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7 Tips for PA Newbies.

If this is your first job as a personal assistant, you might think that your job is insignificant, but PAs (Personal Assistants) or EAs (Executive Assistants) are the right-hand of the leaders and key decision makers within the organisation. They are the heart and soul of a business, and have great influence when it comes to making decisions or supporting outcomes. They keep everything in balance and run the office like a well-oiled machine.

Excel as a PA by using these 7 tips:

  1. Be confident and assertive. Stand up for yourself. If you learn this early on in your career, you will not be easily pushed around, and people won’t walk all over you. Your boss will respect your confidence and value your input.
  2. Develop your time management skills and set priorities. It is not only your boss’s diary that needs scheduling and their day that should be planned but yours as well. Get a system that works for you.
  3. Be patient. Mind-reading takes practice. A lot of the times your boss expects you to know what he/she thinks. But relax, you will learn this technique soon enough. Don’t be too hard on yourself.
  4. Prepare as much as possible. Learn skills to “think of everything”. Your boss expects you to have everything he/she needs ready in a meeting. Rather be over prepared.
  5. Take interest in your job and quickly learn your boss’s likes and dislikes. This will not only help you with point 3 but will also make your job easier and will help the day run smoothly.
  6. Communicate and keep your boss informed. This works both ways. You need to communicate and keep your boss informed so he/she knows exactly what’s going on, but you also should welcome his/her feedback when it’s something you can do to improve or better your skills.
  7. Learn from your mistakes and take your training seriously. You will make mistakes, especially when you start out in this career. Don’t up and go every time something goes wrong. Being a great PA takes time. You need to get to know your boss because everyone is different. Try improving constantly by requesting training courses to develop your skills.