Team Assistant/PA/Executive Assistant roles

[Brightlights23]

Hi,

I am currently researching new job roles for late this year and was wondering on people’s thoughts on either Team Assistant/PA/ Executive Assistant roles.

i am a Business Administrator currently for a firm (only 8 at Head Office) and my role encompasses meeting organising, minute taking, expenses, paying invoices, project management, venue booking and refreshments/food, train booking and hotel bookings. Plus organising meetings for the directors and anything else they may need.

previous experience in being a clerk so meeting prep and organising, collating papers, chasing actions etc.

my current role has no real scope for advancement, salary increase (below 30k) or additional benefits/bonus, so in the second half of the year I will be looking for a new job.

i am based in Hertfordshire so am prepared to work in London, although would prefer 3 days a week in the office due to travel costs if possible. Although am prepared for 5 days in an office for right job (would mean a little bit of team work with DH for children’s activities). in an ideal world a job more local but accept that need to keep as many avenues open as possible. I currently walk to work.

these type of jobs any good? Achievable with my experience? What kind of salary, as seems to be a wide salary range when I’ve looked online.

would be great to hear everyone’s thoughts or even other jobs roles.

thanks

I am a senior PA in a huge team. I've been there 20+ years and am the only admin person for the department. It's a lot of diaries, travel, expenses, but I also have a few large regular events which take a lot of organising and give me some autonomy away from the day to day.
The thing, I think, which has been key to my success is that (a) I actually enjoy helping people and (b) I work in an industry where we are all hugely invested in what we are selling. There's never been any advancement but the role has grown larger and larger as I've got more confident and trusted, and between the annual pay rises and occasional merit-based ones, I do ok.
And I do absolutely love it.

As a legal PA in London with around 10 years experience I earned £50,000-£60,000. 3 days in the office, 2 days wfh (since Covid-19). In my experience law tends to be where the better pay is.

Edited to say I think this is on the high end pay-wise (small firms, very demanding roles). My guess is the average would be £32,000-£38,000.

Thank you both for your insights.

i guess i want a job where i feel valued and am adding benefit. The company has big expansion plans but suspect that staffing levels at HO will not increase.

happy to stay at same level as long as annual pay rises, opportunities to develop new skills if required and maybe some additional benefits.

would like to be part of a larger team as my current and previous roles were quite solitary and I’ve realised that it isn’t me.

I would need to earn £35k to work in London to factor in travel and still take home same as now.

definitely about finding the right company.

May just be a case of applying later this year and seeing if I get offers and how being in a role would actually be.

@Brightlights23 I think these things can be a bit hit and miss. I’ve worked for two companies where annual pay rises and bonuses (two a year in each case) were the norm, and two places where I was rarely given a raise (and if I was it wasn’t much) and received very low bonuses (if at all). I didn’t go into those jobs knowing either of those things.

£35+k is doable in London. Remember many companies pay London Weighting. Which might be enough to cover commuting costs.

I don't think it's easy to move onwards from being a PA, took me decades, and it was only because something came up in my department and they offered to move me into it.

You could try project management support. Similarity with what you've been doing but involved directly with a long term project with an outcome and not just endlessly supporting other people. And potential for moving upwards.

@user593 thank you for your insights.

it’s definitely a role to consider and to be mindful of the pitfalls.

after returning to work after having my children I now feel I need something more work wise. Although my current colleagues are wonderful, I could be doing this job in 5 years and still on the same money with no benefits apart from holiday and pension contributions. Feel I need to be part of a bigger team and until I’ve tried it I won’t know.

to start with I just need to not earn less than I’m currently on taking into account travel so good to hear about London salaries

@zzplec thank you for your thoughts.

I will look into project management support roles as well.

my DH is an IT project Manager and although my role covers this I have been given little direction or training, although by the time intend to apply my two projects will have completed.

would just like a role that I like - as I approach the end of my 40s I’ve never really known what I wanted to do career wise.

my current role will not get me any experience of scheduling meetings over different time zones or international or complex travel, all of which I have seen on adverts

An executive assistant role in my office of 200 staff (East Midlands) would involve all of the same things you list as your current responsibilities and pay grade is around £36.5k currently

It might be worth trying higher education as the salary tends to be really good. I earn £50k in London as an EA. There is good staff development, annual increments and tends to be lots of opportunities to engage in different opportunities in different depts etc. It depends also what sector you want to go into of course as private companies tend to pay more.
I could earn more with my experience but private isn’t really my cup of tea!

You definitely have the experience to move into something with more money. I'm an Exec Assistant and on £58k in private sector in London. I look after 3 people with very complex diaries and two of them have complex travel requirements. I also do general office management and some research for business development.

I think in your position I'd try and go for a PA / team position looking after no more than 4 people. Or as others have said, change tack and go for project management. That would give more scope for advancement as PA work really can be hard to develop in unless you have an understanding manager.

@SnowfallSnowball thank you I will look at higher education as uni of Hertfordshire is drivable from me.

@Dunkou thank you for the tips on what type of role to go do and the number of people to work for. My project management experience is limited but my current role will be a baptism of fire on it by April/May. Very little training overall so I will be looking for a place that at least trains you more on systems and processes which won’t be hard.

my only issue is my lack of complex meeting arranging and travel as it’s just trains and hotels at the moment and can’t really see it being anymore than that.

off to research some more.

thank you all though - very insightful

I work as an EA in the Chair’s office. Quite long hours. Need to be available occasionally after hours. Currently working on a largish event in Europe pretty much single handed. The EAs at my level are on around 65k.

I was a PA for about 10 years and your skill set definitely sounds like a good match.

I then made a move into event management/Comms which I’ve loved - a lot of PA/EA roles involve managing large events so that’s also an area you could explore in the future.

https://www.charityjob.co.uk/jobs?keywords=Administration&location=London&radius=20&workplace=hybrid&maxsalary=65000

OP if it's helpful, I'm a career EA with 10+ years of experience in finance (mainly investment/alt assets), and I've got quite a bit of experience in hiring junior members of the team and I'd hire you for a role paying 35-40k.

I'm literally about to start a new role in a few weeks so have been interviewing since late Jan, you need a hand with which recruiters to speak to feel free to DM me! I'm very happy to chat about the job and what to realistically expect.

I worked in the city of London for many years as a EA. I then started working for the NHS. I'm now a Band 7 manager who manages a large team of EAs. Something to also consider too.

@mumof1boy2024 thank you for the link and I have signed up.

@78Summer i don’t mind the occasional evening as this is what I did for all my meetings when I was a governors clerk (but only got paid £98-120 a meeting).

@Changingplace irs good to know that I would be a good fit.

@bostonchamps thank you for your guidance. I will PM to get your advice as there is so many recruiters and websites out there. Would be good to know what salary range to aim for too with my current level of experience.

@FondantFancyFan thanks for the link which I will look at.

I have only been in my current role for 5 months but know it’s not for me (lots of talk of how organised and forward thinking they are but the reality is different) and I need a larger firm (Head office only has 8 people). I also need a job that has a possible career path to follow and ability to earn more.

I used to work in central London prior to children and think this may be the only way to earn more, as locally not much and salary not great.

feel like I won’t know till I try. My current role covers a variety so I know I can do it from meetings, venue booking, catering, office supplies, dealing with suppliers, project managing a new site opening and I have had very little training or guidance to be honest.

shall continue to search and start to update my CV.

thanks everyone

@bostonchamps it appears that private messaging has been disabled on the site at the moment so I am unable to message you.

Today was ok, although another sign of them not knowing what they are doing popped up today.

There is minimal guidance and they seem to be by the seats of their pants attitude to everything - that is not how I work as it sets my anxiety and stress off and is not needed. Another sign that a small, newish firm (been in operation for 6 years) has inexperienced leaders, who are not around much really.

But at least this job is giving me extra skills for my CV.

There's a website specifically for admin professionals called Secs in the City - make sure your CV is up to date, clear and to the point, upload it and start applying for things. Recruiters will most likely start calling you and you can have a good chat about what you want, what's out there and what's realistic. Once you've had that chat they'll send you job specs when things that match come up - don't be afraid to say no to things you're not interested in!

I'd say in London, in finance, you could earn a decent 30-35k and if you get your head down for a few years the salary climb is steep (I'm on 65kish, I was on 44 6 years ago ). It really depends what you want: the big banks/insurers/law firms are good places to learn the ropes but they can be quite soulless, the smaller private equity/VC/alt investing/tech places usually offer great benefits but it's hard work!

I really love my job but you do have to be strict about boundaries - it can end up being all encompassing as you find bosses tend to take a mile if you give an inch etc. Good luck!!

@bostonchamps thanks for the tips. I have been looking on the secs in city website. I think I just need to do as you say and update my CV and start applying. I am aware that I don't have all the relevant experience, but somewhere that will train you up is what I need to get some sold additional skills and embed the ones I have learnt more recently. Plus somewhere that has opportunities to grow and develop. At the moment some decent training and an annual pay rise would be a good step up!

It is all about the right firm and job. I do not mind working hard but do not want the job to take over either as I do have my children ( the youngest is 14).

I am aware that it could take me months to find something, and I need £35k to work in London to factor in travelling costs to at least break even, as I currently walk to work.

This thread has been really useful and insightful.🙂

I agree SecsintheCity is a good site.

I'd be wary though of expectations that anywhere will give you training though, unless it's in some specific system that they use. Everywhere I've worked I've been expected to figure it out myself. And honestly given what you say you've done in your current role I'd say you were more than capable of working it out too.

@Dunkou thanks for a bit of a reality check.

i think it is more some training on specific systems and processes as my current job is vague on this in many areas. I am writing up processes as I go to add to the few that are there.

the previous person who did my role is still at the company and will answer any questions I have but think they couldn’t wait to get rid of the job. Person has loads of knowledge in their head but the directors keep telling me to use my own opinions as I feel they want to move away from however it was done before but then give little guidance

current project I’m overseeing has no budget really and when I asked for guidance they said look at what has been done before - not easy when costs have a wide range on same items!