Personal Assistant(PA) Job Description

A Personal Assistant’s job description entails working closely with directorial staff or senior managerial to provide administrative or clerical support necessary to run the organization effectively.  The key responsibility of a personal assistant is to perform and coordinate the administrative activities of the office and store, retrieve, and integrate data for dissemination to clients and staff. In the absence of a manager, a PA has to handle the work efficiently therefore, discretion and confidentiality are a PA’s essential attributes.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Screening telephone calls, and handling requests, and enquiries, when appropriate.
• Maintaining and organizing diaries and planning and scheduling proper appointments and meetings.
• Dealing with incoming calls, post, email, and faxes, and taking minutes and dictation in meetings.
• Creating spreadsheets, composing correspondence, managing databases.
• Creating presentations, documents, reports, and using digital graphics and desktop publishing software.
• Organizing meetings, attending them and ensuring that the manager is well geared up for meetings.
• Making decisions and assigning work to other staff members in the absence of manager, and deputizing for the manager.
• Conducting research and disseminating information through telephone, websites, mail services, and e-mail.
• Maintaining and devising office systems, including filing, data management etc.
• Organizing and maintaining electronic and paper files and managing projects.
• Liaising with suppliers, clients, and other staff.
• Negotiating with vendors, maintaining and examining leased equipment, purchasing supplies.
• Providing orientation and training for new staff, conducting research on internet, operating, and troubleshooting new office technologies.

Skills and Specifications

• Proficient in typewriting and good at English grammar.
• Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills.
• Must be tactful in dealing with people.
• Discretion, good judgment ability, adaptable and versatile individual.
• Organizational skills or management ability.
• Initiative and ability to operate independently.

Education and Qualifications

• High school graduate with basic office skills.
• Degree in any field from an accredited institution.
• Relevant training or certification in office administration is an added advantage.