Academic Deans
Learn how hiring an Executive Assistant from Persona can help busy Academic Deans get 32 hours of their time back per week, on average.
Executive
Assistants
What Is An Executive Assistant?
An executive assistant (EA) is a senior administrative professional who provides direct, high-level support to one or more executives. EAs often manage calendars, coordinate travel, handle communications, prepare meeting materials, and make day-to-day decisions on the executive’s behalf. Unlike an administrative assistant, who supports a team or department, an executive assistant supports a specific leader and operates with significant autonomy.
The executive assistant role has expanded considerably over the past decade. Today’s EAs often function as a chief of staff in miniature: running projects, managing vendor relationships, preparing board materials, and serving as the primary filter between an executive and the rest of the organization. Many work remotely and support executives across multiple time zones.
What Skills Are Most Important When Hiring An Executive Assistant?
The most important executive assistant skills are communication, judgment, discretion, organizational systems, and technical fluency. Software proficiency is easy to verify and easy to teach. Judgment and discretion are neither, which is why they should carry the most weight in your evaluation.
1. Communication
An executive assistant writes and speaks on behalf of someone else, frequently to people far more senior than themselves. That requires reading tone accurately, matching the executive’s voice, and knowing when a message needs softening and when it needs to be blunt.
2. Judgment and Prioritization
Executives receive far more requests than they can act on. Much of the EA role is deciding what actually reaches them. Strong candidates don’t just describe a system; they explain how they weighed competing demands and what they chose to handle themselves.
3. Discretion
EAs sit close to compensation data, personnel decisions, board materials, and personal details about the executive’s life. A single lapse can be costly.
4. Organizational Systems
The best executive assistants have a repeatable method rather than a good memory. They can explain how they track commitments, follow up, and ensure nothing falls through.
5. Technical Fluency
Baseline expectations include calendar and email management, video conferencing, document collaboration, and project tools. More valuable than any specific tool is how quickly someone picks up a new one.
Looking For World-Class Talent?
We beat Upwork, traditional staffing firms, and recruiters in every category by offering unmatched quality, personalized service, and the fastest turnaround times in the industry.
Whether you need part-time, full-time, or project-based assistance, we've got you covered.
Experience seamless integration with your team, ensuring productivity and efficiency from day one.