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

so what exactly is the difference between a sectretary/pa/executive assistant?

all dependent on company and I’m convinced that may PAs doing high level roles without the pay.

I'm currently a PA for a major bank in London and earning £48000. To be honest, how much you get paid depends on the company and where you are based. Technically, the job I'm in now can be seen as a promotion, but if I was doing the same job in the previous company I worked for, I would be earning over £50k. The pay ranges in London tend to be more than out of London.

PA here in finance,15 years experience in industry, working central London, earn approx £90k then bonus on top. It's an all in kind of role, so whatever it takes, hence the higher salary, but not that difficult to find these days.

Be wary of the commute - it could really get to you if you're not used to it. Also women bosses are the worst. Plus people in general in London, especially the big companies can be quite rude. Also you might be bored in your current role but most PA roles are boring and there's no real scope for development or appreciation. If the people are nice in your current role I'd see if there would be scope to develop the position there - you'd have far more of a chance than in London where you'll just be a number. I'm talking about private sector big companies here.

@Carole18 thank you for your thoughts.

prior to having my children I spent nearly 10 years commuting to London so am aware of that. My train goes into King’s Cross so I would be looking at either walking distance or one/two tube stops, as I have commuter across London before.

Yes I like the people I work with and although there may be some scope to develop, it will only be doing more of what I’m currently doing. Also I am only on a bit more than the national minimum wage and there are no pay rises (my colleague has been there for 4 years and has not had a pay rise)

yes the role may be dull but other companies may offer other opportunities in the future if I want to move roles. With my current place there are only 8 of us at head office with at most 2 in a dept so little chance of moving around.

working for a small company like my current one is not for me. Maybe it’s the company and another small firm would be fine.

I have applied for a personal assistant job at a retailer ( prior to children I worked in London at others) so will see if I get an interview.

I am coming up to 6 months and my feelings about the job have not changed and I’m aware that it could months to get interviews and then job offers, as it took around 6 months to get my current one

Sorry I cannot let 'female bosses are the worse' slide. Are you for real, or are you back from 1989?

In my current role I'm EA to a very senior woman and she's fucking awesome. Just like some of my male bosses have been fucking awesome. I've had some awful men, and I've had some awful women.

Well I have been applying for jobs this past week and will continue to do so until I am successful.

I am hopeful that I will start to get interviews soon.

really want out of my current job but need another one before I can leave.

need to be part of a larger organisation that has more processes in place and less winging it.

at least I know now that small companies are not for me and shall avoid applying for any jobs at any in the future.

The next job will be the next stage on the learning curve of my newly established career.

I have applied for a few jobs on secsinthecity so shall see if I hear back this week. Once applied they do say of not heard in 5 days then not successful so at least you know it’s not going anywhere rather than hearing nothing.

female or male doesn’t bother me - as both can be great or poor bosses

Folks that are earning £65k ish +, where are you sourcing roles primarily? Are there other sites as well as secsinthecity that are generally well regarded by EA/PAs? I’m an EA for a large FMCG in London but need to move on soon, so will be back in the job market- very much out of practise however as haven’t looked for a role for a long time!

If you're interested in looking at HE, PA/Exec Assistant roles often come up in HE. UCL, LSHTM, LSE, SOAS, Birkbeck are all within walking distance or short commute from Kings X. I'm not sure, but expect you would earn less in HE than in private sector, but work/life balance would probably be better. There's hybrid + flexible working & you get good annual leave + extra days off at Christmas & Easter + generally speaking not expected to work overtime in "professional services" roles in HE. There's not much natural progression ie pathway to other roles in these roles, but eg lots of opportunity to change jobs + there's positive encouragement of networking & self-development eg being mentored, secondment. Try www.jobs.ac.uk - good luck!

@bloominoreilly i am open to any sector to be honest. Thank you for the link and I will look at the site.

as this will be my first role as a team assistant/PA/executive assistant I am happy to have a role for 12-24 mths somewhere to learn the ropes more and gain the skill set that would enable me to move elsewhere for higher salary if I wanted to.

so far I have applied to around 30 jobs on secsinthecity but nothing back from any so far.

I will look to call one or two of the agencies next week and see what they say.

@bloominoreilly

thank you for the website recommendation - I have applied to about 4 on there today and will keep an eye out each day now

Great - hope you find something soon :)

Thanks @bloominoreilly

i just need to get a position so I can consolidate my skills in the role rather than my current business administrator role and learn new ones that are part of a team assistant/PA role. This would then make it easier to look for another higher paying job in say 12-24 months.

Will continue to appt on secsincity and the jobs.ac site.

back to the Sunday evening dread so know I need to get out. Hoping my current 3 month notice period won’t hinder my job hunting. Not sure if my current company would let me leave prior to 3 months. As I am privy to important and confidential information, I would like to think they would as a precaution.

really hoping this week is positive for dates about an interview.