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goldman13 wrote:

I am trying to hire a PT personal assistant in Quito.  I have an apartment there and will visit 4 times per year for a couple weeks each time.  I'd like the person to help me with coordination, research and tasks while I am out of country and help me when I am there with translation, concierge and other tasks.

How can I find someone trustworthy and capable.  And what would be an appropriate hourly rate for this type of position....

Scott

Good concept, Scott.

It's a big ask since you need a bilingual part-timer who can interface well with a Gringo.

Although it's not a certainty this would work, you might do a Google search for 'asistente personal' or something similar.

Your best bet is the fact that our good friend Brother Archer is likely to stop by this thread and, perhaps, offer guidance.  I'm turning on the BAt-signal for him right now.

cccmedia

goldman13 wrote:

I'd like the person to help me with coordination, research and tasks while I am out of country and help me when I am there with translation, concierge and other tasks.

So this is something that the current apartment complex staff, or a property management company could not handle?  Something that does not require access to your apartment while you are away, correct?

"Coordination, research and tasks" as well as "translation, concierge and other tasks" is both vague, and sounds like a tall order for one person - do you need a university-trained person for research?  Someone, a concierge, to pick up laundry, buy furniture, run errands, what exactly?  And also someone who speaks good English as well as Spanish?  Someone to do involved research but also menial tasks?  And only pay them for part-time work?

And then you throw trustworthy AND capable into the mix, to handle all this honestly while you are away perhaps 44 weeks out of a year - a tall order indeed. 

Without knowing more details for what you want, I cannot begin to suggest a complete solution.  But here's how I'd start: 

1.  Have a paid arrangement with the apartment staff or a management company to do regular checks on your apartment.  You may already have this being done, I realize.

2.  You might find ONE person but you may need several to do what you want (or what I think you want).  You might talk to local universities to find a smart and capable student person like that - but your Spanish would have to be pretty good unless you can talk to an English-speaking professor or university staff who would understand your needs.

3.  Try looking at Locanto for Quito, under SERVICIOS.


See if any of the ads under that category fit what you are looking for, and see what services are offered.  Also you yourself can place a free ad, stating what you're looking for - again, if your Spanish is not good this may not be a good solution.

As cccmedia suggested, you can see many ads if you do an internet search for
quito asistente personal
...but the results are all over the board, and mostly job offers from clerk to admin assistant to building administration.  You could contact the companies offering the jobs and explain what you are looking for - again, good Spanish would be needed.

Also look for
quito asistente particular
...and you will get some people's names along with their Facebook/LinkedIn pages.  You could look at their data and contact them just to see, if you see someone who might fit.

If you already have a connection with some of the apartment staff and trust them, they may be able to suggest a family member or someone they know well.  This might at least help cut down on dealing with complete strangers.

I think what you're looking for will be difficult to find in Quito, and would be difficult to find even in the US.  But perhaps with a few more details we can narrow it down and come up with some better suggestions.

Few º£½ÇÂÒÂ×s if any, of the many º£½ÇÂÒÂ×s I have known, have a part-time assistant in Ecuador who is with them eight weeks of the year .. or doing research and tasks the other 44 weeks.

Those of us who get along pretty well without an assistant .. do so by getting good in español.  That skill makes it possible to communicate most of the time, sometimes (if outside Ecuador) by emailing in Spanish .. e.g. to my condo board, my peluquera, whomever.

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Here is the upside of doing stuff yourself with good Spanish, as opposed to hiring a part-time assistant...

1. You don't have to figure out how to find a reliable assistant.

2. You don't have to pay an assistant, nor be bound by any Ecuadorian labor laws.

3.  You don't have to train an assistant.

4.  When the time comes, you don't have to replace an assistant.

5.  You don't have to 'clean up after' an assistant, if the assistant messes up, doesn't understand what you wanted, or steals stuff.

6.  Through trial and error, you learn to do things effectively in Ecuador, in ways that are repeatable.

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So, at a minimum, there is this backup plan... Learn more Spanish and be prepared to get done yourself what an assistant might otherwise do.

cccmedia