and confirm the current version, definition, and scope before using a source for a business decision.
Turn the reading into a role brief
Bring the recurring tasks, tools, schedule, access limits, and owner-only decisions. Start with one work sample and one clear review path.
Plan a Philippines-based role