A private personal assistant is different from your executive administrative assistant, receptionist, or housekeeper. They have their own specific tasks and functions to help aid you in more personal matters with limited business-type tasks. Essentially, they take care of all those things you never have the time to do or are constantly playing catch-up on.

Depending on whether you use a personal assistant for business, your household, or both, would effectively determine their formal job title. For instance, an executive personal assistant often assists more with personal matters related to your business with less of a focus on household matters.

On the other hand, a domestic personal assistant would focus more on personal household matters and less on business matters. If you want the best of both worlds, then you want a private personal assistant with experience with executive and domestic personal matters.

What Executive Personal Assistants Can Do for Your Business

Executive personal assistants perform a wide range of personal functions and tasks that you need to be done so you can concentrate more on running your business and its day-to-day operations. Some of the more common tasks this type of personal assistant can do includes:

• Managing your business email account. You can have your personal assistant review your incoming emails and alert you to any that need your immediate attention. They can also read and review the emails to give you a summary of each one, as well as reply to the senders based on your verbal instructions.
• Managing your business calendar. Your personal assistant can update your business calendar with meetings, tradeshows, conferences, travel dates, and so on. They can block out times when you want to spend the day secretly golfing or at the spa.
• Provide phone support to screen calls. While you might have an administrative assistant or receptionist to handle the bulk of phone calls, you can also have your personal assistant provide phone support on various calls, like confirming reservations, talking to vendors, contractors, and other such people.
• Plan and manage special events, business parties, charity events, etc. You can let your personal assistant handle all the details for an upcoming event, based on your vision and input. They can meet with caterers, party planners, and anyone else to make sure your event is a huge success.
• Book and arrange business travel. When you need to travel for business, your personal assistant can book airline reservations, rental cars, hotels, and more. They can even drop you off and pick you up at the airport when you don’t want to leave your car there or don’t need a private car to take you.

What Domestic Personal Assistants Can Do for Your Household

Domestic personal assistants can do a lot of the same things as executive personal assistants. The only difference is the tasks and support they provide are for your household, not your business, such as:

• Manage your personal emails. Your household personal assistant can read and review personal emails to weed out junk emails and ads and provide you with a summary of each one. They can also reply to senders on your behalf following your instructions.
• Buy gifts and send flowers for special events, celebrations, birthdays, etc. Your personal assistant can make sure you never forget another birthday, wedding anniversary, or another special event. They can also take care of buying gifts and sending flowers to your spouse, family, and friends.
• Run personal errands. Another function a personal assistant can take care of are those errands you just never seem to have time for like grocery shopping, dropping off and picking up the dry cleaning, and so on.
• Provide transportation for your kids. Your personal assistant can make sure your kids are driven to wherever they need and picked up from school, sporting events, school functions, etc.
• Manage other household staff and contractors. Need your pool cleaned? Maybe you need a new lawn care service. Your personal assistant can take care of interviewing and hiring the right household staff and contractors to keep your house looking great.

Booking vacations, planning parties and social events, meal planning and preparation, conducting research, organizing the spaces within the home, and paying bills are some other things your domestic personal assistant can do as well.

Additionally, sometimes what you want your personal assistant to do can include both business and household personal matters. That is perfectly fine. Just make sure you let your personal assistant know what your expectations are during the interview and hiring process.

How to Hire and Find the Best Private Personal Assistant

Step 1: Advertise the Position

There are several ways to find potential job candidates when you want to hire a private personal assistant. You could take out an ad in the local trades or newspapers. You can post the job online through various apps. Yet, the best way to find the best candidates is to get help from a domestic staffing and personal assistant agency.

Agencies take the time to do a lot of things you would otherwise have to do on your own. First, they screen each of the applicants to ensure they have the experience required based on your specific needs. Next, they perform background checks to ensure the candidates do not pose any risks to you or your family. Last, they narrow down the list of candidates to only those who fit specific criteria you have specified.

Another benefit of using a staffing agency to fill positions is they can help you hire other domestic workers like a personal chef, a nanny for your kids, a governess (teacher) for home-schooling, a household manager, and so on.

Step 2: Review Resumes

Whether you use an agency or attempt to find a personal assistant on your own, the next step in the process is to review their resumes. Resumes give an overview of their previous job experiences to help you determine if they would be a good fit.

You should attempt to narrow down the list of candidates at this stage to those candidates with the experience and qualifications you desire the most. It is also courteous to let the other candidates know you are not selecting them and wish them well in their job search.

Step 3: Schedule Phone Interviews

The next step is to schedule phone interviews with the candidates that appeal to you. The reason you want to do a phone interview first is to narrow down your list of potential assistants. You should make a list of different questions ahead of the phone interviews that are related to your expected job duties and functions, as well as questions to help you learn more about the candidates.

Step 4: Schedule In-Person Interviews

Once you have narrowed down the pool of candidates some more, you will want to meet them face-to-face. It is a good idea to have anyone else that will be dealing with them present for the interview. For example, if you intend to have your personal assistant provide transportation for your children, your children should be at the interview to see how well they interact with and get along with the candidate.

Step 5: Schedule Follow-Up Interviews

If you are not able to decide on a single candidate after the in-person interviews, you will want to schedule follow-up interviews with each of the remaining candidates. The follow-up interview is where you ask more direct questions and present various scenarios to see how the person responds.

Hiring an executive personal assistant or personal assistant for a private household is not something you may do right away when starting your business or setting up a new household. When things get to a point where you can no longer effectively manage your personal matters on your own, then you will know it is time to hire a private personal assistant. 

For help finding the best personal assistant for your business and household, as well as other domestic staff including nannies, housekeepers, and personal chefs, please contact Staffing at Tiffanie’s at 866-484-5550 today!