What does a PA do?
A PA provides a pivotal role supporting Senior Management, Directors or Board Members of an organisation.
Holding such a crucial role means that it’s essential you have a good grasp of the organisation, the set-up and structure and its business aims and objectives.
Tasks that you could be asked to manage include:
- Handling of management diaries
- Event Management
- Project Management
- Travel arrangements and itinerary building
- Implementation of office procedures, with regular monitoring systems to ensure processes are being carried out correctly
- Minute taking at various meetings
- Assistance with financial record keeping as required
- Research tasks as required
These are just some of the key tasks a PA performs. Due to the varying nature of different businesses, you could be asked to do other tasks or asked to take on a specialist task such as financial/budget control, HR,social media etc.
What skills and training do you need to become a PA need?
Whereas the key aspect of a PA role is variation, the skills required tend to be along the same line.
- Exceptional communication skills – written and verbal
- Organisational and prioritisation skills
- Multi-tasking ability
- Able to work to frequent and tight deadlines
- Keen eye for detail
- Excellent decision making abilities
- Excellent IT skills on the key programmes such as Microsoft Office
- Adaptable and flexible
- Good problem solving skills
- Trustworthy, discrete and honest to deal with key confidential business documentation
More often than not PA’s hold some form of professional qualification or certification to back up their skillset and experience. Training such as the Pitman Training Executive PA Diploma is extremely well-respected in the industry.
Gaining skills in certain areas such as Meetings and Minutes or social media can help increase the scope of your role and training on programmes that you’ll be using frequently such as Microsoft Word, Excel andOutlook, for example, can give assist in increasing efficiency and productivity.
What could I earn working as a PA?
Salaries range considerably depending on experience, region and the type of organisation you are working in between €23,000-€44,000.
