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Making the most of a 1 year contract and prepping for my next step

1 reply

AgualusasL0ver · 21/08/2025 14:44

I have a 20 year work history in EA/PA work and had a hybrid EA/small team dotted line management role and now have a new role for 12 months at a competitor as a Manager (full line management).

It was/is great opportunity at an organisation that values growth, lots of online learning available, mentoring etc.

I have been here 3 months and longer term I don't think this is the role I want long term and whilst there might be other opportunities here (all feedback so far suggests I am doing really well) I don't know if here is where i want to lay down roots.

  • The role is internal (previously lots of client engagement)
  • It is very much a cyclical, planning role (vs crisis or constant change and craziness)
  • Lack of a seat at the table (previous roles have all been high level and very involved in business and client side, helping with strategic goals as well as scheduling etc which AI is helping with)

So I have 12 months to get myself into the best possible position for other roles, so far I am:

  • looking at internal roles regularly, also at my previous organisation and external sites making notes on things roles I am interested in are asking for and what I lack
  • using the internal online training offer to fills those gaps where I can
  • updating CV as I go along
  • speaking to and growing my network as much as possible (my previous network is very decent too)
  • Making sure I take every AI/tech training going and then use it

I want to aim high this time next year. I am in London so £85-100k is not outside the realms of possibility for a EA/Chief of Staff type role for a 250-500 person organisation - at the lower end it is a reasonable raise to expect from my current salary. I have done a role like this before but for a far smaller company, and have extensive experience in very large professional services.

Anything I have missed in terms of what I should be doing? What would you be doing, or expecting? There is a lot of opportunity to learn here.

OP posts:
LemonTwix · 21/08/2025 20:06

I just want to say how ambitious and focused you sound, it seems you have everything pretty well covered.

I’m an ex EA to CEO (small company), now an ops manager. But I hate client work and line management so am happy with all the internal process work and research work.

My only piece of advice is when you are ready to look for your next role there is an agency I’ve noticed on LinkedIn, TalentSmiths. They really appreciate what the role of an EA / Chief of Staff can involve, and have salaries in the range you are looking at. I’ve not tried them though as haven’t looked for a new job in many years.

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