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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Help, job advice please. Anyone work in the city?

76 replies

CityMaybe · 04/05/2014 19:03

Posting here for traffic.

I have a second round interview for a job in the city supporting a team of hedge fund managers, as far as I can tell this involves being a mix of a PA and front of house person. The starting salary is £22000 (I earn £18000 at the minute, no potential to earn more with time) going up once probation is passed.

I'm wondering what to do and if I should take it if I get offered it. At the minute my job is teaching an extracurricular activity to quite a high level to students and this was my dream but it isn't financially viable long term. I'm 28 now so need to make good decisions to set me up for the future.

Does anyone know how far I could progress in a city job or what the top tier PAs earn?

Also, I was told the hours would be 'usual office hours', am I right to suspect they could be very long in the city?

Does there tend to be a culture of working through lunch breaks etc?

OP posts:
playftseforme · 04/05/2014 21:20

In my dept, the admin assistant is on 25k, the PA is on 30k and the Exec Assistant is on 35k. HTH.

SuperFlyHigh · 04/05/2014 21:20

OP - thanks for that! onward and upward.

I would be wary though - my friend the bilingual PA - she works I think for investment company - anyway one of the senior PAs/office managers was bullying her and the receptionist but bullying so my friend got an unfair warning. I think the senior PA left or was asked to leave, can't remember but for a few months it was awful for her.

like fiorentina says it can be a very aggressive culture especially amongst the PAs - not to put you off but just to warn you! I'm sure you'll be ok.

Lauranda · 04/05/2014 21:24

My friend was a low level pa ten years ago and started on 28k.

I guess your sallery is dependant on who you pa for.

I imagine there are only a few thousand pa,s in the city that are higher rate tax payers.

patothechiefexec · 04/05/2014 22:07

Like the others have said, you can potentially earn a lot of money. However, you will be working for very senior people who work long hard hours and very often expect the same of their PA. Expect to be available 24/7 at the top.

A senior PA is central to everything and is a combination of event manager, grammar expert, travel agent, mentor, adviser, agony aunt, tea lady. I don't actually think a lot of salaries reflect the demands of the job.

It's not a job for the faint hearted. You work for very demanding people who are under a lot of pressure to deliver results. You will be cajoling other members of staff to deliver work/reports on time. You also need to simultaneously do ten things at once. Despite all this, there is still very much an attitude of you being a bit of a dogsbody in lot of companies. Oh, and other PAs will either be your best friend or your worst foe (there is no in between!).

If it were me I wouldn't give up a job to become a PA personally but unless you don't try it you will never know.

Banoffeepiefan · 04/05/2014 22:07

Probably, Lauranda, but I wouldn't want to stay a PA forever. But move into something related within the company or similar.

Banoffeepiefan · 04/05/2014 22:09

Patothechiefexec - I'm not in a permanent postion atm. This would offer me job security which is always a boon Smile

Lauranda · 04/05/2014 22:55

Fair enough,might be a good stepping stone.

Know someone 19 who did a internship for year on 2 pounds topped up to minwage. They would only pay her min wage after the year, and now she does pa type work for mid 20s. In London if you want to work hard then in some industry's you can still work your way up.

Banoffeepiefan · 04/05/2014 23:05

Yep, I'm not afraid of hard work, just trying to make the best moves now so that the hard work I put in pays off in ten or twenty years time Smile

patothechiefexec · 04/05/2014 23:11

I used to think I didn't want to stay a PA forever but I have... Sad

Unless you move into something else within the first few years it can be difficult to break free. A lot of people have perceptions about PA work that are totally wrong. I have quite a few friends who have top PA jobs but we all feel a bit pigeon holed. If you stay in it for too long it is very difficult to break free.

The only real way to make a sideways step is to take on other work/projects which is all fine and dandy. Most of the PAs I know are no longer working for one boss but one big boss and several directors. Workloads are crippling. Would love to do other stuff but I fear it will kill me!

Banoffeepiefan · 04/05/2014 23:21

Patothechiefexec - what is your average day like?? What sort of things make up your workload?

patothechiefexec · 05/05/2014 00:10

Hmm...

I manage my boss' calendar. He's very busy and travels a lot. I spend a lot of time organising and reorganising meetings as things get arranged and then something else takes priority. This very often involves lots of other people internally and externally so I spend a lot of time going backwards and forwards to find suitable dates and times - not everyone keeps their calendar up to date. For every meeting, I usually organise a meeting room, set up dial in details for conf call/video conference/webex/organise lunch or teas and coffees.

For every meeting my boss attends I have to make sure he has the right paperwork (agenda, papers, actions, background papers) so if he is out of the office I have to plan ahead and make sure he has everything to take with him. I book all of his flights/visas/hotels/car hire/taxis. We don't have a lot of time to go through things so I tend to plan his life for him and will move meetings to fit in with schedule. For example, if he is going to Manchester on the 21st and his meeting in Derby on the 15th can delayed I will reorganise it to make better use of his time. I literally plan his life minute by minute!

I attend and minute several monthly meetings. This involves pulling together everyone's suggestion for the agenda, checking with my boss, sending out the agenda, minuting/actioning the meeting, typing up the minutes/actions, chasing everyone up for their actions. Similarly, when my boss receives minutes/actions I have to check if he needs to do anything and generally request information from his direct reports/HODs.

I pull together various reports for him including his monthly Chief Executive's Report. We go through it together using the previous month as a template and, again, I pull together information from his direct reports, reformat everthing and amend the grammar/spelling. In the same way, I produce PowerPoint presentations which very often involves pulling together information from various sources.

In conjunction with the Company Secretary and the PA to the CFO, I help to organise the AGM. The other PA and I also organise an annual event involving all of the companies within the group. Last year, the event was held in California. We're a global company so all of the guys were flying in from all over the place. They organise their own flights but we look after their accommodation, transfers. It doesn't sound overly difficult but it's a bit like herding cats!

To be honest, the list goes on and on.... I often have to help out the Chairman and Non-Executive Directors with various requests and ad hoc tasks. I print and bind reports and presentations. Do random internet research. Pull together financial information into Excel and make things look pretty. Meet and greet visitors. Make teas and coffees. Order lunches. Order stationery.

It's a bit like spinning plates at a million miles an hour. If everyone came back to me with answers/information first time my life would be a lot easier but I spend a lot of time asking for stuff and chasing. In the case of the global event, I also spend a lot of time booking and rebooking things like hotels because plans change/people change their minds/accidentally double book themselves/etc. Staying polite can be a challenge when you have changed a hotel booking for the umpteenth time...

patothechiefexec · 05/05/2014 00:14

Not forgetting..

Doing the CEO's expenses
Checking his direct reports expenses before he signs them
Logging the share price daily (to go into one of his reports)
Collating and printing the Divisional Chief Executives reports

Confused
Banoffeepiefan · 05/05/2014 12:10

Wow thank you for your detailed reply Patothechiefexec! Looks quite similar to what I had vaguely imagined but wasn't sure of the nitty gritty as it were Smile

WooWooo · 05/05/2014 12:21

That's a very low salary for a City job tbh, that's more a junior admin salary rather than PA.

This site is very good, www.secsinthecity.co.uk

patothechiefexec · 05/05/2014 14:43

If you are looking to get into PA work then Reed is one of the best starting places as it lists jobs across the spectrum

Here's a list of City of London jobs. There are jobs paying high salaries but I think you need to be realistic as most of the PAs I know earn no more than £35k.

Also, pick an industry that interests you where you could potentially make a sideways move. I work in engineering and am pretty much stuck. It does also not interest me one jot!

MintyCoolMojito · 05/05/2014 15:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Banoffeepiefan · 05/05/2014 15:50

Patothechiefexec, yes I would like to be a PA and then move on to something different, I have vague notions forming but will need to so a LOT more research. In any case £35k is still amazing to me, currently much poorer Grin

chrome100 · 05/05/2014 16:26

I used to be a PA. The job can be VERY different depending on who you work for, your relationship with them and how they choose to use you. In my time as a PA I had four different bosses over the years and with each boss it was like starting a new job - some were very involved, some cared about my own personal development, one just used me to print things out and make tea Hmm. I left because the last boss I had was not easy to work for and our personal relationship broke down. When that happens the job just isn't feasible.

minibmw2010 · 05/05/2014 16:47

It is low but equally it's a normal starting salary for someone without experience. The good pay rises and bonuses will only come when/if you can show your worth. And that's fine, normal. You sound sensible, hope the interview goes well for you.

BubaMarra · 05/05/2014 16:51

Handbagaddiction and patothechiefexec are spot on. Never worked for a hedge fund, but worked WITH them. Many of them. It's very competitive and aggressive culture. You will basically have a lifestyle in terms of stress and hours of a very senior person in a very stressfull industry, but without matching financial remuneration. Someone mentioned pigeon holing, yes that would be a risk. If you want to move into a more business position don't spend more than 3-4 years as PA. Spend that time learning as much as possible so when the time comes you are ready to jump into another role. I guess operations or marketing would be doable (anything apart from trading basically, for which more specialised background is needed). Oh, and research as much as possible about the HF industry as a whole, it's very very specific (strategies employed, biggest names, mortality rates, etc). And be on top of current economic developments, it might not be needed for PA position, but it shows that you have business potential. Use this opportunity to get your foot in the door and even if you don't get promoted, you can always move to another firm.
Good luck with the second round of interview. It's an exciting industry, you will enjoy it.

minibmw2010 · 05/05/2014 17:23

Oh and also, I'd like to add 'staying' a PA is really not the worst thing in the world if that's what you decided you wanted to do. I enjoyed it because I was good at it and I knew I was good at it. I didn't have the ability or time to train for the next level up (paralegal) so I did a really good job and turned it into a job I enjoyed (hence my saying earlier that I took on extra work from other departments). If you're in the right place then a PA will be valued and very important.

I left my last job because it was in London and I had my DS and it wasn't a good fit for me to go back. One of my bosses left at the same time and started his own firm and waited for me to finish ML and pulled out the stops to get me to join him so I now work from home 3 full days and do the rest when my DS is asleep. I've gone off the point but what I mean is if you get a good boss and you are good you can fly with it. Good luck x

Banoffeepiefan · 05/05/2014 21:45

Oh I definitely am not turning up my nose at the actual PA job itself! I would love to get stuck in. But always curious to explore where it could take me if I learned the ropes of the finance environment Smile

patothechiefexec · 05/05/2014 22:42

Banoffee, £35k isn't a bad salary but it grates a bit/pales into insignificance when you are working similar hours to your boss. My boss earns in excess of £1m.

Yes, I don't have his responsibility but he is the most important person in the business and if I consistently fuck up/put him on the wrong flight/send him to the wrong location/give him the wrong papers/send out reports with typos it reflects very badly on him. I've done it so long I'm on automatic pilot though.

thenightsky · 05/05/2014 22:47

Fuck.

I'm a PA in the NHS for a Trust Director and earn £15k

I run that man's bloody life for him!

FreudiansSlipper · 05/05/2014 22:48

it does seem low but i know wages have dropped for pa's in the city

i was earning nearly double that plus a good bonus and that was 7 years ago

i did work hard, long hours and found pandering to ego's very boring i did not enjoy being pa, if you are a good pa you will be looked after but you may get stuck in that role

you may really enjoy it and you do not have to stay there forever maybe a good stepping stone