To become a personal assistant you need to be strong willed and hundred percent committed, as this is one of the most challenging jobs in the world. First of all, you need to get yourself mentally prepared, as you will be under a lot of pressure. You will be an organiser, a secretary, a travel agent, a maid, a receptionist, and a confidant. The most important part of being a personal assistant is that you are prepared for anything and ready for any challenge.
Then, you need to ask more questions; the more that you know the better you can be at your job. You need to ask specific questions, for example, if your manager asks you to get a cheese sandwich, find out if he likes multigrain or white bread, does he like mayonnaise or salad on his sandwich. By asking these questions it will make your job easier in the long run. You don’t want your manager angry with you because you brought the wrong item for him. If your boss is busy and you can’t ask him, try to ask a co- worker or even the former assistant. It will do wonders for your job prospects at the company.
After that, your whole day is worked around organisation and scheduling. You need to prepare your manager’s calendar on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis. You need to remind him/her of upcoming meetings and events. If any anniversaries travel, crucial meetings or VIP events are coming up then you need to be there at every second.
Try to avoid any arguments in the office, as this could be bad in the long run. You may want to speak your mind, however would advise you to keep quiet and vent your anger outside. You will save yourself a lot of pressure and stress.
If you think there is something wrong then speak up! It is not good to keep quiet if there are any issues. Your manager is human too, and you may be pleasantly surprised at his or her response or advice.
In addition, try to anticipate the needs and requirements of your boss. If you know your boss has a hectic day and he has no time to have lunch. If you know he has lunch around 1pm. You could order a sandwich in for him or his special lunch, which he likes with his special tea or coffee. You could get his favourite book or magazine if you know he is flying out on business trip, this will show your boss that you have thought about him and going that extra milestone will make your manager happy and pleased with your efforts.
If you make any mistake in your work, try to learn from it, but don’t make the same mistake again. Sometimes its good to make mistakes, but not to repeat them. By learning by these mistakes, it makes us better people and a better personal assistant.