TL;DR – I’m not in the habit of telling folks what to do but my advice is don’t become an executive assistant (EA) cause it’s so trash 🙂 I wouldn’t even want my future kids to be part of this field.
I’m currently an EA at a tech company and it sucks ass. I’ve been there for over a year and in total, I’ve been an EA for 6 years. If you’re considering an EA “career” (is it really a career if you do the same thing over and over, hold the same title for multiple years, and are stuck in jobs that usually have little to no growth?), you should know the job will be LARGELY dependent on the company and/or executive you work for. What do I mean by this you ask? Your job can either suck or be great because of who you work for.
Example: In my first admin role I worked for a small company and had a hand in everything. I worked on a ton of different projects for different departments. It wasn’t a startup and the pace of the company was lax – it was great! Expect the pay, which is why I left. In my current role, the pay is amazing (6 figures), but I play “move this meeting” all day, hunt down missing receipts by calling restaurants and hotels (I wish I was joking), and deal with dumbasses all day who think I was hired to help them when I wasn’t. I work on large sized projects and events as well but that’s not a daily thing (on an as needed basis).
My main gripes about being an EA are the following:
We do all the mundane and menial tasks that no one wants to do.
The respect for assistants is almost nonexistent.
It’s extremely difficult to transition out of the role. If your job gives you the opportunity to hop into a different role, take it and RUN.
Depending on the role, your life will revolve around the executives you support and you will be expected to be available 24/7.
The executives you support can turn out to be complete psychopaths and assholes. It’s really all a gamble.
Sure you get to interact with a lot of high level people and can be privy to a lot of confidential information but that doesn’t mean shit…well not to me at least lmao – just being honest. The interactions aren’t going to propel your career to some next level and the work is not rewarding. Nothing about scheduling meetings, taking notes, completing expenses, answering phones, or arranging travel is rewarding. A majority of your time WILL be spent doing these tasks wherever you go and whoever you work for.
Earlier this week I saw a post that said EAs are number 1 at being number 2 and recently my manager gave me shit for not answering an email on a Saturday (no, it wasn’t urgent by ANY means). She told me I’m expected to answer at all times (aka after hours and on weekends. Fuck that). She further goes on to say she operates under a certain level of nervousness everyday and that’s why she’s always checking her email. Sorry not sorry but (1) you will never convince me to be A-OK at being number 2 my entire career and (2) no one on this earth can ever convince me it’s normal to be a nervous wreck 24/7. I don’t care what title you hold or what credentials you have, NO ONE can convince me that’s normal and I’m not doing it.
These companies want you to swear fealty to them and want your first born but I can’t even enjoy my weekend off? You guys can honestly fuck off and that is why I’ve made the decision to retire from corporate America early. FIRE movement here I come!
PS: for those who say the job is hard, please stop. Please. Nothing about being an EA is hard. Having to fix a coding issue that’s affecting thousands of customers is hard. Having to save a dying patient is hard. Having to coordinate meetings across multiple time zones or arranging an offsite is ANNOYING but it’s not hard. Let’s be for real please.