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I can’t even count how many times throughout my career that I have received questions on what the difference is between an Executive Assistant (EA) and an Administrative Assistant (AA). The answer differs for a lot of people in the field, but I thought I would provide my points of view on the two branches of Administrative Support. Executive Assistant An Executive Assistant focuses more on direct one-on-one support to a high level executive within an office. Depending on the organization, they can provide support to anyone from a VP to the CEO.
They also can assist more than one person, depending on the office. In my career, I have supported, SVP’s, COO’s and EVP’s, as well as CEO’s/President’s. Everyone is different and you really have to cater your personality and skills to match different people. Daily tasks include scheduling and rescheduling meetings, booking travel, organizing expenses, planning events, and anything else that keeps the executive on track. There is also more of a high level risk when you’re an EA. You are scheduling and organizing another person’s life and you need to be on the top of your game.
What if you forgot to book an EVP’s flight return home? Or forgot to rent them a car at their destination (I’m sad to say that I actually did that once. I’m happy to say that I haven’t done it since)? You could be in a lot of trouble. As an EA, you often have to keep secrets very well. There are also times when you may be the.
My desk has never been this messy. “bad guy” because you have to enforce an executive’s orders.
You need to have a thick skin when moments like this happen because it doesn’t make you many friends. You have to realize that a lot of your job is thankless and the times you save a meeting from going wrong, coordinate a huge event, or spend three hours on the phone rescheduling someone’s flight will not often be recognized. Finally, and it would be silly not to mention this, generally EA’s make a higher salary than an AA, due to the high level risk with their position that I noted earlier.
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This is a generalization since I have met AA’s who are an incredible asset to a company and make a lot of money. Above all, an EA has to be able to keep multiple priorities in check and be able to single handedly know which items must be done NOW, and which can be done in an hour. An EA must be organized, patient, and thick skinned. Administrative Assistant I started my career as an AA so I have a lot of respect for people in this sector of Administration. An AA provides general support to a department or to a whole office.
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As opposed to assisting one person, their skills translate to being more of a generalist and helping multiple people to get their job done. AA’s have a lot of ongoing project work that help keep a business running.
This can involve filing paperwork, greeting visitors, being the first to answer the phone for a company or department, data entry, and much more. They often can take on any task that may need constant maintenance over a long period of time. In one company, I was in charge of Accounts Payable; in another I focused on putting together reports after each seminar. EA’s do project work as well, but their projects as more ad-hoc and often are a one-time assignment before moving on to the next task.
Personality wise, AA’s have to also be very patient, sometimes I think more so than an EA, honestly! AA’s don’t have the ability to fall back on their relationship with an executive to communicate how they may feel frustrated or annoyed. An AA deals with so many different people at every point during the day, that a lot of times you have to just smile and bear with it, even if you’re extremely aggravated. I also feel, from personal experience, that sometimes people can be condescending to an AA. Through those incidents, I learned how to stick up for my profession and myself and to show that I’m valuable resource to an organization. So how does this translate in being a Virtual Assistant and my career now?
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Today I still focus and specialize in being an eVA (Executive Virtual Assistant) to entrepreneurs, executives, and business owners. However, I do like project work and welcome it at any time, so perhaps that makes me a blended VA.
The question is – what are you looking for in a Virtual Assistant? This post should help you in your search. Are you looking for a generalist VA? Or someone to constantly support you one-on-one and focus on your calendar? Until next time, may the Force be with you.