In today’s world, being a successful personal assistant (PA) or executive assistant (EA) increasingly depends on your “soft skills”. Soft skills are character traits and interpersonal skills that enable you to thrive in your role. They tend to be in-built and are a part of who you are—whereas hard skills can be learned and refined over time. As a leading London PA recruitment agency, we’ll let you in on the soft skills you need to be an amazing PA!
Communication
Communications skills are vital whether you work in PA jobs, executive assistant jobs, or receptionist jobs. You must be able to speak to your colleagues and clients in a confident and professional manner. You must be able to listen carefully to what others are saying to obtain information and understand their exact needs. As a PA, you must also have great active listening skills to quickly and efficiently establish what tasks you need to undertake.
Accountability
As a PA, you should never make promises you’re unable to keep, because there’s always someone relying on you to get the job done. If you tell someone you’re going to do something, make sure you do it. What’s more, you shouldn’t be afraid to own up and accept responsibility if things go wrong and it’s your fault. As such, accountability is a soft skill that all PAs need to have.
Creativity
The best PAs usually respond to an issue before anyone even knows it exists—finding an effective and efficient solution. You must be able to think creatively about situations, so you can go straight to your manager with suggestions on how to fix a problem. Creativity is a soft skill that allows you to develop useful solutions. It requires you to be open to innovation and have a good level of mental flexibility.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence means the ability to accurately perceive and manage your own and other people’s emotions. Many people act on their emotions without thinking, but you really can’t do this when you work in PA jobs. You need the ability to recognise when your emotions are taking over, so you can consider your actions and whether they’re appropriate, then make adjustments.
Empathy
Employers like seeing team effort within their workforce, so it’s vital that you’re willing and able to help your colleagues whenever possible. If you see colleagues struggling with a task, find out what you can do to help them. To improve your level of empathy, put yourself in situations that gives you a better understanding of how your colleagues feel and think. Your ability to demonstrate empathy and these important soft skills is what can ultimately land you the top PA jobs in London.
Want to be a PA?
If being a PA sounds like the job for you, then get in touch today to discuss your job search requirements with one of our team. At our top London PA and secretarial recruitment agency, we can help you find PA jobs, executive assistant jobs, receptionist jobs, or office support jobs in London and further afield. We know what it takes to succeed in PA jobs in London.
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