Working as a personal assistant involves a huge range of skills. It’s a job that comes with many challenges.
The hours can be long, and you’ll need to think fast and be ultra-organised.
But it’s a position that many people find incredibly rewarding.
If you’re a good multitasker, with excellent organizational and communication skills, being a personal assistant can be a fantastic career choice.
Your work is varied, you certainly won’t have time to be bored, and it could come with some interesting perks, particularly if you become a personal assistant for a celebrity.
This niche role is highly demanding, as you’ll need all the skills of a personal assistant, and then some!
But several unique benefits make being a celebrity personal assistant a fascinating job.
You’ll get an insight into another world, you’ll have the satisfaction of organizing the life of someone in the public eye, and there may be other benefits such as foreign travel.
So, if you’re interested in learning how to become a celebrity personal assistant, read on…
Gain experience as a personal assistant
The celebrity world is fast-paced, there’s no time to learn on the job here, and it’s very unlikely that you’ll be hired as a celebrity personal assistant with no prior experience.
The key is to find work as a personal assistant anywhere you can, to build up your experience.
There are many personal assistant roles within the business world, you may even find yourself working for someone well-known in this sector.
Once you have some experience on your resume, and you feel confident with your skills, you can then begin to look for a position supporting a celebrity.
Get qualified
It will come as no surprise that being a celebrity personal assistant is an attractive position and so the job market for these roles is highly competitive.
You need to make your resume stand out from the crowd, and if you haven’t already worked for high-profile clients, then perhaps an impressive list of relevant qualifications will help your resume catch the eye of your next employer.
You can gain qualifications that are specific to the industry, and these will certainly be beneficial, but you can also gain a wider range of qualifications by focusing on the individual tasks that make up the work of a personal assistant.
There are so many skills involved in being a great PA, so why not look out for courses in different areas to gain qualifications that will prove your abilities?
hether it’s developing your proficiencies using office software, improving your communication skills, or attending a problem-solving workshop, the more proof you have that you’re highly skilled and dedicated to this career, the better.
Build up your professional network
There’s no denying, this is a tricky industry to break into.
Often, it’s only partly what you know, and for the greater part, it’s who you know.
Celebrities need someone they can trust and rely on.
Such positions may well be filled through word-of-mouth recommendations rather than being advertised in the more general job market.
Networking is the key. Get the word out there that you’re looking for work within the industry, and particularly, that you’d love to work for a celebrity client.
You just never know who will know whom and what this could result in.
And so, it also follows, that you should develop and maintain great working relationships as you progress through your career.
Someone may just remember that friendly, helpful and professional personal assistant and recommend you for a celebrity personal assistant position one day!
Extra skills to succeed at being a celebrity personal assistant
Working as a personal assistant to a celebrity is exciting but it certainly comes with some extra challenges.
All PAs require certain skills. You’ll have to be organized and efficient and always on the ball.
You’ll need to be able to think outside of the box and solve problems quickly.
Your ability to remain calm under pressure, and to juggle a dozen tasks at once will no doubt be called upon.
All these, and more, are the mainstay of the work of a personal assistant.
But when you work for a celebrity, you’ll have even more you must contend with.
et’s take a look at some ways in which working as a personal assistant for a celebrity can differ from being a personal assistant for a client who is not in the public eye…
Ensure total confidentiality
As a celebrity personal assistant, you will most likely deal with confidential information.
This could be concerning your client’s finances, it could be details of where they’re going on vacation, or it may be the knowledge of whom they’re dating that you have to keep quiet about.
If you’re the sort of person who can’t keep a secret, then this career may not be for you!
It may even be the case that you are not allowed to even disclose the name of your celebrity employer. Give that some thought. You’re the personal assistant for a big star, but you can’t tell anyone.
Can you deal with that? Could you resist the temptation to tell everyone who you’re working for? Are you careful enough to not let slip where the celeb has a dinner reservation or that they’re planning to get married in secret?
These small details could have massive consequences that simply would not be such a big issue for a client who is not famous.
Don’t be starstruck
When you work for a celebrity, it’s likely you’ll also come into contact with other famous people.
The key is to remain professional at all times. It might be tempting to scream “I love your movies” when you answer the phone to a famous actor or rush up to a pop star you recognise at an event you’re attending with your client and ask for their autograph, but you need to remain calm.
You’re working, and this is no time to be a starstruck fan!
Have patience
While we don’t want to make over-generalizations, many celebrities do have a reputation for being particularly demanding.
Having a calm demeanour, and the patience of a saint will serve you well.
Of course, many famous people are delightful, but you could end up having to deal with some difficult situations along the way.
Be squeaky clean
If your career goal is to become a celebrity personal assistant, now is the time to focus on your own life and reputation.
One misjudged post on Facebook or a speeding ticket could totally ruin your chances of pursuing your dream.
Have a flexible life
Working for a celebrity can involve organizing late-night events or accompanying them while they travel.
While the thought of going on tour with a rock star might sound exhilarating, in reality, it’s going to be hard work, and you could be away from home for months on end.
There’s little space for family commitments in this job.
You need to weigh up the costs to you, your family and your relationships before you pursue such a demanding career that can take up so much of your time and dictate your life to such a degree.
