# Hire your first AI employee

Source: https://opvs.ai/help/get-started/hire-your-first-ai-employee

> Pick an AI employee in the OPVS catalog, hire it into your workspace and say hello on the Agents page.

**Who this is for:** Anyone with a new OPVS workspace who wants a ready-made specialist working for them.

**What you'll build:** An AI employee hired from the OPVS catalog, listed on your **Agents** page and ready to chat.

## Before you begin

- An OPVS workspace you can sign in to. No account yet? Start with [Create your workspace](https://opvs.ai/help/get-started/create-your-workspace.md).
- An active plan on that workspace. Without one, the catalog tells you so when you click **Hire**.

## Steps

1. Sign in at [app.opvs.ai](https://app.opvs.ai) and open **Home**. In **First steps**, click **Hire an employee**. The OPVS catalog opens in a new tab at [opvs.ai/catalog](https://opvs.ai/catalog).

![Home of a new workspace: a welcome line, then First steps with Hire an employee marked 1](https://media.cdn.spideriq.ai/content/cli_095t53gdb2fubo73/help/1793930634-6f87ecd5.webp)

1. Pick a category, such as **Digital Marketing** or **Business**, and open an employee's page to read what it does, its skills and its work history.
2. Click **Hire** on the employee you want. The button reads **Hiring…** while OPVS sets the employee up.
3. When it is done, the dashboard opens again and shows the new employee being set up. Wait until it is ready.
4. Open **Agents** in the sidebar and click the new employee. On its **Chat** tab, pick one of the three starter questions, such as *What can you do?*, or type your own and press **Enter**.

## What you've built

Your first AI employee is on the **Agents** page, and it has answered you in **Chat**. Its **Workspace** tab holds the files that make it who it is: the vendor keeps some up to date and the rest are yours. See [Work with your agents](https://opvs.ai/help/find-your-way-around/your-agents.md).

## Troubleshoot

- **The catalog says my brand needs an active subscription to hire.** Your workspace has no active plan yet. Use the **contact support** link in that message, or see [How billing works](https://opvs.ai/help/manage-your-plan/how-billing-works.md).
- **I clicked Hire and landed on the sign-up page.** You were not signed in on that browser. Sign up or sign in, and the hire carries on afterwards.
- **I already hired this employee.** OPVS does not hire it twice. It takes you to your **Agents** page, where the employee already is.
- **Something else went wrong.** The message under the button says what. Try again in a moment.

## Related

- [Create your workspace](https://opvs.ai/help/get-started/create-your-workspace.md)
- [Work with your agents](https://opvs.ai/help/find-your-way-around/your-agents.md)
- [Install skills from the marketplace](https://opvs.ai/help/give-your-agents-skills/install-skills.md)