Salary of a Celebrity Personal Assistant
Being a celebrity is not all glitz and glam; there are contracts and deadlines to manage, barrages of reporters to deal with, and security worries to attend to. Time can be very limited for those in the public eye. Thus, celebrities often employ assistants who can provide help in both the personal and business arenas. Yearly pay for helping a celebrity can be as high as $100,000 as of 2011, although a more typical salary is around $62,000.
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Typical Earnings
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The average yearly income for a celebrity personal assistant was $62,000 as of 2007, says Emily Friedan of ABC. Viewed as hourly pay, this is the same as $29.81 per hour under a standard 40-hour week. Actual hourly rates may be slightly lower, though, as many celebrity assistants are on call virtually 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Both the Personal Assistants and FabJob websites indicate that the salary potential for the industry was $100,000 for top earners in 2011.
Bonuses
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Celebrity personal assistants may receive annual bonuses if they perform well, according to Friedman. Friedman states that, as of 2007, bonuses for personal assistants to celebrities sometimes were the equivalent of the assistant's regular yearly salary. This means that, in some instances, the best, top-paid assistants may get closer to $200,000 per year. However, bonuses are not guaranteed.
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Other Perks
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Even low-paid celebrity personal assistants may receive perks that increase the value of the job. For instance, they may get tickets for the celebrity's performances, other concerts or travel. They may receive a stipend for their wardrobe, as the assistant is representing the celebrity at all times. Some celebrities may have their assistants live on site so the assistant is easy to contact, in which case the assistant may receive generously reduced or even free rent. Celebrities also may cover some meals if the celebrity requires the assistant to be with the celebrity through the entire day, as it may not be the assistant's choice to dine in more expensive settings.
Considerations
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The pay for a celebrity assistant depends largely on the celebrity served. For instance, a politician is a celebrity, but a politician does not make the multi-million dollar salaries film or music celebrities do and thus may not pay an assistant as much. Pay also depends on exactly what the celebrity expects the assistant to do. Some assistants are more like household help, doing everything from picking up dry cleaning to preparing snacks. Other assistants are more like pubic relations managers, acting as liasons, scoping out venues, or even negotiating for the celebrity. The more duties the assistant is supposed to perform, the higher the salary usually is. Whether an assistant works through an agency or as an independent contractor also makes a difference. Independent contractors have more freedom to negotiate their own salaries and hours.
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References
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