How to Become a Personal Assistant

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Job Search Ideas October 31, 2021

How To Become A Personal Assistant

What You Need to Know About Becoming a Personal Assistant

​Imagine a solopreneur advancing in his/her career and beginning to feel overworked. More often than not, s/he also misses spending time with friends and family.
 
It’s time to hire a personal assistant.
 
Hiring a personal assistant can free up his/her time to focus on the bigger picture, spend more time with family, or have more time to spend on other projects. As a personal assistant you will begin to manage the tasks that were time-consuming for your boss.
 
More often than not, you will also be a second pair of eyes and ears. You will give your boss the benefit of someone working closely with him.

Read this Before Interviewing as a Personal Assistant

Know your list of relevant skills. List them in your mind in the order of their strength. In this role, employers often begin with delegating the easy, repetitive tasks out of their schedule.

• They may need help with administrative tasks such as preparing a meeting agenda, managing their inbox, managing their calendar, or filing documents
  
  
• Travel arrangement such as reserving flights and hotels, booking reservations, or setting up itineraries

 

• Personal tasks such as grabbing coffee, picking up groceries, or doing errands for the home (i.e. keeping up with equipment maintenance such heating/cooling systems, alarm systems, etc)

 

• Functions in support your business systems or client relations such as creating processes or meeting with clients.

 
You must know the market value of your competencies. Be prepared to articulate and explain the value you bring forth to this business Employers create a budget for paying your salary. Have a realistic salary range in mind and be prepared to negotiate.
 
Are you applying as an independent contractor, part-time, or full-time assistant? Will you be working locally, or remotely? Find out how much help is needed to begin with, and whether or not the support is needed in person.

• If you work remotely, will you need to be available during a specific time period so that they can communicate with you?

 

• As a contractor, you will not be entitled to benefits. As a specialist, you are also expected to require less on-the-job training. That’s why contractors often work at a higher hourly rate.
  
  

 
Carefully review the job description. Try to clarify any ambiguity about the level of support that is needed and what qualifications or skills you may require.

• What is listed as the top priority on this job description? What traits are they looking for in an ideal candidate?
  
  
• If the position is part-time, does it have the potential to grow into a full-time position or is it permanently part-time?
  
  
• What kind of on-the-job training or benefits are offered?

 
Use the hiring process as an opportunity to learn about the operation. Think about a task (or tasks) an assistant would do regularly. During the interview, ask them about their business' internal process to achieve a certain goal or finish a task. Everyone can make a job description look impressive, but that doesn’t always mean that it really is the ideal job. 

Take the time to learn about how to be become a personal assistant. ​​When you master the task that your boss wishes to keep out of his radar (like researching flights), you’ll save his/her time and energy to give to he/her business, friends and family, or personal growth.

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About the Author

Mandy Fard is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW, CMRW) and Recruiter with decades of experience in assisting job seekers, working directly with employers in multiple industries, and writing proven-effective resumes.
 
Feel free to connect with Mandy Fard on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandyfard/
 
Please follow Market-Connections Resume Services on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/market-connections-resume-services.com
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