Personal Assistant(PA)

Introduction

A personal assistant is often the first point of contact in an organisation. Their duties include screening telephone calls and handling them when appropriate. They are responsible for dealing with incoming email, faxes and post. They make appointments and organise schedules, and may be called on to produce various types of documents and reports. Personal assistants can work virtually anywhere, but are often found in large, private-sector firms or handling tasks within government agencies. In fact, anywhere you find a successful executive, you will also find a hard-working and indispensable personal assistant. The basic role of a personal assistant is to provide administrative support to senior managers or directors. Personal assistants ease their managers work load by taking on the headaches of various administrative and secretarial tasks.


If you have been considering a career change to become a personal assistant, you will definitely need a few fundamental skills on board before applying for a job. These include good organizational skills, as well as being proficient at handling clerical and administrative duties. Your duties may sometimes require you to handle confidential or classified information, so you should be known for your honesty, integrity and discretion. A few Good References would prove beneficial in this instance.


A particular degree is not strictly necessary, but business or management degrees will make your application stronger, particularly if applying to a job with a large corporation. Secretarial studies are also a positive addition to your portfolio. At the same time, it is also possible to become a personal assistant without any degree. You should be able to demonstrate Reasonable Maths and English skills and be well versed in the operation of word processing, spreadsheets and presentation software.