Secretarial & Admin Jobs

Personal Assistant

A Personal Assistant works closely with senior management or directors to provide administrative support on a one-to-one basis. PAs help managers to make the best use of their time by dealing with secretarial and administrative tasks. Managers often rely heavily on their PA, trusting that work will be handled efficiently in their absence. Discretion and confidentiality are therefore essential attributes for a successful PA.

What does the job entail?

Personal Assistants often act as their manager’s first point of contact with people from both inside and outside the organisation. Typical work activities include:

• Screening telephone calls, enquiries and requests, and handling them when appropriate
• Organising and maintaining diaries and making appointments
• Dealing with incoming email, faxes and post and corresponding on behalf of their manager
• Taking dictation and minutes
• Carrying out background research and presenting findings
• Organising and attending meetings and ensuring their manager is well-prepared for meetings
• Devising and maintaining office systems
• Arranging travel and accommodation

Typical Career Routes

Personal Assistants may decide to move into a more senior Assistant role such as Executive Assistant or PA for a more senior manager. Alternatively they may be offered to move on from administration to other departments.

PA work can provide a unique insight into how a business operates and how decisions are made at the highest levels. This kind of experience can prove valuable for PAs who want to become managers themselves. The skills gained in PA work can also be used in other sectors, such as Human Resources, Marketing and Public Relations.

Key Skills

• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• High level word processing and IT skills
• Honesty and reliability
• Excellent organisational skills
• The ability to work on your own initiative and to tight deadlines
• Flexibility and adaptability to juggle a range of different tasks

Training and Qualifications

Although this area of work is open to all graduates, a degree in Business or Management may increase your chances. Entry without a degree is possible as personal qualities, experience and general office skills are usually considered more important. However, GCSE English and Maths are standard entry requirements for many positions. Additionally, many companies may look for candidates with secretarial qualification from governing bodies such as Pitman’s.