Whether it be a start-up that has just received seed funding or a company that has just raised series A, B, or C rounds, every C-Suite Executive of a fast-growing company knows what it’s like to end the day feeling like you’ve dropped the ball and haven’t focused on critical strategic initiatives. Rather, your day was spent on administrative nuts and bolts that weighed you down like a ball and chain. Perhaps this is the time to hire an Executive Assistant.
If you need more support and want to explore how we approach Executive and Personal Assistant recruitment, you can give us a call or email us. At C-Suite Assistants, all we do, day in and day out, are nationwide searches for executive or personal assistants. Here’s a snapshot of our process.
#1 – THE CRITICAL UPFRONT DISCOVERY CALL
The Basics of Hiring an Executive Assistant
The most important part of our process to hire an executive assistant is our initial conversation with the hiring manager. This upfront discovery process is critical and far less time-consuming than going through a merry-go-round of candidates and bad hires. It’s how we prepare for the right hire. Here are some of the questions we ask:
- How does this role fit in organizationally? Does it report to you, the CEO, CFO, COO, CMO, or someone else like a Chief of Staff?
- Who does the role support – only one executive or other C-Suite executives as well?
- What is the compensation package (salary, bonus, and benefits)? We can help you benchmark the market to know if you are competitive
- The basics – what skills and experience are needed? What are the hours?
What Makes a Great Hire?
In addition to the questions above, we look deeper for information that can distinguish a great hire from an average one:
- Have you tried to hire and not been successful? We can help you uncover some reasons which may not be apparent.
- Has there been someone in this role before? How did they work out? Why is the job open?
- How do you describe the company culture?
- How do you describe the executive’s personal work style and preferences?
Chemistry is everything when you hire an executive assistant or personal assistant. What kind of person succeeds at your company? What kind of personality will work best – a Chatty Charles or Chatty Cathy or a quieter right hand? Do you want someone who will just take orders or someone comfortable offering up their opinion and solutions? Do you want someone to “ride herd” to keep you on time all day long and keep interlopers from the door? Or do you want someone to help you tighten up your day? Maybe it’s the opposite – you’re not a natural people person and you need someone to provide that warm interface to others.
#2 – THE NEXT STAGE IN THE EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT HIRING PROCESS
Once we finalize the job description, we brief our team and we reach deep into our database and networking groups for candidates and referrals. We also reach out to executive assistants we already know to see if they are ready to make a move. To ensure that we’ve scouted the greatest talent pool, we frequently post the position unless it’s confidential. We sift through resumes, we conduct initial phone interviews, we narrow the field to the best candidates and then we conduct additional video and/or in-person interviews.
#3 – THE FINAL STRETCH – PRESENTING THE CANDIDATES
We select the top candidates for your executive assistant position and present them to you with a written interview summary and a resume. When you have selected which candidates you wish to interview, we schedule interviews for you and other designated company employees. Post-interview we debrief the candidate to see if they have questions or concerns and we also debrief with you to get your feedback. From there we help you decide who to bring in for further interviews. We bring up any concerns the candidate might have and discuss the pros and cons of each candidate.
#4 – THE OFFER – TIME TO HIRE AN EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
The time has come to hire an executive assistant. When you decide who you want to hire, we give you guidance on the best compensation package to assure the candidate will accept the offer. We handle the references (or you can if you prefer) and we help you extend the offer and guide you through negotiations if there are any. Once the candidate is on board at your organization we check in with them and with you frequently to assure that everything is going smoothly.
If you’re ready to get the executive assistant staffing support you need, contact us now.
