Personal assistant

A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal tasks.

A personal assistant helps with time and daily management, scheduling of meetings, correspondence, and note taking. The role of a personal assistant can be varied, such as answering phone calls, taking notes, scheduling meetings, emailing, texts etc.

In business or personal contexts, personal assistants are people who provide services that relieve his or her employer from the stress of tasks that are associated with managing one’s personal and/or business life. They assist with a variety of life management tasks, including running errands, arranging travel (e.g., travel agent services such as purchasing airline tickets, reserving hotel rooms and rental cars, and arranging activities, as well as handling more localized services such as recommending a different route to work based on road or travel conditions), finance (paying bills, buying and selling stocks), and shopping (meal planning, remembering special occasions like birthdays).

A personal assistant is someone that completes tasks the managers require whether personal or professional. They ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Personal assistants (PAs) often act as the manager's first point of contact with people from both inside and outside the organization. This means that their tasks and skills can often be divided into two fields of technical skills and personal skills.

Tasks may include but are not limited to:

In addition to supporting managers, their team and departments, many PAs also have their own personal workload and responsibilities. The scope of the PA's role can be extensive and additional duties may include:

People who cannot afford to hire their own personal assistants to run errands or answer phone calls full-time can hire a personal concierge or a part-time assistant. Most companies offer secretarial personal assistance as well as basic assistant services like research, scheduling, travel arrangements, and more. Costs of a part-time employee can end up exceeding the amount it would have cost to hire a full-time employee. Other companies charge a flat monthly fee for personal assistant services based upon the number of requests expected to be placed each month. In addition to the personal assistant services that are provided with the membership, other incentives such as local discounts, concierge services, dining recommendations, and overall knowledge and expertise may even outperform the skills of a regular personal assistant staff member. Newer personal assistant companies instead charge a monthly flat rate, which saves money.

Smaller companies, especially start-up and real estate development companies, may desire the services of a personal assistant to manage an individual executive or to assist in the office as the new company goes about setting up their new business. These personal assistants may develop great skills at the birth of a new company and have opportunities for advancement. Other personal assistants will have garnered valuable knowledge and experience if they choose to move into other positions.

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Wikipedia