What Skills a Personal Assistant Should Master

A personal assistant is an indispensable employee for an executive. He performs so many functions and has so much power, that in fact he becomes the second person in the company. It is almost impossible to formulate in full his/her job description. Selecting a personal assistant for a particular manager is a “mission impossible” task, so it becomes super complicated.

Requirements for PA are formed from the tasks and scope of functional competence, which are determined by the manager: the assistant can be fully involved in the business, or he can be hired solely for the organization of the manager’s personal space. For some people a specialized higher education is unimportant, others require first of all a knowledge of languages, some people care what kind of coffee the assistant makes or what he looks like.

But despite the range and specifics of tasks in different companies, the key requirements always remain the same.

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Requirements:

• higher education (full-time graduates with a red diploma from top five universities are always preferred);
• at least two years of experience in a similar position (experience working with executives is always desirable);
• fluency in the required language (often requires a native speaker level);
• willingness to travel and work irregular hours;
• age (not mentioned in the vacancies, but it is the most important requirement)

Personal qualities (each employer has its own requirements, the main ones: diligence, analytical skills, communication skills, high working capacity, good language skills)

Competent speech. Practice shows that the most successful PAs are graduates of linguistic universities. Financial and legal education is also in demand, but it is important that the assistant is fluent in a foreign language, has a developed speech and a rich vocabulary.

High cultural level. A high cultural level is the most sought-after quality of a personal assistant. It is possible to quickly master the functionality and acquire the necessary skills, but the culture is acquired from childhood and is formed over years. This is why VA from India are often being hired because of their courtesy and submissiveness.

It is unclear how you can balance your long hours with your family and children. But if you have a successful practice of such a combination, having a family is an advantage. Children must be over the age of three.

Age. There is a lot of subjectivity in the age requirements for a personal assistant. Some managers proceed from aesthetic norms and give preference to youth. But more often than not, we work with companies whose executives consciously opt for women of a more mature age.

Major corporations are always associated with large financial transactions and great legal responsibilities. In addition, clients are pleased with the company’s image of stability. In this sense, a long-legged beauty noticeably loses out to a solid businesswoman who has experience in complex and responsible situations and who can professionally “hold the line”.

Final advice for job seekers

There is no career growth in the position of personal assistant. This is really the highest rung of the administrative ladder. And the leader will not let you go anywhere – a sensible personal assistant the boss values more than top managers. But there is an interesting way if there is a desire to develop within this position — by maximizing your professional competence and skills, by expanding the range of responsibilities (by appearing in the ratings of the best personal assistants), you will know and be able to do more, and therefore your income and status will be higher.