Executive Assistant

Posted: Sat, Aug 18 2012, 6:05 pm Post subject: Executive Assistant

I was looking into the career and was wondering if any of you were EA's, what does the position entail, which computer programs do you use most, do you do much overtime and what is the average pay? TIA!

Posted: Sat, Aug 18 2012, 6:22 pm Post subject: re: Executive Assistant

I'm not an EA but shares one with another colleague. Her primary responsibilities are being on top of correspondences (especially the ones that go to clients) and invoices, as well as our daily schedules. She's the first person people call to book meetings. Another help I rely heavily on her is preparing presentation. She also takes care of travel arrangements but I think she calls the travel agency the company uses.

The most important software would be Outlook, especially calendar and advanced search (because we tend to ask her to look up lost emails sent sometime ago from someone whom we can't remember but about specific topics). Also very critical you're familiar with Word, Excel and Powerpoint (I hate it!) especially formatting.

She does reduced hours (about 35hours week) and I think her compensation is about $35k-40k + benefits but she's entitled to the departmental bonus pool. She's fairly young in her late 20s but has been in the job for a few years. I think some flexibility and overtime is unavoidable, as we always seem to dump her with last minute preparations especially before big meetings. Being able to multi-task and prioritise is really critical. Your boss probably doesn't care whether a certain task can be done or not, but how soon it can be done.

Posted: Sat, Aug 18 2012, 6:32 pm Post subject: re: Executive Assistant

Thanks for the info. You see before I decided to take a break from working to have a family 7 years ago, I was an assistant for a head designer in a large company in NY. I have a degree in graphic design but somehow wound up being somewhat of an executive assistant.

I kind of enjoyed my position and now that I'm ready to join the work force again I've decided that I want to continue a similar position and wanted to make sure I know what is required and what kind of pay I should ask for. I do know the programs you've mentioned but will have to work on familiarizing myself Power Point again since I've learned it so long ago and haven't used it since. Thanks again so much for the info =)

Posted: Sun, Aug 19 2012, 1:44 am Post subject: re: Executive Assistant

what is Power Point?

Posted: Sun, Aug 19 2012, 1:55 am Post subject: re: Executive Assistant

I'm an executive assistant.
I take calls, do the scheduling, manage outlook calendar and tasks and attach corresponding pdf files, make travel arrangements, scan loads of documents and create e files, type up documents, proofread other people's documents, make sure appointments are kept, work on various projects for clients, and on and on.
Like amother above me said it's all about being able to multi task, stay organized, and not forget about the big picture.

Diamond Member Joined: Aug 07 2006 Posts: 2556

Posted: Sun, Aug 19 2012, 8:24 am Post subject: Re: re: Executive Assistant