How Does a Personal Assistant Spend a Workday?

Introduction

A personal assistant is an employee who is generally a jack-of-all-trades. She usually works for one person in the office, but in a small office, she may work for more than one person. She may also have a quasi-assignment status, where she is a secretary for more than one, but a personal assistant for one person.

Starting the Day

A personal assistant starts his day by checking phone messages and emails. He will also check the calendar. Once that is finished, he will either draft a memo regarding the phone messages and emails or, if his boss is not in yet, may call his boss to relay any important messages.

Throughout the Day

During the day, she will answer the phone, take messages and redirect phone calls. She will also type letters, pleadings, work on office billing and set appointments. If she has secretarial or paralegal duties, she must also handle her client load. Handling the client load includes contacting clients to relay messages for her boss, contacting clients for more information that may be required to complete the project she is working on, and responding to questions from clients.

She may also run errands for her boss, either personal errands or for the firm.

If the personal assistant's job requires him to work for more than one person in the office, he will need to check in with every person he works for to be sure there are no other assignments.

Conclusion

The personal assistant is usually an extremely busy person and must be able to schedule activities throughout the day. She must be well organized, especially if she is completing tasks for more than one person in her office and running errands. Multitasking skills are a must for a personal assistant.