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Personal Assistant

What is a Personal Assistant?

A Personal Assistant (PA) works with senior staff to provide one-to-one support. Typically PAs support senior managers by offering administrative help such as monitoring a manager’s email, drafting communications on their behalf, planning and organising meetings and their travel.A Personal Assistant needs to have a deep understanding of the company and know who the key personnel are, as they are representing a senior member of staff. For this same reason, it is important a PA has great interpersonal skills, is well-presented and professional.

Personal Assistant job description

Ultimately, the duties of a Personal Assistant can be extremely broad and vary on a day-to-day basis. A Personal Assistant job description should include:Monitoring a reporting manager’s email and responding if requiredPreparing communications on behalf of a managerAnswering phone callsOrganising travel and itinerariesOrganising and planning meetingsTaking notes and writing minutes during meetingsConducting or preparing any research that the reporting manager may requireVarious ad hoc requests

Personal Assistant job qualifications and requirements

There are no formal education requirements expected of a Personal Assistant. However, there are a number of professional qualities that should be included in the duties of a Personal Assistant:Computer literacyVerbal and written articulacyProfessional discretionEfficiencyWell-developed time management skillsStrong organisational skills

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