A Personal Assistant (PA) or Executive Assistant (EA) is an integral part of any business. More than anyone, PAs have their finger on the pulse of what’s going on and how their company’s adjusting to new situations. At our PA recruitment agency, we’ve been catching up with some of the PAs we’ve helped find jobs for to find out what their role’s like at the moment and how they see things progressing.
“It’s like I’m doing a different job!”
Alison, who works as PA to a busy team of marketing executives, told us about her experience: “It’s like I’m doing a different job! Before lockdown, I spent about 75% of my time managing travel bookings, organising international events, and communicating with executives on the road. Initially, I was furloughed for three weeks as it seemed like there wouldn’t be much for me to do. But then they realised the executives still needed support, just in a different way. As they’ve been working to change the angle of the business to survive the pandemic, they’ve needed admin support that I can do remotely. Now I spend most of my time creating reports and documents, as well as making phone calls.”
“I’m busier than ever”
Jonas works as an EA for the managing director of a medium-sized law firm. “To begin with, I was the point of contact for helping everyone working at home, and organising everything to do with that,” he explains. “That was busy as lots of people struggled to adjust. Now I’m busier than ever, continuing to support everyone whilst also working on creating a Covid-secure workplace for when we return to the office. My manager has been busy with client management, which is much harder to do remotely, so I’ve had to step up and take on a lot of the extra work caused by Covid.”
“I love working from home”
“I love working from home,” says Lara. “A PA role is actually well-suited to homeworking. I find I can be so much more productive without all the distractions of the office. I’m not wasting time doing lots of tiny tasks that others could do. Instead, I’m focusing on supporting my manager and being there for them. It’s worked out so much better than we both thought it would.”
“I’ve lost my job”
Unfortunately for some PAs in London, it hasn’t been an easy time. “I’ve lost my job, which is upsetting as I loved where I worked and who I worked with,” Mary told us. “I worked in the travel industry, so the company’s been hit hard. To begin with, I was furloughed, but now redundancies are being made. I’m not feeling defeated though. I was offered that job through Love Success, so now I’m back on their books! I’m sure the right thing will come along. For the moment, I’m doing some temp work in London, helping a team of incredibly busy accountants.”
Are you a PA and been made redundant? Get in touch and find out about the PA jobs in London that are available right now. You may need to change sector, depending on what industry you’ve been working in, but the good news is that PA skills are generally highly transferrable. Find out more about being a Love Success candidate.
Love Success is a leading London PA & office support recruitment agency.
Our expert recruiters can help you find permanent and temporary jobs in London.
View our latest job opportunities here
PA & EA Jobs l Office Support Jobs l Temporary Jobs Marketing & PR Jobs l HR Jobs l Finance Jobs