A personal secretary is an individual who typically works one-on-one with his or her boss, frequently someone who is an executive or a small business owner who needs a personal secretary and assistant for daily work. As a result, anyone who wants to become a personal secretary will need to have prior work experience in administrative assistance. Education might be helpful as well; local and community colleges frequently offer certificate or diploma programs to become a professional administrative assistant. It is also necessary to have a friendly, outgoing personality in order to become a personal secretary, as you will likely be interacting with many people on a daily basis.
Anyone who wants to become a personal secretary, a term often used interchangeably with personal assistant, should begin getting experience in an office environment as soon as possible. Any business executives looking to hire a personal secretary will want to be sure that he or she knows what she's doing, and can interact on a polite, professional level with people. Someone with experience as an administrative assistant will also know how to use various office and computer equipment, how to maintain a filing systems, and possess other skills like answering the phone or creating schedules.
In addition, you might also try to become a personal secretary by getting some additional education in this field. Community colleges or trade schools may offer certificates in secretarial and office administration work. In addition, there are many programs available online as well, that may be easier to fit into a busy schedule. This type of educational work can look great on a resume, and can make it more likely that you will receive a higher salary once you actually get hired somewhere. In general, it would be very rare for anyone to be able to become a personal secretary without at least a high school diploma.
In an interview to become a personal secretary, you will want to dress professionally as well as appear friendly, competent, and polite. Go prepared to the interview with examples of how you've succeeded in this type of work in the past. It is important that you have excellent communication skills, as well as a willingness to learn new things. As a general rule, it is important that anyone working as a personal secretary be self-motivated and capable of working independently without constant supervision or direction; most employers will not want to spend a great deal of time training a new secretary.
