You can become a personal assistant in the field you are most passionate about, be it film, fashion or medicine. If you can think of any career – there will be a personal assistant position in it. Working as a personal assistant, you will have the rare opportunity to view all aspects of a given career including a privileged “behind-the-scenes” look and it is through the hard work and planning of the PA that things run as smoothly as they do.
Being a personal assistant or PA means that you will have a very wide range of duties and responsibilities in your job description. It is by no means an easy task; personal assistants are known to work harder than the people they are assisting! However, pa jobs remain some of the most sought after positions, especially among students just entering the job market, because of all the opportunities it presents to learn and grow in any given environment.
A typical job description of a PA includes the following:
Clerical duties: these entail answering telephones and making calls, email correspondence and filing.
Administrative duties: compiling reports, taking minutes during meetings, research and training of new staff.
Technology: you will be required to operate various office equipment like your computer, fax machine, copier, printer and often you will be asked to set up video and conference calls as well.
The above duties are just the basics, depending on who you’re working for; these can expand greatly according to personal management habits.
Becoming a Personal Assistant:
The qualifications for becoming a PA can range from a high school diploma to a tertiary degree. Your minimum requirements will depend on the field you enter and the level of qualification of the personnel in the company. Computer literacy is one of the most important skills for a aspiring PA to possess; you must be adept with spreadsheets, slide shows and Word documents to name a few.
Communication is key in this line of work; a good PA will be able to communicate effectively in both spoken and written word with different kinds of people on different levels. Superior organizational skills are a must as well because you will have to organize your own workload as well as the time of your boss as well. Managing time effectively is an inherent strength of any good PA.