Personal Assistant

Kaiāwhina Whaiaro

Personal assistants provide administrative, clerical, secretarial and general support to managers and other professionals. They may also be responsible for financial planning, recruitment and staffing.

Learn about this job

Secondary education
Useful experience
What you will do
Skills and knowledge
Related Wintec courses
Entry requirements
Chances of getting a job
Find out more about training
Career progression and specialisations
Working conditions
Useful personal qualities
Industry
Similar jobs in the industry

Secondary education

There are no specific secondary education requirements to become a personal assistant. However, accounting, business studies, digital technologies, maths and English are useful.

Study fields

Study levels

Up to NCEA Level 3
Diploma
Certificate

Useful experience

Useful experience for personal assistants includes:

word processing and data entry work
reception work
customer service work
administration work.

What you will do

Personal assistants may do some or all of the following:

keep managers' diaries, including making their appointments and travel arrangements
take messages, answer queries and screen telephone calls and visitors
arrange meetings, conference calls, hui and conferences
take minutes and dictation
research, prepare and format emails, letters, reports and other documents
prepare monthly reports, budgets, financial data and presentations
manage projects or junior staff.

Skills and knowledge

Personal assistants need to have:

knowledge of their organisation and what other staff do
good writing skills, including report writing skills
knowledge of financial reporting and budgeting
the ability to keep up to date with changes in office technology
staff and project management skills
research skills.

Related Wintec courses

Pay

Personal assistants can earn

$55K-$1100K

per year

Job opportunities

Poor

Chances of getting a job as a personal assistant are poor for those wanting to enter the role, but good for those with experience.

Industry

Administration

Similar jobs in this industry

Office Administrator

Receptionist

Contact Centre Worker

Office Manager

Entry requirements

There are no specific requirements to become a personal assistant. However, a business administration qualification, such as a certificate or diploma, may be useful.

Personal assistants can complete a New Zealand Certificate in Business (Administration and Technology) (Levels 3 and 4) or a New Zealand Diploma in Business (Administration and Technology) (Level 5) while working.

Ignite Colleges oversees workplace assessments.

Ignite Colleges website – business administration qualifications

Personal assistants may also become members of the Association of Administrative Professionals New Zealand (AAPNZ), which offers professional development opportunities.

AAPNZ website – benefits of becoming a member

Chances of getting a job

Multi-skilled personal assistants in demand

Your chances of securing a job are best if you can combine personal assistant skills with other administration skills such as managing staff or managing an office, and payroll or accounts work.

This is because many organisations combine two administration jobs into one to save costs or deal with tight budgets.

According to the Census, 10,086 personal assistants worked in New Zealand in 2018.

Strong competition for personal assistant jobs

Competition for personal assistant jobs can be high, making it harder for people without experience to secure jobs. It's useful to gain experience working in general administration roles before applying for a personal assistant job.

Work experience in a law firm is useful to become a legal secretary, as is experience in a medical centre or hospital to become a medical secretary.

Types of employers varied

Most major industries employ personal assistants. The top four types of businesses that employ personal assistants are:

legal and accounting services
school education
government administration
marketing and business management services.

Find out more about training

Association of Administrative Professionals New Zealand: www.aapnz.org.nz
Ignite Colleges: 0800 200 345 - info@ignitecolleges.ac.nz - https://ignitecolleges.ac.nz

Progression and specialisations

Personal assistants may move into roles in event planning, human resources, marketing, project management or public relations.

Personal assistants may also move into middle management, but usually need to gain more qualifications to do so.

With further training, legal secretaries may progress to become legal executives.

Event manager job information
Human resources adviser job information
Legal executive job information
Marketing specialist job information
Project manager job information
Public relations professional job information

Personal assistants may work in specialised roles such as:

Legal Secretary: Legal secretaries do administrative work in law firms or courthouses. They may do conveyance work or prepare legal documents such as wills or trusts.
Medical Secretary: Medical secretaries work in medical centres or hospitals. They need to know medical terms to prepare medical reports or use medical databases.

Working conditions

Personal assistants:

usually work regular office hours, but may sometimes work longer hours, or evenings and weekends, or work part time
work in offices
may work in stressful conditions if they support managers who are in high-pressure jobs
may occasionally travel locally, or overseas, to attend meetings or conferences.

Useful personal qualities

Personal assistants need to be:

good at planning, organisation and time management
able to relate to people from a range of cultures and at all levels of management
friendly and helpful
accurate, and have an eye for detail
diplomatic and discreet, with good judgement
skilled in decision making and problem solving
able to show initiative and work well under pressure.