KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Most nearshore agencies deliver candidates in 5 to 7 days by matching from a pre-vetted bench. RS Global takes 2 to 3 weeks because every search starts at zero.
- The extra time covers a founder discovery call, a 60 to 100 candidate market search, three rounds of internal screening, full government verification, and a custom video interview built for your company.
- Clients who go through the 2–3 week process see a 92 percent retention rate, compared to the 60 to 70 percent industry baseline for bench-based agencies.
Most nearshore staffing agencies promise candidates in under a week. When prospective clients hear that RS Global takes 2 to 3 weeks per custom search, the first reaction is usually disappointment. They want their hire now.
Then they learn what is actually happening during those weeks. The reaction shifts. Almost every time.
This is a question that comes up on nearly every discovery call: how long does it take to hire a virtual assistant? The honest answer depends entirely on the model the agency uses. A pre-vetted bench delivers in days. A custom-built search takes weeks. The difference is not speed, it is what you are buying. If you are evaluating nearshore staffing options for the first time, here is exactly what happens during the 2–3 week window, why the timeline is the proof of depth rather than a drawback, and why our clients tell us it was the part they did not expect to love.
What “5 to 7 days” actually means at most agencies
When an agency tells you they can hand over candidates in under a week, they are describing one of two situations.
The first is bench matching. The agency maintains a pool of pre-vetted virtual assistants or remote professionals. When you describe your role, a recruiter cross-references the pool, identifies people whose resumes match the broad criteria, and sends you three. The vetting happened months ago, for the pool. The candidates were recruited for the bench, not for your role.
The second is database recruiting. Larger firms maintain enormous candidate databases (some claim 12,500+ developers across eight countries) and use search filters to identify matches. The recruiter assigned to your account may be juggling 15 other clients at the same time. You get speed because the database is doing the work, not because anyone is recruiting specifically for you.
Both models can work. They are not scams. But they are not the same product as a custom search.
What 2 to 3 weeks at RS Global actually looks like
Here is the step by step view of what happens between the moment you say “let’s start” and the moment three candidates land in your inbox.
Days 1–3: Discovery call with the founders
The first call is with Ravi or Sunny Chhatani, the co-founders. Not a sales rep. Not an account manager. The owners. Both were born and raised in Lima, Peru. Both built careers at Morgan Stanley, Sinclair Broadcasting, and McCormick before founding RS Global. They understand US business culture from the inside and Peruvian professional culture from lived experience.
This is not an intake form being read out loud. It is a conversation where seasoned hiring experts ask about your team, your communication style, the personality traits that have worked and have not worked before, your pace, your autonomy level, and the cultural fit signals you may not have thought to articulate yet. By the end of that call, the founders know what they are looking for. That is the brief for the search.
Days 4–10: Full market search from scratch
RS Global does not maintain a bench. Every search starts at zero. Our recruiting team goes to market and sources 60 to 100 candidates specifically for your role, your culture, and your business. That is the number of resumes our team reviews. The number of people our team contacts directly. The number of profiles our team evaluates against your brief.
This is the step competitors skip with the bench model. They cannot search for you because they recruited for the pool, not for the client. We recruit for the client every time.
Days 11–15: Three rounds of internal screening + government verification
Out of the 60 to 100 sourced candidates, only a small group survives our internal screening. Three rounds: skills assessment, English fluency evaluation, and cultural fit interview. Running in parallel, the verification stack: national ID check through Peru’s civil registry, employment history verified through Peru’s government payroll database (no US-based competitor can access this), academic transcript verification at the university level, background check, credit check, internet speed test (100 Mbps minimum), and workspace photo confirmation.
The government payroll verification is the part most clients are surprised by. If a candidate is currently being paid by multiple employers (the practice known as job stacking), Peru’s official payroll records will show it before that person ever reaches you.
Days 16–18: Custom video interview preparation
For each finalist, we prepare a custom video interview. The questions are written specifically for your company, your role, and the working dynamic the founders identified in the discovery call. This is not a generic screening reel. It is a tailored interview that lets you assess communication style, problem-solving approach, and culture fit without having to design the questions yourself.
Days 19–21: Top 3 to 4 candidates delivered
You receive a clean candidate package: written summary for each finalist, the custom video interview, and the CV. Three to four people total. Every one of them was sourced for your role, screened against your brief, verified to the deepest standard in the nearshore industry, and recorded answering questions written for your company. You interview them, run any additional industry-specific assessment, and select your hire.
The bench-model vs. custom recruiting comparison
Most buyers do not know the staffing model affects everything. The same dollar gets a very different product depending on what model the agency uses. Here is how the two compare across the criteria that matter most.
| What You Are Evaluating | Bench / Database Model | RS Global Custom Search |
|---|---|---|
| How candidates were recruited | For the pool, months or years ago | For your role, this week, from scratch |
| Who takes the discovery call | Sales rep or account manager | Ravi or Sunny Chhatani (founders) |
| Candidates reviewed per role | Filtered from a pool of any size | 60 to 100 sourced specifically for you |
| Time to first candidates | 5 to 7 days | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Employment history verification | Resume + reference calls | Peru’s national government payroll database |
| Candidate package delivered | Resume, sometimes a generic intro video | Written summary + custom video interview + CV |
| Industry retention reported | 60 to 70 percent | 92 percent |
| Upfront cost | Varies: setup fees, retainers, placement fees | $0. Nothing until your hire starts |
Why our clients say the wait was worth it
Three reasons surface consistently in our discovery debriefs after a placement is made.
First, the candidate fit. A client who hires a bookkeeper for a 12-person accounting firm needs someone who can handle the firm’s specific software, communicate in the firm’s specific tone, and work within the firm’s specific workflow. A pool-matched candidate was not recruited with any of that in mind. A custom-sourced candidate was.
Second, the candidate package. Reviewing a written summary plus a video interview plus the CV is meaningfully different from reading three resumes. The video interview is the part most clients flag as the surprise. The questions were written for them. They get to see and hear the candidate before scheduling a single interview slot. That alone saves them 4 to 6 hours of first-round interviewing for roles they end up not moving forward with.
Third, the retention. Our placed professionals stay. The industry average for remote staffing is 60 to 70 percent retention. RS Global runs at 92 percent. The custom search is the single biggest reason. When a candidate is matched to a role, not just available for one, they stay.
The discovery call is free. No commitment.
Ravi or Sunny will personally talk through your role, your team, and what you actually need from a hire. You do not pay anything until your candidate starts.
The hidden cost of “fast”
The argument for a 5-day hire is that you save 10 to 14 days. The argument against is what happens if the hire is wrong.
The fully loaded cost of a bad hire in the US ranges from 30 to 100+ percent of the role’s annual salary depending on level. For a $30,000 nearshore role, the cost of replacement, lost productivity, ramp-up time for the next person, and the operational drag during the transition can easily exceed $10,000. The 60 to 70 percent retention rate at bench-model agencies means roughly one in three placements does not make it past the first year. That is the math you are buying when you optimize for speed.
Two extra weeks at the front of the process protects against that outcome. When 92 percent of placements stay, the time saved across years of work is dramatically greater than the time spent at the start.
What we tell clients who genuinely cannot wait
Sometimes the urgency is real. A team member just quit. A project starts in 10 days. A client deadline is hard.
When that happens, we say so honestly. We prioritize the search. We can compress the timeline. But we will not match from a pool, because we do not have one. If the role is critical and the timing is hard, we will tell you in the discovery call whether RS Global is the right fit or whether you need a bench-model agency for this particular hire and we can build the long-term replacement on a normal timeline. The founders take the call to make this kind of judgment in real time, not after a contract is signed.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to hire a virtual assistant through RS Global?
RS Global takes 2 to 3 weeks per custom search. That window covers the founder discovery call, a full market search of 60 to 100 candidates, three rounds of internal screening, government-level verification, and preparation of the candidate package, which includes a written summary, a custom video interview, and the CV.
Why does RS Global take longer than other nearshore staffing agencies?
Most agencies deliver candidates in 5 to 7 days because they match you from a pre-vetted bench. RS Global does not maintain a bench. Every search starts at zero, with candidates sourced specifically for your role and your company. The extra time is the search itself.
Who conducts the discovery call at RS Global?
Ravi or Sunny Chhatani, the co-founders, take every new client discovery call personally. Both were born and raised in Lima, Peru and built careers at Morgan Stanley, Sinclair Broadcasting, and McCormick. The discovery call is conducted by seasoned hiring experts, not a sales rep.
How many candidates does RS Global review for each role?
RS Global sources and screens 60 to 100 candidates per custom search. After three rounds of internal screening and full verification, the top 3 to 4 candidates are presented to the client.
What is included in the candidate package?
Each finalist comes with a written summary, a custom video interview with questions tailored to your specific company and role, and the candidate CV. Clients do not have to write their own screening questions or scrub through generic resumes.
What happens if I cannot wait 2 to 3 weeks for a hire?
RS Global can prioritize searches and start immediately. The 2 to 3 week timeline reflects the time it takes to do the work correctly. Clients who skip this process by going with bench-based agencies report a 60 to 70 percent retention rate, compared to 92 percent at RS Global.
Is there a fee to start the search?
No. RS Global charges nothing upfront. No retainer, no setup fee, no recruiting fee. The client pays only when their hire starts.
The bottom line
Most agencies optimize the wait. RS Global optimizes the hire. If you have been burned before, or if you have heard horror stories about remote staffing that did not work out, the 2 to 3 week timeline is the answer to the why. The wait is the work. The work is the difference. Talk to Ravi or Sunny and the call itself will give you a clearer sense of what RS Global does differently than any blog post can.
Ready to talk? One conversation with the founders. No upfront cost. No commitment.