Career Goals and Tips for New Executive Assistants
In any profession, career goals are the ideal ways to track progress and succeed in a role. Executive assistants can benefit from implementing a few career goals into their work. If you are starting an executive assistant position and want to expand your goals, here are a few tips to track your progress and succeed professionally.
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The Basics of the Executive Assistant Role
An executive assistant (EA) will assist a company's executives with various responsibilities and tasks. Often, the EA will ensure that the operation of the workplace is more efficient.
Some of these duties may include:
Managing calendars
Managing travel arrangements
Preparing critical documents
Engaging with clients
Assisting with communications
An executive assistive works as a strategic partner to those startup founders and C-level executives. These individuals are assistants who can make an organization operate smoothly. From handling those communications of executives to project management support, an executive assistant is vital to provide assistance and keep the team functioning together. With every organization, the roles of the executive assistant will be different since they focus on various duties, tasks, and goals.
Related: What Does an Executive Assistant Do?
Why Set Career Goals?
If an EA wants to increase their professional growth and contribute to the workplace, they need to consider those career goals. Some of the benefits of setting career goals include:
Improving Job Satisfaction
One reason many people set career goals is to improve their job satisfaction. You can feel proud of your professional successes when you set and achieve those goals. Without goals, you may not know where to turn to look for those opportunities of advancement. Creating those goals may also help you grow professionally in the field. As a result, reaching goals will make you feel more satisfied with your work.
Develop New Skills
When you create a new career goal, you can also develop skills that will help to enhance your performance on the job. For example, you may develop the ability to prioritize tasks or learn a new system. You can potentially increase your success as an executive assistant with each skill. Technology is always changing in the world, and developing those new skills can help you stay ahead of others in the field. Plus, it will make you more valuable as an executive assistant.
Feel Empowered
By reaching those career goals, you can feel a sense of empowerment. In many cases, that can motivate you to set and achieve more goals. Plus, feeling empowered in the workplace can inspire others to set career goals on their own, resulting in a positive culture in the company. By feeling empowered in the workplace, you can take pride in your work, which will always have a positive impact on those employers.
Career Goals for Executive Assistants
In most cases, these goals can be tied to the particular work of the role. However, there are a variety of career goals that can apply exclusively to executive assistants, such as:
Skills-Based Goals
With these goals, an executive assistant can improve or gain skills in the company. These skill-based goals can include:
Developing a system to delegate tasks
Improve the functionality of different software products in the office
Read articles and listen to podcasts to enhance business knowledge
Use different systems to manage those daily activities
Interpersonal Goals
Within the office culture, you may want to choose goals based on improving those interpersonal relationships. Most executive assistants will work closely with other employees, and some goals can include:
Create a company culture that reflects its values
Collaborate with other members of the executive staff to make an informed decision
Develop new team-building ideas
Tips for New Executive Assistants
Being an executive assistant is a dream job for many. By focusing on those career goals, you can take the next steps in your career. Along with setting goals, you will need a few tips to be a successful EA. These tips include:
Prioritize
Every successful executive assistant knows how to prioritize. You will want to discuss the most critical projects and tasks with your boss. With that, you can focus on those most pressing issues. As the gatekeeper to the executive, you will need to prioritize their time and filter out any distractions.
Be Trustworthy
The executive will entrust you with sensitive information about the company. In some cases, you may access the executive's personal life. Being trustworthy and discreet are two crucial abilities in this role. You always want to keep that privileged information safe and secured as a valued confidant.
Quickly Switch from Different Tasks
Most executive assistants can switch from one task to another. You will often need to juggle multiple duties at one time. For that reason, you need to get comfortable moving between tasks, especially those smaller ones.
Make Quick Decisions
You will be required to make quick decisions in the fast-paced corporate world. However, you don't want to rush into these decisions. A great executive assistant must be able to evaluate the situation, gather all relevant information, and ask questions to make a decision.
Stay Calm Under Pressure
Executive assistants experience some high-pressure situations in demanding tasks and tight deadlines. You need to stay calm and composed no matter the situation. The last thing an executive wants is an assistant who panics at the first crisis.
Stay Organized
One of the most important qualities of an executive assistant is strong organizational skills. Being an EA is a fast-paced world that includes overseeing projects and managing schedules. This job is not for those who are disorganized. Project management software can help with those to-do lists, and most can be shared with colleagues. With a list, you can avoid missing any crucial deadlines.
By setting defined career goals and honing your skills, you can be a successful executive assistant for any company.
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