personal assistant

As an administrative assistant, you support managers. However, your role also involves managing office workers or the administrator's team. You handle phone calls and complete clerical tasks to ensure the executive's office runs smoothly.

This is a personal assistant with a more complex role. Unlike a standard personal assistant, who organises schedules and meetings, an executive assistant has additional responsibilities, like hiring and firing employees. Executive assistants are also involved in developing strategies for running the office and managing other administrative assistants.

A chief executive assistant is like a personal operations officer for an executive. They know all the players in the business and advise managers on the best strategies to pursue. They also take meetings on behalf of senior-level executives and have more authority.

Some of the tasks of a personal assistant include:

• Receiving phone calls and correspondence: as a PA, you act as the first point of contact with the manager. You are in charge of receiving phone calls from internal or external clients. You also read emails and prioritise communication for the manager. All correspondence and communication with the manager go through your desk.
• Managing work schedules: as a personal assistant, you organise diaries and manage the executive's work schedule. For instance, you record the meetings, events, and appointments the manager needs to attend and remind them before the meeting.
• Taking meeting minutes and transcribing: as a personal assistant, you take minutes during appointments or meetings to ensure the executive has accurate records. You also take dictations from the manager and transcribe them.
• Making travel arrangements: as a personal assistant, you are in charge of organising a manager's logistics and travel arrangements. You plan transport and accommodation by booking flights or rental cars and arranging accommodation, if necessary.
• Planning events and conferences: if your executive is planning a conference or event, you complete most of the tasks and run errands to prepare for the event. Organising an event can involve sourcing vendors, budgeting for various items and sending invitations. 
• Preparing and filing reports: a personal assistant writes reports, sends emails and prepares presentations on behalf of the manager. The role also involves filing reports and maintaining the database by backing up important office records.

Most personal assistants work in an office environment, but there are exceptions. Personal assistants who work with wealthy families, politicians or celebrities work in homes rather than offices. Construction contractors sometimes employ PAs to help with paperwork and deal with clients. This role requires you to travel to work sites, work with labourers and meet with clients.

Depending on the company you work for, you interact with professionals from various industries. You work alongside office managers, operations managers, marketing managers and sales managers. In construction, you work with project managers, construction managers and site managers. Other professionals you are likely to interact with include administrators, housekeepers and caretakers.

Most PAs work regular business hours. That means you work from 9 am to 5 pm during the working week, usually up to 40 hours a week. However, it is crucial to be flexible when deadlines are looming or during peak seasons. Many employers offer flexible time and work-from-home options. There are also part-time opportunities in this field. You can sometimes work remotely from home since many tasks are computer-based.

Most personal assistants advance to higher roles or specialise in particular sectors. For instance, some personal assistants develop their skills to become executive assistants before moving on to office manager or administrator roles. Some specialise in business sectors, like becoming legal assistants and progressing to paralegal roles.

Working with Randstad offers you a range of benefits.

• always a contact person you can fall back on and ask for help
• a range of jobs in your area

As a personal assistant, you help managers or public personalities in their homes or organisations. Your job is to keep the executive organised and on schedule by running errands, taking notes and managing their calendars. You also handle correspondence and respond to emails and phone calls, highlighting them for the manager's attention.

As a PA, you take home an average salary of €20,000 annually. When you have minimal experience, you start with a salary of €14,000 per year. As you improve your experience and qualifications, your earnings increase to over €24,000 yearly.

You require good time management skills to manage executives' work schedules and appointments. You also rely on your organisational skills to keep up with deadlines and prioritise tasks.

If you are a first-time personal assistant, you should learn how to set priorities. Since your job is to keep someone else organised and on schedule, it is important to be organised yourself and learn about the boss's likes and dislikes.

Finding a job near you as a personal assistant is easy. Search our job offers. Have you found what you're looking for? Then submit your application using the ‘Apply’ button top right on the page. No jobs available right now? Then log in or register an account to send us your resume and we'll pass it on to a recruiter who will contact you if an opportunity opens up for you.