The EA Pathway
Tahlia • Sep 28, 2017

I meet with a lot of candidates who often tell me that their long-term career goal is to become a senior level EA. They want to work in a well-respected company supporting at C-suite level being the go to guy/gal in the business.

I also meet with many of these senior level EA’s, and they all seem to have very similar qualities which have made them successful in their careers. I have spent some time carefully thinking about what top 5 qualities I believe you need to make the cut!

1. Be Proactive

You must have a ‘can do’ attitude and always be willing to do jobs and duties of any level. You can’t be precious about doing a variety of tasks, from picking up a round of coffees and lunches to personal banking. You are essentially a servant (sorry if that term offends you, but if it does, maybe this career isn’t for you?). The person you are supporting needs you to be at their beck and call always, day or night.

2. Be Able To Push Back

You are the gatekeeper to a very senior person, they are in high demand and you need to be the person that tells others “no” when they are all fighting for your managers time. Senior Managers also have a habit of taking on too much work, so it is your responsibility to asses their capacity and help them achieve a balance, this might involve telling them no when you don’t want to!

3. Be Professional

Being professional is a huge part of gaining people’s trust and respect within a business, and that applies to not only your manager whom you are supporting, but other team members and stakeholders too. From early on in your career ensure that you act professionally by keeping confidential information confidential, do not get involved in office politics, and think before acting/speaking (word vomit at your level isn’t cool!)

4. Be Ready to Learn

Every senior level EA that I have worked with has fantastic computer skills. You will often be expected in this role to pull together complex documents and reports, presentations, and to manage a VERY hectic outlook calendar/inbox. You will be expected to sometimes work on extra projects outside of the “traditional” duties of an EA. If you can’t master this, then you can forget your career as an EA in todays’ technology driven world.

5. Be A Star Communicator

Your communication skills have to be excellent with not only the senior that you are supporting, but also the wider team. You will be speaking to everyone in the business from the CEO, to the receptionist and all others in between. You must be able to relay information to these people confidently and clearly as you are essentially the glue holding a huge part of a business together.

I believe that with these 5 elements combined, you can have what it takes to achieve that Senior Executive Assistant Position. Whether you are in a PA role looking to progress, or in a receptionist position thinking about the next steps, start putting these insights into practice and over time you will get recognised within a business!

Are you hoping to advance your EA career to support c-suite executives? Check out our EA to the C-Suite E-Book.

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