As your business grows, new work responsibilities continue to grow with it as well. Tasks you can handle so well before may seem too overwhelming now that you have other duties to take care of. This is when most of the professionals lose control of their schedule. Each morning becomes a chaotic one and they can’t get ahead of their daily tasks to get a better view of the company’s standing.
An executive assistant’s main responsibility is to help you deal with this kind of stress. They can help you get back on track with your to-do lists and work schedule, as well as handle and schedule appointments so you, as the executive, does not need to stop and deal with these matters yourself. Executive assistants can step into many different roles and take over the administrative work and sometimes even run personal errands.
There are a few questions that will come into your mind when you decide to hire an executive assistant. Some of these are -- How would you go about with the hiring process? What are their salaries? What duties are the executive assistants responsible for? If these are some of the questions that you may have, we invite you to keep reading this article to find the answers, or if you want to discuss all these questions with one of our consultants, please feel free to call us on 020 7183 0309 for a free consultation!
Why use an agency to find an Executive Assistant?
Finding the perfect executive assistant has never been easy. Browsing through hundreds of applications is a daunting task and very time-consuming. What’s even more stressful is that most of these applicants do not have the necessary qualifications that you are looking for. This is why most executives decide to use a premium and experienced agency to do this for them.
With over 15 years of experience in providing excellent service to our clients, Little Ones know that the executive assistants must complement the employer they will be working for. Which is why we aim to put forward only the most suitable candidates for you and your business.
We will first begin with a thorough job briefing from you so we can understand the specific requirements and qualifications you want your executive assistant to have. We will also provide helpful interview tips and questions to ask the prospective candidates. Little Ones makes sure that these candidates that we put forth for an interview with you are all well-vetted and have undergone our detailed checking and screening procedures. We do an intensive interview with the candidates that we send to our clients and this interview includes a thorough discussion of their work and personal experience as well as their values and principles. We ensure that their personalities and work ethics complement yours and we also make sure that they have the necessary skills and expertise to support you in your business.
Going through this process will help you get the best options for you and your business because Little Ones, as a premium agency, makes sure that all the candidates that we send to our clients have:
More than 2 years of experience
Police check
At least 2 references from previous employment
Our experienced consultants will also make sure that the candidates you meet are interested in the role and salary package that you are willing to offer.
How much does Hiring an Executive Assistant cost?
The first thing to consider when finding an executive assistant is the cost of hiring them. If you are looking for a temporary executive assistant, Little Ones will charge you £30 per day as a commission. If you are looking for an executive assistant who will work for you in a permanent capacity, our registration fee is £69. After you register, we will provide you with a list of skilled candidates and arrange interviews on the times most suitable for you. We will also help you with the final touches of the process such as finishing the contract offer to the candidate. After this, the consultant will calculate the commission fee that you need to pay to the agency. If the salary of the executive assistant that you are hiring is £700 per week, you will need to multiply this by 52 (number of weeks in a year), and then multiply this by 16% to obtain the cost of the agency commission fee:
£700 x 52 = 36,400 x 16% = £5,824 (+ VAT)
We have a team of skilled and professional executive assistants in our books and they will provide high-quality service to you and your business.
What are the core skills to look for when hiring an executive assistant?
Executive assistants who possess these core skills will excel in what they do and will be a great asset to your business.
Analytical skills - You can leverage a strong analytical skill in any scenario, from handling social situations to making key business decisions.
Resourcefulness - It will be a great help when developing solutions and alternative strategies in time high-pressure and time-sensitive meetings or situations.
Networking skills - In order to maintain a strong support network, the executive assistant must first build fulfilling and advantageous connections.
Multitasking skills - It is important to complete your to-do lists while balancing other administrative tasks; prioritising the tasks that require intensive focus and when you can, pair them with more mindless activities to maximise your time.
Effective organisation skills - Organisation is a must for executive assistants. This role is fast-paced and you can’t afford to be unorganised. A good executive assistant will also help in improving the organisational systems.
Prioritisation skills - Get the most important things done and work down from there. Executive assistants help their employers focus mainly on the most pressing issues and highly time-sensitive activities.
Anticipation skills - Executive assistants must be able to detect problems and opportunities.
Speed and Decisiveness - This is needed to make the right decisions quickly in high-pressure situations.
Tech skills and prowess - The executive assistant rarely has time to wait for IT help when there’s a tech problem at hand. They must be able to perform troubleshooting steps and use all tools and tips to improve and reinforce processes.
What are the different types of Executive Assistant and what duties are they responsible for?
Here at Little Ones, we have different types of executive assistants, this way the employers can have more options when looking for the perfect and seamless additions to their business. Our consultants are experienced when it comes to matching the employers and the candidates’ principles, work ethic and values. They specialise in different job types so that they can help you choose the most suitable staff for your team.
Junior Executive Assistant
Junior executive assistants are those who are just starting with their career. They are usually staff with only a few years of experience but they are skilled nonetheless. The specific duties of a junior executive assistant may vary between companies and businesses but the basics are fairly similar - they help plan events and coordinate travels, they also plan office design and layout improvements, scheduling and managing calendars, creating reports, directly assisting executives as well as help in handling payroll. Junior executive assistants are also comfortable in performing administrative tasks and clerical duties such as taking memos and maintaining files as well as organising and implementing meetings, business luncheons and client dinners. They also help in answering phone enquiries, directing calls, and providing basic company information. Junior executive assistants may also take in duties such as photocopying, faxing, collating and other basic admin duties.
Senior Executive Assistant
A senior executive assistant has more experience than junior staff and they undertake many high-level administrative support duties. Senior executive assistants coordinate the schedule of their employer and make sure that the meetings and presentations are carried out smoothly. They also make travel arrangements, coordinate flights and accommodation, including other itinerary details. A senior executive assistant typically oversees and supervises junior-level staff including junior executive assistants and secretaries. They train staff on internal systems and processes in order to ensure that all necessary duties are effectively covered. One of the most significant roles a senior executive assistant can do is gatekeeping. They position themselves between the public, staff members, business clients and their employer. They coordinate different aspects of communication for these parties. Various reports are also done by the senior executive assistant, they may create charts and spreadsheets as well as write status reports for the business.
Each job type is available in a permanent or temporary position. Permanent roles are for a year or more whilst temporary positions could be a role for up to 6 months.
What are the market rates of each Executive Assistant job type?
An executive assistant performs a variety of administrative tasks as well as supervising other clerical staff members. Their salaries often depend on the experience that they have, but there are other variables that contribute to their salary range, too, including:
Education: Most employers like to hire an executive assistant with at least some college education or even a bachelor’s degree. There are some candidates who also took degree programs and training about office management that can help improve job prospects and salary range.
Skills: Executive assistants need to be good at oral and written communication as they work with top executives and handle important information about the business or company. They need to have good decision-making skills to provide executives with strategic guidance. The more core skills you possess, the better.
Experience: As with any industry, the more experience the candidate has the higher their salary expectations would be. An executive assistant with over 10 years of experience may request a higher salary range than an executive assistant with 2 years of experience.
Hours and flexibility: Executive assistants typically work for 5 days a week, 10 to 12 hours per day. And if you want them to work more hours than that, then they may request a higher salary since they are providing a longer service.
Responsibilities: Generally, an executive assistant is responsible for all the administrative tasks included in managing a company or business. Executive assistants who, aside from the admin tasks, also oversee other staff members and undertake more responsibilities may request a higher pay than others with lesser duties.
Location: London has a higher demand for experienced executive assistants than the other home countries, although rural and overseas positions to areas such as the Middle East, Russia, South America are rarer and command higher salaries.
Below is a guideline of the salary expectations in keeping with market rates, based on the expected salaries of executive assistants with between 1 to 20 years of experience. Please note that these salaries are highly dependent on the variables mentioned above as well as the employer’s specific requirements:
Junior Executive Assistant in UK: average of £25,000 to £30,000 per year
Senior Executive Assistant in UK: average of £35,000 to £60,000 per year
Overseas Junior Executive Assistant: average of £45,000 to £70,000 per year
Overseas Senior Executive Assistant: average of £80,000 to £110,000 per year
Your Little Ones consultants are also able to advise the salary expectations for your individual cases.
Finding an Executive Assistant
The consultants in Little Ones agency believe that from the very first point of contact, our clients should feel supported and guided, and we will not stop once you have found the perfect staff who complements your needs and requirements. Our consultants are always ready to assist you in any point of your executive assistant search and even after you have found the perfect candidate for you and your business.
With Little Ones’ excellence and commitment in placing domestic and administrative staff, the team pride themselves on being able to source experienced candidates and delicately align a premium and luxury service to those clients who put their trust in them. Would you like to talk to one of our expert consultants? For a no obligation consultation regarding our executive assistants and the most suitable option for your business, or to view a comprehensive list of executive assistants we have, please contact Little Ones Agency on 0207 183 0309.
