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Essential Characteristics Recruiters Look for in an Awesome Executive Assistant

When recruiters interview candidates for an executive assistant position, they not only need to ensure that the interviewees have the right skills, experience, and qualifications for the role. They also need to make sure the person that’s hired has the right characteristics.

Here’s a look at some of the most important characteristics  to look for when hiring an executive assistant.

An Exceptional Level of Organization

Every assistant needs to be highly organized, but executive assistants need to have exceptional organizational skills that go above and beyond what’s expected of them.

Executive assistants will almost always work in fast-paced environments, and they will be responsible for organizing a wide variety of operations and attending to given tasks to support company executives. Therefore, an awesome executive assistant needs to be able to work in a highly organized manner so that tasks are completed correctly and speedily.

A great executive assistant will be able to prioritize tasks, from booking travel to scheduling conferences, to make certain everything runs smoothly every day.

Superb Communication

Communication is just as important as organizational skills for executive assistants.

The assistant needs to be able to represent the company well by effectively speaking, writing, and listening during all assigned tasks. After all, a key part of the role will be to do things like draft letters, write down the minutes of meetings, and write memos. That means an excellent executive assistant also needs to possess amazing grammar, punctuation, and spelling skills.

Take a look at this post to learn more about the importance of professionally written messages in business communication.

Furthermore, the person needs to be able to forge positive relationships with executives, their teams, and their clients, which means a high level of communication is always required, alongside a friendly manner.

Excellent Creativity

Recruiters should be able to easily find executive assistants who possess great communication and organizational characteristics among pools of candidates. But to find a really awesome executive assistant, it’s important that recruiters look for candidates who have a high level of creativity.

Executives need assistants who will go beyond completing tasks correctly. They need assistants who can think creatively to help solve problems and get things done. The best executives know how important it is that their assistants are able to look at things from different angles and come up with new and creative ways to tackle issues and improve operations.

A High Degree of Composure

Working in an executive environment will always be professional and fast-paced, so executive assistants need to be able to keep their composure at all times.

They need to be able to remain calm under pressure and think on their feet. When problems arise, they can be dealt with swiftly and properly when an assistant has a cool head. On the other hand, if an executive assistant panics in stressful situations, it can be detrimental to the company.

Therefore, recruiters should make use of the best EA staffing services to ensure the executive assistants they hire are able to maintain their composure in a demanding environment and have the other important characteristics that are listed in this article.

The Utmost Professionalism

Every awesome executive assistant needs to always maintain a high level of professionalism. After all, executive assistants work in demanding and professional roles for top-notch companies. They will need to interact with all levels of an organization, from supporting the CEO to talking to security staff, so maintaining professionalism is crucial.

A high level of professionalism also means that executive assistants treat everyone with respect, don’t gossip, and maintain an even temper. They also need to be able to keep the confidentiality of executives and others in the organization.