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Jo Jenson is the model of the modern personal assistant. One moment she’s on the phone, briefing reporters about her boss Lindsay Fox’s Ansett Mark II proposal, the next she’s turning a few of his ideas into a slick PowerPoint presentation. The trucking magnate, who is rarely in the office but always in demand, trusts Jenson to keep his show on the road.
The executive secretary has evolved into über-secretary. The PA’s function – to make your time more productive – hasn’t changed but corporate life has. Sure, you still need your letters printed, but now it’s done by someone trained to use specialist software, not a typewriter. And when you’re weary with information overload, they sort through your letters, emails and other correspondence – from party invitations to high-level documents – and ensure people see the right stuff.
Where once the PA sat outside the boss’s office and kept away visitors when he or she didn’t want to be bothered, says Jenson, now they use their nous to filter the must-see people from the come-back-laters. In such a competitive, customer-oriented market, the executive can’t afford to turn everyone away. “It could be that one person who will deliver that multi-million-dollar contract,” says Jenson.
Naturally, the job attracts considerable talent. The sort of people choosing to be PAs these days are both men and women, frequently armed with business or business administration qualifications. If they reach executive ranks at the big end of town, they can expect base salaries as high as $80,000, plus such perks as business-class travel overseas, says executive PA recruitment specialist Robyn Cartwright.
But while there are plenty of PAs with all the bells and whistles, the main qualifications are intangible. You need someone you connect with and trust. You also need someone who reflects your organisation’s culture, who can show the world what you stand for.
When Cartwright matches a PA to an executive, she considers, in descending order of importance, the applicant’s: personal attributes, understanding of technology and cultural profile. Only then does she take into account skills, training and background.
Many top PAs never went beyond high school but have impeccable personal attributes, initiative, public relations skills, patience, reliability, flexibility, gregariousness and a good head for business.
January 2002
