To ask any ex PA's or EA's what they do now and how they transitioned?

[Keke94LND]

Sorry to post here but .. I wanted traffic 😬 also FYI PA stands for personal assistant and EA stands for executive assistant.

I'm an EA and have been for 6 years and I want OUT.. but how and to what?

Any ex PA's/EA's able to share their experiences? Please 😁

Natural routes for you to take (most of which you have probably held some responsibility for already particularly as the companies you work/ed for are small), are: operations, HR, governance/compliance and events (maybe even finance?). When updating your CV to make it appealing, make sure these are the areas you emphasise (rather than diary management, minutes, documents etc.

@DoloresOnTheDottedLine

Natural routes for you to take (most of which you have probably held some responsibility for already particularly as the companies you work/ed for are small), are: operations, HR, governance/compliance and events (maybe even finance?). When updating your CV to make it appealing, make sure these are the areas you emphasise (rather than diary management, minutes, documents etc.

HR is definitely a route I think I would like to go down, I'm going to look into this a little bit more I think

Several PAs I know have taken advantage of internal admin type vacancies such as Projects Coordinator (now a Project Manager), Training Coordinator (now a L&D Executive), Marketing Assistant, IT Admin, Events Coordinator.

I know some of those PAs had rises but some took pay cuts, some fairly significant, if they worked for important individuals. But in 5 years they will probably out earn those still doing the PA role. But painful when the cost of living is so high!

I dont think CPID is so essential these days.

There are some great PA & EA networking events near me - really inspiring to see how people take on new tasks to develop their role.

I know some brilliant PAs & EAs who are so
so undervalued (but do also so know some who aren't so good to be fair).

I'm moving into theatre producing. Great move with a lot more flexibility, I love it! But I already worked as a PA/EA in the arts so it was easier to transition and felt more natural than it might for people working in other sectors.

My bf just made the move from EA to senior programme manager at a bank. She did have to volunteer to take on on Team Admin during one of her step up roles (so doing two roles in one) but then when it became clear how talented she was it became straight on project and programme management.

To me there are two obvious options:

• project management. Good fit with the skills and a good project manager is worth a lot and can earn mega in the right role. Look into a project management certification and/or training as an Agile scrum manager.
• data analysis or finance. IME many EAs do a bit of this. Finance is always sound and data analysis is a huge growth area and need for most companies. You could look into apprenticeships; most companies can't spend their whole apprenticeship budget so if you made a case for how you could use the skills in your current role there's a good chance they could fund you through one and you wouldn't have to take a paycut.

I moved from being an EA to a project manager. Lots of transferable skills but enough of a challenge in learning new skills

Oh, and I worked in the charity sector for a while. Fucking nightmare. They really expected way more than they were willing to pay for. Never again.

To add, I have office management experience and project management experience too. I am great at getting things done and understanding (and anticipating) the needs of others', have wonderful soft skills, am highly personable and am a great networker. In fact, all these things are why I get hired and why my bosses always end up feeling highly competitive as I'm more liked than they are. Sigh.

Like you OP, I feel stuck, hell, I am stuck. I am in no way living up to my potential, possibly because I have no idea what that is. No-one dreams of being a PA or EA, it's a role most fall into.

I don't want to work in an office any more. I don't want to be anyone's assistant. I have zero interest in HR, working at. a GP's surgery/medical receptionist. These are just variations on the same things anyway. None of the suggestions in this thread appeal to me. I want to retrain as a counsellor but with no savings (thanks pandemic) and no support at home, I don't have the finances in place. So I'm stuck.

I feel a bit better for this rant now. Thanks OP for being a catalyst.

@GalaxyPostcard

I'm moving into theatre producing. Great move with a lot more flexibility, I love it! But I already worked as a PA/EA in the arts so it was easier to transition and felt more natural than it might for people working in other sectors.

Wow! Well done, that sounds amazing! I'd love a more flexible job, unfortunately mine has zero flexibility, have to be at my desk in the office from 9-6pm with an hour lunch break

@sansucre

Oh, and I worked in the charity sector for a while. Fucking nightmare. They really expected way more than they were willing to pay for. Never again.

To add, I have office management experience and project management experience too. I am great at getting things done and understanding (and anticipating) the needs of others', have wonderful soft skills, am highly personable and am a great networker. In fact, all these things are why I get hired and why my bosses always end up feeling highly competitive as I'm more liked than they are. Sigh.

Like you OP, I feel stuck, hell, I am stuck. I am in no way living up to my potential, possibly because I have no idea what that is. No-one dreams of being a PA or EA, it's a role most fall into.

I don't want to work in an office any more. I don't want to be anyone's assistant. I have zero interest in HR, working at. a GP's surgery/medical receptionist. These are just variations on the same things anyway. None of the suggestions in this thread appeal to me. I want to retrain as a counsellor but with no savings (thanks pandemic) and no support at home, I don't have the finances in place. So I'm stuck.

I feel a bit better for this rant now. Thanks OP for being a catalyst.

God I so feel you 100%!!! I hate office work! But then the alternative isn't always loads better, atm I'm just trying to think of what kind of office work I might hate the least 🤣

I started in HE as an EA/office manager, volunteered to help on a couple of projects and through that managed to move to operations and department management. HE is a good sector for developing staff.

@Cailleach

Ex-PA - I now drive forklifts; possibly not the answer you were expecting but there we are...

Nice one 🙌

OP - would you recommend a Business degree? DC wants to do a language and is thinking of tagging business onto it.

I mean doing Joint Honours!

I want to retrain as a counsellor

I bet it's hard to make a living at that - there are so many counsellors everywhere.

@FastnetLundyRockall

I started in HE as an EA/office manager, volunteered to help on a couple of projects and through that managed to move to operations and department management. HE is a good sector for developing staff.

Sorry I'm stupid, but what is HE?

@AmanitaRubescens

OP - would you recommend a Business degree? DC wants to do a language and is thinking of tagging business onto it.

Hmm, it's a difficult one for me because if I was to go back in time, I probably would say fuck it and do something that I was really interested it! Having said that, I think business is a really good and varied degree (I did business and management so my degree was less finance based) I think a lot of employers like it because of the varied skills you get from it, I know some people who did other degrees who have since done some sort of business add on because they were struggling to get jobs, so I think if your DC is doing languages, a business or management add on would be really beneficial!

My colleague retrained from PA to mortgage advisor, took a year I think

She loves it, income is much better, she is fab at the job as used to managing all of us, and has a good pool of clients from people she knows from old job who then recco her to their friends & family

@DespairingHomeowner

My colleague retrained from PA to mortgage advisor, took a year I think

She loves it, income is much better, she is fab at the job as used to managing all of us, and has a good pool of clients from people she knows from old job who then recco her to their friends & family

Interesting! Do you know what she did throughout that year she was retraining? Was she still at her old job? I am in the profess of buying a flat, so I can't move jobs now, but once that is done, I am genuinely tempted to do a bit of temp work until I can figure myself out! Iv been at my job for 3 and a half years now and I really really reaaaally need a change!

HE = higher education - University sector

I’m a project manager in corporate strategy. I didn’t really intend to move, I actually quite liked being an EA, but it just sort of happened- I was asked to provide some admin support to a specific project and my involvement with it grew over time. Then I asked for a transfer to another office and they placed me in a new role relevant to that experience rather than another EA role. It’s very standard at the company I work at, unless you actively come and out and say you don’t won’t to advance any further then chances are you’ll be promoted regularly without even having to apply for anything. It sounds like your company may be the problem.

If you're interested in HR then I would keep an eye out for HR Assistant roles as you could then work your way up and they may help with training etc. Temping is also not a bad idea, I did it for years and loved the variety. It's a great way of experiencing different companies and making useful contacts and it can be a great 'in' to working somewhere permanently if you like it there. I also found that expectations are much lower and pay higher than working in a lot of perm roles.

And yes to working for smaller organisations - especially start-ups as you have to turn your hand to everything and you have a bit more scope to expand your role in the future.

@Keke94LND: it was CeMAP qualification, I can’t remember if she did it PT while working or quit to retrain

Btw - a number of my colleagues have started as PA/team assistant then landed roles in the company (Jr Project Manager etc - it’s professional services) then worked their way up incl to director level

@Nowisthemonthofmaying

If you're interested in HR then I would keep an eye out for HR Assistant roles as you could then work your way up and they may help with training etc. Temping is also not a bad idea, I did it for years and loved the variety. It's a great way of experiencing different companies and making useful contacts and it can be a great 'in' to working somewhere permanently if you like it there. I also found that expectations are much lower and pay higher than working in a lot of perm roles.

And yes to working for smaller organisations - especially start-ups as you have to turn your hand to everything and you have a bit more scope to expand your role in the future.

Temping is definitely tempting to me, especially as I am not 100% sure what I want to do.. I just worry about how insecure it is and whether I will be able to have a steady income.. because with a new mortgage I can't afford not to.. it is something I'm going to look into though, maybe I could do it for 6 months and then go for a permenant job 🤷🏼‍♀️