Picture this: You, as an executive, having the time and mental space to focus on crucial tasks that demand your expertise. It can be possible by hiring an executive assistant who will pave the way for enhanced productivity.
When you hire an executive assistant, you can offload your administrative, organizational, and logistical duties to an experienced assistant to free up your own bandwidth. This way, you can tackle high-priority projects, build strategic relationships, or make crucial decisions for the company.
With such a crucial role, it’s paramount you’re hiring the right person. There are many things to consider, from the job description and hourly rate to the cultural fit and niche skill sets. So, let’s walk through how to hire an executive assistant to ensure a seamless integration into your business.
- An executive assistant is the linchpin that holds an executive’s day together. This allows the exec to focus on what matters most while they handle the day-to-day operations.
- In hiring an executive assistant, look for candidates with strong communication and organizational skills, adaptability, and tech savviness to help you work towards your goals.
- Hiring the right EA is a strategic move that can significantly improve productivity and lead to long-term success for your organization.
What Does an Executive Assistant Do?
An executive assistant will not just help you with your busy schedule but also act as an extension of the executive team’s work ethic and values. A well-chosen EA will complement your skills and anticipate your needs, letting you work towards shared objectives.
An EA fills in the gaps where you may need support in a fast-paced environment. Their administrative role includes a wide range of responsibilities, such as:
- Calendar Management: Scheduling meetings, appointments, and travel arrangements, ensuring no time is wasted.
- Communication and Email Management: Filtering and prioritizing messages, responding on your behalf when appropriate.
- Documentation and Reports: Drafting, proofreading, and organizing documents, presentations, and reports.
- Project Management: Monitoring a list of tasks and ensuring they’re addressed in a timely manner by the right person.
- Gatekeeping: Acting as a buffer for busy professionals, such as screening calls and visitors, prioritizing tasks, and protecting the executive’s time from unnecessary interruptions.
Aside from managing your daily tasks, EAs can also take care of personal tasks so you can achieve work-life balance. Plus, there are assistants with niche skills who can help you with social media management, financial management, e-commerce, real estate, and many more.
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Skills to Look for When Hiring an Executive Assistant
Serving as your problem solver and the gatekeeper of your office, an EA does more than just administrative duties. They help you maintain a healthy balance in your familial, professional, and social duties. In effect, they help you become a successful executive.
That’s why it’s essential to assess executive assistant candidates with care. Here are five specific qualities that should be non-negotiable when you hire an executive assistant:
- Organizational Skills: Adept at managing complex calendars, prioritizing tasks, and maintaining meticulous records.
- Excellent Communication Skills: Includes written and verbal, as well as interpersonal skills, since they will work with different people and often represent you and your organization.
- Adaptability: Capable of handling a wide range of tasks and scenarios with grace and efficiency, especially in the executive’s fast-paced work setting.
- Resourcefulness: Skilled in finding solutions and alternatives in challenging situations.
- Tech Proficiency: Familiarity with relevant software and tools, ensuring seamless operations in a digital landscape.
- Discretion and Trustworthiness: The ability to handle sensitive information with the utmost confidentiality.
These attributes, when combined, form the foundation of a stellar EA you benefit from on a long-term commitment.
How to Hire an Executive Assistant (The Old Way)
Traditionally, the hiring process for an executive assistant follows this structure to ensure a seamless transition into the role:
Step #1 – Determine Your Needs
Before hiring an executive assistant, it’s important to take a moment and assess your needs. What specific tasks do you need help with? What type of assistant do you need? What skills and particular level of experience or expertise does the role require?
Once you have a clear idea of what you’re looking for, define the EA’s scope of work and expectations.
Step #2 – Craft a Clear Executive Assistant Job Description
Creating a straightforward and transparent job posting for online job boards and staffing agencies will give your hiring process further structure.
Clearly outline the role and responsibilities, highlighting the niche skill sets and attributes you need. You should also take the time to describe the company culture and values to make sure they align with your mission.
Step #3 – Screen and Shortlist Candidates
There are many skilled professionals in the industry. So, it’s crucial to dive deep into the resumes and cover letters of executive assistant candidates.
Conduct virtual interviews and ask relevant executive assistant interview questions. You can also contact previous employers and references to verify qualifications and work history.
Step #4 – Negotiate Compensation and Terms
When you hire an executive assistant, make sure to have a productive conversation about compensation, work hours, etc. The goal here is to reach a mutually beneficial agreement on the terms of employment.
If you’re hiring through staffing agencies, they will help you in this step. However, this often means added costs and some loss of control in the hiring process.
Step #5 – Integrate Your EA into Your Business
After hiring an executive assistant, make sure you give them a great start! Introduce them to your team and give them the necessary documents and tools they need for the job.
You should also set crystal-clear expectations for their first few weeks and months. This will come in handy when you’re evaluating their performance or deliberating to make them your full-time executive assistant.
Where to Hire an Executive Assistant
With a lot of work moving online, many duties of an executive assistant to the CEO can be fulfilled remotely. This has opened up avenues for more flexible—and affordable—remote assistant services to fill the niche. That said, finding the right talent pool is crucial.
You can choose from the following avenues:
- Networking and Referrals: Leverage your professional network and get recommendations from trusted colleagues or industry peers. This way, you can easily verify their credentials and get first-hand information about the EA.
- Traditional Hiring Methods: Post your job on reputable platforms or engage with staffing agencies to help source potential candidates. This method can open up a wide talent pool but could take up a lot of your time and resources.
- Online Freelance Platforms: Tap into the vast pool of freelancers on websites like Upwork, where experienced EAs often offer their services. Your chances of a quick hire is high but you’ll be charged with extra processing fees.
- Specialized Virtual Assistant Services: Connect with an executive assistant staffing agency like Magic. They offer a curated selection of assistants with niche skills, saving you time and effort in the hiring process.
How to Hire an Executive Assistant with Magic
With all that out of the way, knowing what you want in executive assistant candidates might not always result in hiring the best. It could take months to find a world-class EA, and we know you don’t have the time for that!
The secret to hiring an executive assistant? A reliable executive assistant staffing agency — and not just any company but one that uses modern outsourcing approaches to help transform your business in as little as a week.
And that’s where Magic comes in!
With Magic, you can free up more of your valuable time without compromising the results of your hiring process. We provide pre-vetted, highly qualified executive assistants who are infinitely scalable and powered by our cutting-edge technology, Magic AI.
As a game-changing alternative, Magic handpicks our top talent through an accurate and hassle-free matching service:
- Book a Discovery Call: Connect with Magic to discuss your specific needs and preferences.
- Review Our Recommendations: Based on your requirements, Magic will present you with a selection of pre-screened, highly qualified assistants who are trained to succeed.
- Meet the Executive Assistant Candidates: Engage with the candidates to get a feel for their compatibility with your work style and objectives.
- Onboard Your Magic Assistant: Once you’ve made your choice, Magic will help you seamlessly integrate your EA into your workflow.
You don’t have to put in the time and effort to find the best virtual assistant who aligns with your business needs and goals. With Magic, you’re getting the best instantly!
While we normally hire the top 3% of applicants to fill in our talent pool, our pre-vetted, highly qualified executive assistants come from the top 1% of outsourced talent. You’re getting the best of the best but to ensure you get the perfect match, we also provide a seamless assistant replacement process.
Got any questions or want to make some changes in your setup? You can reach out any time to a dedicated account manager via phone, email, or Zoom. Your AM will also provide daily quality control and oversight for better task management and outcomes.
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