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 😁

[quote elbea]@Keke94LND not necessarily, my last job as an estate manager was 30 minutes on the train to Euston. I’ve equally worked as an Estate Manager living in the Lake District. Having previously worked for UHNW individuals was a huge bonus.[/quote]
Estate management in Lake District would be my dream life 🤣 I actually already have links to estate management with my job (can't say too much cause of confidentiality) but very interested in this.. bet there's a lot of stress though!

I was a Snr PA and then an EA for about 10 years. I took an EA role in a large tech company, did the job well + went above and beyond to manage projects within the team. Ended up doing a lateral move into a Project Manager role after a year, and then promoted to another role after another year. I'm now making double my EA salary.

I think a lot of it is mindset, as someone else said upthread. You have to "be bothered" enough to do your job, and be proactive in getting involved in projects, so that you are showing your peers what you are capable of. If you dont do this, how are they going to know that you can/want to do more than what you are currently doing?

Thinking about it now, I didn't make any tea's/coffees for the last 5 years of being an EA.

@MirandasMumIsSuchFun

I was a board level PA for 15 years before retraining as a Counsellor, it took time (3 years part time) and did cost a fair bit around £7k in total to get qualified/accredited but totally worth it, now I choose my hours with good pay and do something worthwhile with my time. I was so bored in my PA life and just didnt want to look after someone else's day/diary/life for ever! It was really scary but worth taking the plunge, best of luck with your next steps

It would be wonderful if you could message me with details of where you trained/what course you did as this is very much what I want to do.

Thank you so very much.

I'm in the US, so this may not apply. But, I was an EA and I took an entry-level position with my local county determining eligibility for public assistance benefits (food assistance, Medicaid, etc.). From there I took a job with the state doing quality control for the food assistance program, where I reviewed random cases all over the state to determine they they were correct. From there, I became a Hearing Officer, and I hear public assistance appeals
I know y'all have some forms of public assistance, but I don't know if there's an appeals process when benefits are denied like there is here.

@AmanitaRubescens

they see being an EA as a job rather than a career

I don't actually know what an Executive Assistant does as they didn't exist when I last worked in an office (20 years ago). There were secretaries and PAs who basically did a secretarial job with less typing.

Obviously, roles evole but - from this thread - it would appear that PA/EA isn't a career and doesn't need a degree. There seems to be no natural progression, it's a job. Which is fine as, contrary to what many on MN seems to think, not everyone has or wants a career.

It must be frustrating for someone who has got a degree but maybe we shouldn't encourage people to go to uni at 18 without some sort of plan.

I'm having that conversation with DD at the moment.

PA/EA is a very generic role. Something like a receptionist, yes I agree no progression. But I have seen many PA's take on general organising/project management work that would fit the skills of a junior analyst at the start. And they can progress to things like Chief of Staff (which is a common role to give people being groomed for the C-suite). In many large firms people wanting to climb the corporate ladder organise a lot of initiatives, sometimes side-of-desk. These take a lot of effort and a rising middle manager usually gets his/her boss's PA to help. Given that there are people whose actual job it is to also organise such things (such as HR/ CSR/ Corporate Comms) I'd argue that the PA's skills are suited to one of these. A technical conference (first of it's kind) organised entirely by a PA, graduate induction events for a specific team also organised by a PA for example.

The truth is for a firm of large size anybody important enough to have their own PA won't have only one person, they'll have an entire team. Other senior staff get to share a PA but many of them (like my own boss) don't use them much anyway so they get given other work.

Again this is only for large firms I've worked in, and not client facing...

@Keke94LND it’s only a one year masters then two years working (training salary of about £25,000) to qualify, my uni had a 99% employment rate too. I loved being out and about in the countryside, not stuck behind a desk!

Chief of Staff (which is a common role to give people being groomed for the C-suite)

We have Chief of Staff in the UK?

@AmanitaRubescens

Chief of Staff (which is a common role to give people being groomed for the C-suite)

We have Chief of Staff in the UK?

Why don't you have a quick Google...?

@AmanitaRubescens @Keke94LND like this role for example

uk.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=9de655b91692d155&tk=1fhoba9aur8d6800&from=serp&vjs=3

Quite common throughout industry, and many are not openly advertised. People get headhunted by recruiters

[quote elbea]@Keke94LND it’s only a one year masters then two years working (training salary of about £25,000) to qualify, my uni had a 99% employment rate too. I loved being out and about in the countryside, not stuck behind a desk![/quote]
This is very interesting! I'm going to have a look! What did you do your first degree in out of interest? I'd love to feel like I was in monarch of the glen 🤣

[quote TractorAndHeadphones]**@AmanitaRubescens* @Keke94LND* like this role for example

uk.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=9de655b91692d155&tk=1fhoba9aur8d6800&from=serp&vjs=3

Quite common throughout industry, and many are not openly advertised. People get headhunted by recruiters[/quote]
Interesting, thank you, I've seen roles like chief of staff before but I always assumed they were for private households

@AmanitaRubescens

Chief of Staff (which is a common role to give people being groomed for the C-suite)

We have Chief of Staff in the UK?

Yes we do have Chief of Staff in the UK.

You are correct in saying you are out of touch as to what an EA/PA does now. It's a broad role and as others have said, can contain fairly complex duties.

It's pretty dismissive of you to imply that those who are happy as an EA/PA are 'without drive'.

@bookgirl1982

Ex-pa, now in HR via office management then project management.

Similar for me: Office Mgt > PA/EA > Project support > Project Mgt > HR (no CIPD either).

@Keke94LND I did it as an undergraduate as my first degree (Rural Enterprise and Land Management), it’s four years that way plus one year to qualify. Doing it the masters route is one year plus two years to qualify.

You can also do it as a degree apprenticeship now which wasn’t an option when I started. I’d have probably done it like this because you don’t have any debts and can start off earning.

@fiorentina I agree that there's a lot of transferable skills for EAs going into Investor Relations - that was on the cards for me at one point.

Having said that I'm glad I didn't make that move, in retrospect 😁

@elbea I've done some Estate Management before, whilst working for UHNWIs, and o xna see it being a really interesting varied role for someone who has the time, salary and resources to do it properly, rather than on the side as an extra EA duty!

Why don't you have a quick Google...?

Because I'm having a chat on a forum so don't get shirty with me.

I think many people are happy to do a 9-5 (or 6pm) job, switch off their computers and switch off from work. PA/EA work sounds ideal for them. Obviously, not for OP as she clearly has drive
I had to chuckle at this. The lack of knowledge shows. As an EA, there was no switch off. I was in the office, and then I was on call - constantly. Conference calls ar 5.30am UK time because my CEO was in Jeddah and wanted to speak at 8.30am his time for example. I never had a day off where I wasn't contacted and expected to work in some capacity. I had to carry my business phone at all times.

It's also nonsense to suggest an EA or PA has no drive. Every single one I know has drive - but unless their bosses and companies allow progression, then we go nowhere, and it's not for a lack of wanting, drive or hard work.

How much does an EA get paid?

@AmanitaRubescens

Why don't you have a quick Google...?

Because I'm having a chat on a forum so don't get shirty with me.

Now who’s the one being shirty? Calm down, have a cup of tea and stop being judgy.

Don't be a prat and don't try to patronise me.

Hi OP - will stop banging on about civil service I promise, but if you’re really into HR, the HR fast stream might be worth a look www.faststream.gov.uk/human-resources/index.html

It’s a 3 year on-the-job training programme. Only £28k but c.£55k when you’ve qualified.

@AmanitaRubescens anything up to about £60k at the top end (that's for CEO level, not including celebrity PA's or private PA's where the sky's the limit)

@AmanitaRubescens

How much does an EA get paid?

City hedge fund EA here. I’m on 85k incl bonus.

And to the poster who claimed that EAs work 9-5 and can ‘switch off’, you have absolutely no idea 😂

[quote Nowisthemonthofmaying]@AmanitaRubescens anything up to about £60k at the top end (that's for CEO level, not including celebrity PA's or private PA's where the sky's the limit)[/quote]
Agreed, I'm a PA on £50k basic plus about £20k shares and bonus per year. I also very much do not switch off at 5pm/6pm and 'forget about work' - you are aligned with whatever your manager is doing. I am contacted out of hours (and respond where necessary) all the time.

But to get back to the OP - some PA jobs are a dead end, and it does sound like your one OP has reached its limit. I think it depends on the industry and size of company as to how much you can expand / change your role. I worked for one very well known corporate that made it clear to you on hiring that you were admin, and would stay admin. The tasks were extremely mundane and limited.

Oh I see that it was you @AmanitaRubescens who made that claim… I have plenty of drive and my role is absolutely a career