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Hiring Your First Business Personal Assistant: Some Guidelines for Successful Hiring |
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Hiring the first personal business assistant is an exciting time for
new business owners. It means that the business is doing well enough
that the business owner can no longer keep up effectively with the
demands of the new business. Sales are exploding, and time becomes of
the utmost importance. Scheduling of business chores and personal
chores can become very demanding and complex. This is the time new
business owners often find themselves considering a personal business
assistant.
A personal business assistant differs from a clerical worker or
secretary, as the duties are more diverse for a personal assistant. A
personal assistant will do whatever is needed to make the business run
smoothly and will do whatever is necessary to make the business owner's
life run smoothly also. Although a personal assistant usually also
performs clerical and secretarial duties, a personal assistant is more
a "jack of all trades" than any other type of employee and the duties
may include personal chores done on behalf of the employer.
The choice of a personal assistant therefore should be given the utmost
of consideration. Here is a list of possible qualities to look for when
choosing a personal assistant:
1. Flexibility of Schedule: the hours a personal assistant works can be
very varied, depending upon the needs of the business owner. These
hours can include some nights and weekends when social activities and
business meetings may occur.
2. Flexibility of Personality: a good personal assistant needs a
flexible, easy going personality, as the demands of the job can be
quite stressful, as well as diverse.
3. Ability to Multi-Task: since the tasks are diverse, multi-tasking abilities are an absolute necessity.
4. Ability to Bond and Work Well with Others: the personal assistant
will be exposed to everyone involved in many ways within the business,
as well as the business owner and clients. An ability to establish
relationships easily with others is mandatory.
5. Ability to Learn Quickly and Effectively: a personal assistant will
need to come into a business and learn every duty quite quickly and
effectively. There may be a large learning curve, depending upon the
business and the needs of the business owner.
6. Knowledge of Office Procedures and Other Procedures Associated with
the Business: without some prior knowledge of office procedures and
routine procedures that are unique to the business hiring the
assistant, problems usually occur.
7. A Good Work History: having a personal assistant that reports to
work sporadically or is frequently late, with many absences, will only
cause frustration overall for the business owner and create more work,
not diminish the workload.
8. The Ability to Use Judgment and Work with Little Supervision: a good
personal assistant will need to be self-motivated, making many of their
own judgment calls concerning the business.
9. Leadership Qualities: there will be duties required and chores given
the personal assistant which will require taking charge of others at
times, and accomplishing goals.
10. Organizational Skills: with the amount of chores and diversity of
chores required of a personal assistant, a good one will have high end
organizational skills, will be able to prioritize effectively, and will
not suffer from "analysis paralysis", but will be able to make
decisions quickly and efficiently.
11. Self Confidence: a good personal assistant will need to be aware of
their own needs and the needs of others, and will have to stand by
decisions without backing down, therefore confidence in themselves and
their decisions is necessary.
12. Customer Service Skills: many of the chores that a personal
assistant performs will bring the assistant into direct contact with
clients, therefore great customer service skills are also mandatory.
A business owner seeking to hire a personal assistant should look for
the qualities above and also use their own intuition about an
individual applying for this position. The business owner should also
seek to hire someone whose personality and goals meshes with their own,
as the personal assistant and the business owner will spend many hours
each day together, and will need to be of the "same mind" about major
issues.
It is also important when hiring a personal assistant to determine how
much the business can afford to pay a personal assistant, and also to
be realistic about the costs of a "quality personal assistant". Many
personal assistants will work for reasonable rates, depending upon the
country in which the business owner and assistant reside. This usually
doesn't translate into "minimum wage requirements", however, as the
diversity of the job itself would require a higher pay scale in order
to attract more talented applicants for the position. A good rule of
thumb, is to pay as "high as possible" while still staying within the
budget of the business.
After all, in a situation such as the search for a qualified, reliable,
energetic personal assistant, "cheap is not always better".
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of Home Based Business Opportunities - One of Internet's leading website dedicated to starting, managing and marketing a home based business.
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