Personal assistants provide clients with services ranging from scheduling appointments to picking up dry cleaning. Assistants often help clients by performing tasks that clients do not have time to do or may not be able to do themselves. Some personal assistants work from their homes, while others go to the client's location.
One of the different personal assistant jobs is that of a celebrity personal assistant. This type of assistant’s job involves assisting a high profile celebrity with tasks such as choosing outfits and taking the client’s kids to and from school. The person in this position may also plan meetings, coordinate with caterers and run errands. Celebrity personal assistants must be extremely trustworthy and keep information about the celebrity out of the press. Some helpers also perform marketing functions such as responding to emails and posting events on social websites.
Another type of the many personal assistant jobs is a virtual personal assistant who works from his or her home and performs various services for a client. Most clients hire virtual assistants to do secretarial assignments including drafting correspondence, filing and calendaring. Other assistants have duties such as reviewing the client’s mail, paying invoices and ordering flowers. Virtual assistants also make travel arrangements, return calls for the client and prepare invitations for events.
Personal shoppers have one of the more exciting assistant jobs and get to make purchases at the client’s request. Busy executives often have assistants buy presents for friends and co-workers. These shoppers may peruse stores for sales or go to auctions for clients. Clients sometimes use these individuals to hunt for travel deals on cruises and vacation packages.
Some personal assistant jobs are geared towards helping people who are disabled or have other debilitating medical conditions. The personal assistant can help the client with activities such as grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning. Clients may have the assistant provide transportation to and from medical appointments or to see friends.
In order to work in any of these available personal assistant jobs, individuals need to follow directions and communicate well with clients. Assistants should have secretarial skills such as typing, scheduling and accounting. It would also be beneficial to these positions if the assistant were computer savvy since some of the personal assistant jobs include using the Internet and social media to market the client. The personal assistant should also be able to keep privileged information regarding the client since the assistant may see the client's business statements or medical documents.