| Product: |
Personal Assistant |
| Date: |
31/01/08 (182 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Enjoyable role with lots of responsiblity
Disadvantages: Can be tiresome to work so closely with just one person
I worked as a PA from the late 80s into the early 90s and have had jobs since then where part of my role was to act as PA to various directors, so I thought I'd share my knowledge of the role here.
WHAT IS A PA (PERSONAL ASSISTANT)?
A typical PA works closely with a director or senior manager and provides executive administrative support. This can include things like typing up confidential letters, making travel arrangements and keeping itineraries up to date. Don't be fooled into thinking it's a glorified title for a secretary though. A PA can hold a lot of senior responsibility and is not someone you want to upset if you want to get into a director or senior manager's good books!
The PA will be someone that their boss trusts implicitly with all manner of confidential information. They will be in the know about who is in their boss' good books and who isn't. They will know about impending redundancies or hires as well as knowing who the key contacts are of their boss. A PA will know of the company's strategy and long term goals and will often have the responsibility of reminding the boss which items he/she needs to bring up at board or senior management meetings.
SO WHAT DOES ONE OF THEM DO THEN?
Well I've told you above already generally what a PA does and below I've a list for you.
I don't like writing lists when I talk about job roles but there are just so many typical duties of a PA that I couldn't resist putting one here.
* Organising diaries and making appointments
* Dealing with incoming mail; be it postal, electronic or faxes
* Producing presentations for meetings
* Carrying out research for projects
* Liaising with internal or external facilities staff to ensure property issues are dealt with quickly and efficiently
* Organise travel arrangements, hotels, car hire, train or plane tickets
* Attending disciplinary hearings to take confidential notes
* Attending board or senior management meetings to take minutes
* Maintain office stationery supplies
* Running the office in the absence of the manager
The typical PA would work regular office hours, which is generally Monday to Friday 9:00 to 5:30 with at least 4 weeks holiday a year plus bank holidays off. Depending on how busy or demanding your line manager is you might have to work over time on occasion but most sensible bosses would either pay you for it or give you time off in lieu.
HOW DID I DO IT?
The above list is by no means exhaustive but now I'll discuss what other duties I've carried out in my capacity as a PA over the years. Although I work in HR (Human Resources) now; I report to a director and he has no PA so I do even now have some PA responsibilities. Usually when starting out in HR one has many responsibilities which are similar to a PA. One of the main similarities is the need to have total discretion and to be completely trustworthy as you are often given highly sensitive and confidential information which would cause controversy and bad feeling if leaked to other employees, as well as potentially causing the loss of your job!
As well as many of the duties I've already listed above, some of the other duties I carried out in my capacity as a PA included:
* Reminding my boss of his/her partner's birthday and/or anniversaries
* Reminding them to attend their children's school play or parents' evenings
* Reminding them of doctor's appointments
* Keeping a record of staff attendance and holiday requests
* Screening telephone calls - it really does not do for sales people to upset or be rude to receptionists, secretaries or PAs - this could be fatal as they have long memories and many of them actually keep a record of people who've been rude to them in the past and you might never get through to make that great sale!
* Screening CVs for potential new staff
* Be involved in the interview process for potential new staff
* Attend meetings in manager's absence
* Manage admin staff workload; including receptionists and secretaries
Again this is not an exhaustive list but I wanted to stop there and add a few of the very odd or out of the ordinary things I've been asked to do in my capacity of PA - I will say here and now that some of these things I actually point blank refused to do:
1. Make sure the girlfriend wasn't put through on the phone when the wife was on the other line and vice versa.
2. Give him my house keys so that he could take his girlfriend there as his wife was at home and, of course, he couldn't take the girlfriend to his home (by the way, 1 and 2 were different bosses)! Oh and I definitely did not agree to this - my home is not a knocking shop, thank you very much!
3. Cook a meal for a blind date my boss wanted to impress - she had no idea I was a much worse cook than she was, but she never found out because I said I was busy that night.
4. Help them revise for their highway code for a driving test - this was easy and was a pleasure to do as I really did feel I helped her pass her test!
5. Advise another member of staff that they had a serious B.O. problem and suggest that they use deodorant or better still took a shower each day!
6. Go shopping with them to buy an outfit to wear to a friend's wedding (the friend was Indian and as I am too, my boss wanted advice on choosing a nice Indian outfit).
WAS IT ENJOYABLE?
I have to admit that I enjoyed working as a PA but it was only ever a stepping stone for me to get more experience under my belt and help me specialise in other areas. It was fun having the ear and trust of a senior manager or director but also it can be a lonely job as you never know if the other staff are being friendly with you because they really like you or if they're trying to get some inside info. I was often asked if I knew what salary such and such a person was earning, not openly but questions dropped into conversation subtly as if I wouldn't notice. It's a good way to learn a good deal about the company and gain enough experience to become a project manager or move into another department.
I would also have to admit that working as a PA can mean spending a lot of time with your boss so if you don't get on with or dislike him or her it can be a huge problem. Also as you're with them for the most part of the day, you'll be at the receiving end of their wrath if they're having problems outside of the workplace but on the other hand you could also become good friends and be a help to each other in times when moral support is needed.
WHAT'S IT WORTH?
PAs can get paid very decent salaries considering you don't specifically need to have a university degree to become one although it doesn't hurt to have a degree in Business Admin or Business Studies or Finance. I've even known PAs who had an MBA. A PA is a role you can work your way into from starting as a receptionist or secretary or administrator, etc.
The starting salary for a PA can range from £15,000 to £20,000 depending on where you are in the country. Obviously the cost of living in London is much higher than most of the rest of the country so the higher rate would apply in Central London. Senior level PAs can command £25,000 - £40,000 after at least 5 years in the role. The more languages you have under your belt the more you can earn. Multi-lingual PAs can command even more than a Senior PA with 10 years experience in some companies.
So do you think you could do it? Do you have the discretion to work in such a confidential role? Do you have the ability to work closely with pretty much the same person day in day out five days a week? Do you think you could get accustomed to that sort of salary (assuming you're not already earning that salary or more already)? I hope I've given you a good insight into what the role would entail and you decide for yourself if it's something you'd like to do.
Summary: A rewarding job that can lead into other career directions
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