PA Job Description

What is a Personal Assistant?

A Personal Assistant – often referred to as PA - provides various levels of personal and administrative support to multiple bosses or an individual. Acting as a gatekeeper, a PA will manage the flow of communication between an executive and the outside world.

PA jobs require an arsenal of skills and breadth of knowledge to ensure the smooth running of a business. Working as a PA offers a prosperous career path, opening doors to an expanse of industries, from the corporate world to media, advertising and law.

SecsintheCity are proud to champion the PA profession, through our annual ‘PA of the Year awards’; a celebration of the essential support provided our PA community.

What does a Personal Assistant do?

The remit of a Personal Assistant can be extremely broad, with duties often changing on a daily basis, due to their bosses’ ever-changing schedule. The primary responsibilities of a PA will often focus on:

• Managing schedules and appointments.
• Handling correspondence: managing emails, and other communication platforms.
• Call management: answering and directing telephone calls.
• Preparing letters, invoices, memos, statements, and other documents.
• Arranging and maintaining records: ensuring that various records, such as contracts, and client information, are up to date.
• Making travel arrangements: booking flights, hotels, and transportation.
• Coordinating events, including social functions and dinners.
• Providing general administrative support.
• Meeting and greeting clients and visitors.
• Taking meeting notes and reporting back with actions.

How to become a Personal Assistant

There is no specific pathway for a Personal Assistant. Some sectors and employers may demand an applicant educated to degree level; however, the priority is often placed on those who have built their career with ample experience to date.

If you’re starting afresh, and applying for your first PA job it’s worth:

• Focusing on your transferable skills, such as organisation, communication, flexibility and ability to take constructive criticism on the chin.
• Considering taking a course: there are ample courses and training programmes available, including those with a bespoke focus, such as ILSPA, for Legal PA job roles.
• Applying for entry-level positions: starting with an entry-level administrative assistant job, or receptionist role, which will provide experience of working in a professional office environment.
• Starting out in a team assistant job, office manager position, or secretary role; all highly-reputable professions imparting the experience required to move into a PA role.

What are the key skills of a Personal Assistant?

The skillset for business support professionals, although niche and specific to their role, often presents significant crossover. Whether you’re conducting a Private PA, Celebrity PA, or EA job, the basic expertise required comes down to the following:

• Exceptional diary management and organisational skills.
• Flawless communication: mastering the art of assertive communication, from written and verbal to listening skills - especially important for those supporting multiple bosses. With 68% of PAs conducting a hybrid working model, according to our latest audience insight survey, it’s vital that you also have the ability to adjust to online forms of communication.
• Confidentiality: maintaining strict confidentiality with the ability to handle sensitive information.
• The aptitude to build relationships across all levels of the business including senior management and executives, as well as external contacts.
• The ability to multitask and prioritise an everchanging workload.
• Strong commercial and business acumen.
• Flexibility and adaptability: as a PA, you should always be one step ahead of the game.
• The ability to work autonomously.

How much does a Personal Assistant earn?

According to our latest salary survey, Personal Assistants earn an average of £43,773 per annum. Those conducting a Private PA position reap the reward, with the highest salary across the board, averaging £56,848 per annum. In addition to excellent base salaries, 52% of the PAs surveyed took home a bonus on top.

The statistics naturally adhere to external factors, such as industry, business type and location. Discover our latest salary report, to assess your standing in the market or find out more about how much PAs earn in our PA Career Guide.

PA jobs on SecsintheCity

SecsintheCity, as the UK’s only specialist job site for Personal Assistants, offers an extensive range of PA jobs, across a variety of industries, from corporate, entertainment and education to retail.

You can find out more about working as a PA in the Media Sector or Banking and Finance Sector on our blog. Alternatively, you can find support to help you apply for the latest Personal Assistant jobs with our PA CV template.

Ready to apply? Search the latest PA jobs on SecsintheCity today.