Career Advice for a Personal Assistant

Personal assistants work with managers and individuals to help them manage their daily schedules and complete various tasks. They handle everything from business administration duties to scheduling meetings or arranging travel. A personal assistant can work for an individual in a small company or work in a large corporation for senior management.

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How to Become a Personal Assistant

Choosing your career path and learning how to become the person you aspire to be is not always straight forward; getting a job in your chosen industry will take dedication, focus and the right qualifications.

When you have chosen the career path you wish to follow, you will need to learn how to become a Personal Assistant

Should you wish to work as a Personal Assistant you will need to evaluate what courses are required, their cost and what qualifications you need. It is important that you also assess whether you have the right credentials from a personality point of view, what the demands of the job are and whether they complement the lifestyle that you desire.

Another factor to consider, should you wish to fulfil your career aspirations, is the number of jobs you will need to have to reach your ultimate job, and the length of time it will take to reach this goal.

Common Qualifications for a Personal Assistant

  • 2 or more GCSEs
  • Business foundation degree
  • Business Support or Business Administration Diploma
  • Experience in a secretarial or administration role

Key Responsibilities for a Personal Assistant

  • Performing secretarial duties
  • Handling administrative tasks
  • Typing and editing documents, reports, and presentions
  • Liaising with other departments regarding schedules and admin tasks
  • Answering calls for the manager and directing to them if appropriate
  • Making travel arrangements
  • Managing correspondence on behalf of management
  • Scheduling appointments
  • Maintaining calendars and sending reminders of pending appointments
  • Ordering office supplies and managing courier services

What to expect as a Personal Assistant

Personal assistants carry out administrative and secretarial duties for senior managers. They work with various departments to manage schedules and are responsible for handling calls and dealing with their manager's correspondence. You may also handle travel arrangements and other personalised tasks as part of the role. To succeed in this career, you will need to have excellent communication and organisational skills and work on your initiative to provide the necessary support.

Recommended Personal Assistant Jobs

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How to get Personal Assistant Jobs

Our advice on how to get a Personal Assistant job is to focus on preparation and personalisation.

Preparation

This occurs before you write a CV cover letter or complete a Personal Assistant application. If you have not held a Personal Assistant position before, it will help to research the industry and review what a typical career path might look like. If you have held a Personal Assistant role, focus your research on the company where you are seeking employment.

Valuable resources that will help you learn about the employer include the company’s career page, social media page, blog, job ad, and job description. Helpful information will consist of the company’s mission statement, values, and vision. You could also use an employer review site to gain insights on average salaries, what current employees say about the company culture, and what it is like to work for the organisation.

Personalisation

You are now in a position to use what you have learned in your Personal Assistant CV, cover letter, and application. You should personalise each Personal Assistant application, cover letter, and CV; prioritising job skills and relevant experience and providing examples that show you have similar values and goals.

This pre-application stage is a crucial step in how to become a Personal Assistant in the UK. It puts you in a superbly informed state, ready for forthcoming telephone, video, or in-person interviews.

Students: How to Become a Personal Assistant 

As with all professions, choose your study topics carefully. Review the qualifications needed to be a Personal Assistant and the subjects you will need to enrol in certification courses, higher education, or online courses. 

Aligning your study subjects

The more closely you align your study subjects with your career path, the more likely you will be to have projects and modules that you can refer to and show a prospective employer that you have practical or theoretical Personal Assistant experience.

How to get Personal Assistant Experience

What does it take to be a Personal Assistant? The best way to find out is to get work experience, which will be invaluable when applying for Personal Assistant jobs. You can learn how to be a successful Personal Assistant through internships, apprenticeships, or volunteering for a local business.

How to be a Personal Assistant Part-Time 

If you are wondering how to get into Personal Assistant part-time, there are several possibilities. You might find a new employer looking for a part-time Personal Assistant or find your existing employer is amenable. Often companies recognise the value of flexible hours and having more staff at work during busy times of the day. 

Personal Assistant freelance work

If you have impressive Personal Assistant qualifications and experience, you could take on the challenges of working freelance with control over your schedule.

Making a Career Change

How to start a career in this profession if you work in another industry may require studying for qualifications online and focusing on transferable skills when writing your CV and attending job interviews.