Interviewing for a Personal Assistant

What can we do for you?

Personal assistants, often abbreviated to PAs, are the primary helpers for businessmen and women. They are your gatekeeper, acting as links between you and your associates, but also with acquaintances and contacts from outside your business. Whether you are looking for a manager's assistant or a director's assistant, the role and responsibilities are much the same. You will spend a lot of time with your PA, so it’s vital that you find the right person for the job. That’s where Interview Quizzes comes in. When you are recruiting, we can save you many hours spent poring over application forms, and help you find the right employee faster.

Many companies no longer use personal assistants. It is believed by many that executives and managers should take on more administrative duties in order to be seen as “doing their bit”, while saving money at the same time. But statistics show that this is not good practice. Executives and managers who do the jobs which would usually be delegated to an assistant, have less time to do what they are good at which ultimately costs their business money.

What skills are required in a good personal assistant?

Personal assistants have a remarkable amount of variety in their work. Different businesses will of course have different needs, so only you will know exactly what you require. Nevertheless, there are some skills and personality traits that work well in any PA. Here’s a list of some of the most important:

• Trustworthy. Your personal assistant will get to see information which is sensitive, private and confidential. Discretion and trust are perhaps the most important things in any personal assistant.
• Good communicator. A good proportion of your personal assistant’s time will be spent answering and making phone calls, and dealing with correspondence. They will also be the bridge between you and your staff, your suppliers, and your customers. Being able to communicate well, both verbally and in written form, is essential.
• Organised. Your PA will manage your diary, arranging meetings and appointments for you. They will also take charge of organising your travel arrangements, making bookings for events and conferences, and reminding you of impending deadlines. Good organisational skills are a necessary attribute.
• Computer literacy. Your assistant will need to be familiar with many different software packages, whether keeping records, updating databases, or using word processing programs. As well as having a solid understanding of the most common ones, you also need them to be able to learn any software created for your business.
• Typing. Still an important part of a personal assistant’s job. Even in this modern age, typing and shorthand are vital skills.
• Adaptability. Your PA will have to take on a variety of tasks to support you. Flexibility, being able to multitask, and a natural proactive stance, are all useful.
• Tact. Taking calls from people outside your business, as well as dealing with your colleagues and associates, means that your PA must be tactful and diplomatic. Being able to deal with angry customers in a polite fashion is a must. A friendly and pleasant persona would also be beneficial.

Finding the right person, quickly

So, now we know what we’re looking for in a good PA, it’s time to find one. Ask the applicants for your role to take our online quizzes. You choose four categories from the comprehensive list of quizzes available. We’ll send you the results, letting you see at a glance who is suitable for the role, and who is not. This saves you a lot of time having to sort through mountains of application forms, and that saves you money.

Which quizzes should I choose?

We have many different quizzes, each designed to find people’s suitability for certain roles. Which you choose is up to you. Only you know exactly what kind of person you want to employ. Here are our suggestions of which would find you the best PA:

English Advanced - This is to test how well candidates can communicate with others, in both verbal and written form. Essential in a personal assistant.

MS Excel Advanced - Your PA must be comfortable using this software package as maintaining databases will be an important part of their job.

MS Word - The standard program when it comes to writing correspondence. Every PA should be familiar with MS Word.

Maths Basic Numeracy - You don’t need to be a mathematician to make a good PA, but it does help if you can do some simple maths in your head. Accounting may be part of the job, so it’s important that no silly mistakes are made.

IQ - As well as being a measure of intelligence, our IQ quiz also measures a person’s ability to think logically, to work methodically, and to remain calm under pressure. All of these are useful skills to have in your personal assistant.

At the job interview

Our quizzes will help you sort through your list of candidates more quickly. The next stage of recruitment is the job interview. By this stage you’ll know who is up to scratch as far as measurable skills are concerned. Now it’s time to find out about their personality traits and quirks by asking your own interview questions.

Conclusion

We can't decide who is best for you, but we can provide the tools to help you MAKE BETTER DECISIONS, FASTER.