A personal assistant plays an essential role in helping executives and other professionals run their lives and businesses. They are typically in charge of administrative duties like scheduling appointments, taking phone calls, writing down notes, updating calendars, and running errands, like picking up dry cleaning. Ultimately they are in charge of managing someone else’s day-to-day responsibilities.
Some personal assistants work a normal 9–5 workday while others work around the clock. Some may be required to travel with their boss to business meetings or events. There’s no real set schedule or duties for a personal assistant—it varies based on the executives or professional’s needs, so you will have to be flexible.
The Different Types of Personal Assistants
There are different types of personal assistants. Some common ones are:
Administrative personal assistant: This type of assistant is most often working in an office supporting an employee or several employees within the organization.
Real estate personal assistant: This type of personal assistant is one that assists a real estate agent or broker with their administrative needs or even helping with their marketing.
Executive personal assistant: This type of personal assistant assists executive-level employees or CEOs in a company.
Personal concierge: This type of assistant is one that typically works for multiple individuals, more on a part-time or on-call basis to perform tasks or runs errands.
Celebrity personal assistant: A celebrity personal assistant works directly for a celebrity and performs various personal and business-related tasks, including traveling with them.
Personal assistants’ salaries range based on a few things, including the area they work, the client, and their requirements. The average pay is about $45,000 per year, but some of the in-demand experienced personal assistants earn $100,000 a year or more.
Becoming a Personal Assistant
There’s a difference between being a personal assistant and being an amazing in-demand personal assistant. Employers are looking for a detail-oriented, organized problem solver with an upbeat personality with a solutions-based attitude. Being a personal assistant is a challenging yet rewarding career that allows you to support another individual with whatever they need to be productive and successful. There’s also a lot of great perks to being a personal assistant.
Here are a few tips for becoming a great personal assistant.
1. Getting Personal
Your job is focused on helping a person do what they need to be productive and succeed. To be an exceptional personal assistant, you will need to do more than just assist your boss in their day-to-day life. You will want to get to know them really well, including their likes and dislikes, goals, common daily to-do lists, and schedules. Knowing a lot about them, including their wants and needs, will make you more valuable to them. The more you know about them, the less you have to ask them. It’s the little things that matter and make you stand out and be more appreciated and in demand.
2. Perfect Your Skills
To be a successful personal assistant you will need to have several skills including computer skills and communication skills. However, some of the most important skills you should have include organization, flexibility, trustworthiness, interpersonal skills, and effective time management skills. There are many apps and programs available to help with schedules, organizing, time management, and communication. Do your homework to ensure you have all the latest and best tools to recommend and use.
3. Be an expert in communication
Communication is a huge part of your role as a personal assistant because you will be handling phone calls, emails, and face-to-face interactions with many people throughout your day. Having strong communication skills, both written and verbal, will help you land a great personal assistant position. If your communication skills could use a little improvement, now is the time to improve. Your boss will want to ensure you could effectively communicate with them as well as others.
4. Gain Experience
Many professionals looking to hire a personal assistant will be looking for one with experience. Since many personal assistant jobs are administrative-type roles, a great way to get some experience is to start with a lower position doing more admin work. It’s a great way to get hands-on experience of many of the same tasks and will show that you have the skills needed to be a personal assistant.
Many CEOs and executives hire their personal assistants from within so getting your foot in the door is a great first step to show them your capabilities.
5. Be a people pleaser but not a push-over
Some people naturally go out of their way to please others to put a smile on their faces. This is a great trait for a personal assistant to have as they will go out of their way to ensure their boss is happy. On the other end, as a personal assistant, you may not be able to please everybody—but pleasing your boss is your priority. You will need to be firm and stand your ground sometimes to get things done on deadline.
6. Taking the initiative
If you ask any executive what makes a great personal assistant, they will likely say something about the ability to meet their needs without being asked. It could be as simple as bringing them a cup of their favorite coffee when they need it most or preparing important documents for an upcoming meeting. Knowing what needs to be done and being proactive to get it done without being asked is what will make you extremely valuable and irreplaceable.
This will require you to possess strong attention to detail. Take a lot of good notes, even the small things like how they like coffee or what’s their favorite muffin. The more you know, the better personal assistant you will be.
7. The Right Attitude
You know that old saying, having the right attitude is half the battle? Well, that remains true for being a great personal assistant. When being interviewed, your future boss will feel your upbeat, positive attitude, and their affinity towards you will increase.
Your boss will have bad days and stressful days, but if you remain upbeat and positive, your attitude will get you both through those rough days and come out stronger. Having a positive attitude means being optimistic about situations and interactions. People with a positive attitude can stay hopeful and see the best even in difficult situations. Be the happiest person in the room, and your energy will be contagious. You will also have a better relationship when working with clients and vendors with this attitude.
8. Be a Problem Solver
As a personal assistant, you will run into many issues that need to be solved. The best personal assistants solve those problems without requiring the assistance of their boss. Your boss hired a personal assistant since they are too busy to do everything themself. You don’t want to add more to their plate if you can avoid it.
When a problem arises, try your best to solve it yourself or with others without consulting with your boss. Of course, if it’s a problem, you should notify them, but if it’s something that you can solve yourself, do it. They will be pleased later to hear there was an issue and you handled it without taking any of their time or energy to help. Anything that you can do to make their lives easier is a huge benefit to them.
9. Apply
Once you are ready both mentally and physically, you can now begin to apply for jobs as a personal assistant. The perfect position may not fall in your lap immediately but don’t give up—the position that best suits you and your talents will come when the time is right. Stay focused and positive, and keep brushing up on your skills in the meantime.
Conclusion
There are many benefits to being a personal assistant, including a good salary. Being an exceptional personal assistant starts from within and what’s natural to you, but there are ways to improve and perfect your skills. Going out of your way to ensure your boss is more productive and successful by handling important tasks will make you a vital role in running their business. Staying organized, getting to know their wants and needs, and being proactive will make you irreplaceable to them.
Ready to find the right personal assistant position for you? Contact Pocketbook Agency today to apply.
Sources:
https://careers.stateuniversity.com/pages/cvpi9c3i9t/Personal-Assistant.html
https://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-different-types-of-personal-assistant-jobs.htm
https://www.legalsecretaryjournal.com/The_Unique_and_Important_Role_of_the_PA
https://www.inc.com/david-finkel/the-4-kinds-of-personal-assistants-which-do-you-need.html