Are you feeling overwhelmed with your daily workload? Do you find yourself spending too much time on administrative tasks instead of focusing on high-level objectives that could grow your business? It might be time to consider hiring a personal assistant.
Whether you’re a C-suite executive, an entrepreneur, or a busy professional, having the right personal assistant can be a game-changer for your productivity and work-life balance. But finding the perfect match isn’t always straightforward.
In this guide, we’ll walk through everything you need to know about hiring a personal assistant. But before that, if you’re looking for high-level executive support without the full-time cost, consider ProAssisting.
Our US-based ProAssistants have 5+ years of experience supporting C-suite executives. They can handle everything from email management to arranging birthday parties. Schedule a free consultation today to discover how they can help you maximize your productivity!
What Does a Personal Assistant Do?
At its core, a personal assistant’s role is to give you back time by handling tasks, projects, and responsibilities around the home, office, or multiple estates.
In larger households, they might work under the purview of an estate manager while serving as a single point of contact for managing both business and personal affairs.
The daily work of a personal assistant covers many areas, including:
- Managing your calendar and scheduling
- Handling communications (emails, calls, correspondence)
- Driving family members to various appointments and activities
- Coordinating travel arrangements and researching trip options
- Meeting with people on-site while you’re elsewhere
- Running errands and managing personal projects
A good personal assistant does more than just follow your directions. They learn to spot what you need before you ask.
They think one step ahead and fix issues before you even know about them. They get to know how you like things done. This allows them to make smart decisions that help reach your goals.
The right personal assistant becomes an extension of you in your daily operations, saving you hours each week and helping you maintain focus on strategic priorities.
Types of Personal Assistants
When looking to hire a personal assistant, it’s important to understand the different types available so you can choose the one that best fits your needs:
- Full-Time Personal Assistant: A full-time assistant works just for you, typically 40 hours weekly. They might work at your house, your workplace, or from somewhere else. They handle all kinds of support tasks for you. This choice makes sense when you have lots to do or need regular help.
- Part-Time Personal Assistant: Just like a part-time executive assistant, a part-time personal assistant works for you on a regular but limited schedule, usually 10-30 hours per week. It can be cost-effective if you don’t need full-time support. The person may work for multiple clients and is good at handling specific recurring tasks.
- Fractional Personal Assistant: This type of assistant works for multiple clients (typically 2-3), providing dedicated support during business hours. Work is integrated between clients throughout the day. It is more affordable than full-time but more dedicated than traditional virtual assistants. It offers a good balance of availability and cost-effectiveness.
- Remote Personal Assistant: This type of assistant works from a different location and communicates primarily through digital channels. It can be full-time, part-time, or fractional. The assistant eliminates geographical limitations in talent search and typically handles tasks that don’t require physical presence.
- Live-in Personal Assistant: A live-in assistant stays at your home. They provide help whenever you need it. They handle your business and personal needs. High net worth individuals with extensive needs often prefer this arrangement. This gives you the best access to help at any time.
- Virtual Assistant: Usually works for many clients simultaneously (often 6+ clients), typically handling more task-based support. They’re often less expensive but less personalized, with limited availability during specific hours—best for routine, clearly defined tasks.
Common Services Provided by Personal Assistants
Unlike executive assistants who focus primarily on business support, personal assistants typically manage the day-to-day aspects of their employer’s personal life and household affairs.
Their responsibilities often extend beyond the office into family logistics, property management, and lifestyle coordination.
If you’re weighing your options between executive assistant vs. personal assistant support, consider these key services that personal assistants commonly provide:
- Childcare Coordination: Your assistant manages your children’s daily plans. They set up transportation to schools and events, stay in touch with nannies and babysitters, and ensure your children are well cared for when you can’t be there.
- Travel Management: Researching destinations, booking flights and accommodations, creating detailed itineraries, arranging ground transportation, and handling special requests for family trips or personal vacations.
- Estate Management and Maintenance: Overseeing household staff, coordinating with service providers (cleaners, landscapers, repairmen), managing inventory of household supplies, and ensuring properties are well-maintained.
- Personal Shopping and Errands: Purchasing gifts, handling personal shopping needs, running errands, picking up prescriptions, managing dry cleaning, and other time-consuming tasks.
- Lifestyle Management: Coordinating personal appointments (medical, beauty, fitness), managing social calendars, organizing personal events, and handling reservations for dining and entertainment.
- Administrative Support: Managing personal correspondence, organizing important documents, paying household bills, coordinating with financial advisors, and handling other paperwork.
- Advanced Travel Preparation: Traveling ahead of the family to prepare residences or vacation properties, stocking refrigerators, arranging welcome amenities, coordinating with local staff, and ensuring everything is perfect before the family arrives.
- Special Projects: Planning parties and events, researching major purchases, coordinating home renovations, or managing other significant personal projects as needed.
The scope of a personal assistant’s role can vary greatly depending on the employer’s lifestyle, family situation, and number of properties.
What remains consistent is their focus on making their employer’s personal life run smoothly, allowing them to focus on business priorities or simply enjoy more leisure time.
Where to Find a Personal Assistant
Finding the right personal assistant requires looking in the right places.
Here are the best sources for quality candidates:
1. Specialized Agencies
ProAssisting offers premium US-based personal executive assistants who transform overwhelming workdays into streamlined efficiency.
Our ProAssistants are experienced professionals who provide ongoing support across multiple disciplines, helping you focus on high-priority tasks while they handle:
- Daily Task Coordination: Creating detailed to-do lists and managing responsibilities
- Administrative Support: Handling paperwork and organizational tasks
- Schedule Management: Balancing work and personal commitments
ProAssisting’s personal executive assistants also offer specialized services, including:
- Research and intelligence gathering
- Personal brand development
- Event experience design
- Custom travel planning
- Lifestyle management
- Crisis management
With ProAssisting, you get quality help that makes you more productive and supports your growth. Learn how a personal executive assistant can help you outsource your chaos.
2. Professional Networks
Your existing professional network can be an excellent source of referrals. Ask colleagues, friends, or business associates if they know any qualified assistants looking for opportunities.
These personal recommendations often lead to better matches as they come pre-vetted by someone you trust.
3. Job Posting Sites
Platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter allow you to post detailed job descriptions and reach a wide pool of candidates.
For best results, be specific about the skills and experience you’re looking for in your posting.
4. College Career Centers
University career centers can connect you with students or recent graduates looking for experience.
While these candidates might lack extensive experience, they often bring energy, tech-savviness, and willingness to learn.
5. Recruitment Agencies
Traditional recruitment firms can help you find candidates, particularly if you’re looking for someone with specific qualifications or industry experience.
They typically charge a percentage of the first-year salary as their fee.
6. Industry-Specific Assistant Groups
Some industries have specialized assistant networks or associations. These groups can be excellent resources for finding assistants with relevant experience in your field.
High-quality specialized agencies like ProAssisting can save you significant time vetting candidates and reduce the risk of a poor match.
How to Hire a Personal Assistant
Finding and hiring the right personal assistant requires a systematic approach.
Here’s a step-by-step process to guide you:
- Define Your Needs: Before starting your search, take time to identify exactly what you need help with. Make a list of tasks you currently handle that could be delegated, track your activities for a week to identify time-consuming responsibilities, and determine if you need business support, personal support, or both. This self-assessment will guide your hiring decisions and help you communicate expectations clearly to candidates.
- Create a Detailed Job Description: Develop a comprehensive job description that includes specific responsibilities and tasks, required skills and qualifications, expected working hours and location, and any special requirements (travel, confidentiality needs, etc.). A good description attracts qualified candidates while filtering out those who aren’t a good match.
- Set a Realistic Budget: Personal assistant compensation varies widely based on experience level, geographic location, and employment status. For a high-level, experienced assistant, expect to pay $70,000-$150,000+ annually for full-time, $35-$150 hourly for contract work, or $2,000-$7,000 monthly for fractional support. Remember that quality support is an investment—underpaying often results in high turnover and subpar performance.
- Screen Candidates Thoroughly: When looking at applications, check if their resume matches their LinkedIn profile. Look for clear examples of what they’ve done before. Notice any gaps in their work history. Review how well they write in their cover letter and emails. Also, check how professional they look online, including their photo, and if their profile is complete.
- Conduct Effective Interviews: During interviews, ask candidates to tell you about times they solved problems similar to yours. Create some “what if” scenarios related to your needs. Notice their speaking style and professionalism. Find out how they handle private information. Check if they can think ahead and solve issues on their own.
- Consider a Trial Period: Before making a long-term commitment, start with a paid trial period of 2-4 weeks. Assign varied tasks that represent typical responsibilities, assess how quickly they learn your preferences, and evaluate their ability to handle unexpected situations and integrate with your work style.
- Establish Clear Expectations: Once you hire someone, create a clear list of what they’ll do for you. Explain how you want to stay in touch and when they should be available. Set up regular check-ins to review their work. Discuss privacy requirements. Define what counts as business tasks versus personal ones.
- Invest in Onboarding: Proper onboarding is crucial for success. Schedule dedicated time for training during the first few weeks, provide access to necessary accounts and systems, share your preferences and priorities, introduce them to family members, and create a reference document with FAQs and standard procedures.
Take the time to find someone who not only has the necessary skills but also complements your working style and understands your vision.
Once you’ve hired them, understanding how to empower your personal assistant will be key to a successful long-term relationship.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Let’s address some common questions about hiring personal assistants:
Can Personal Assistants Work Remotely?
In some instances, personal assistants can work remotely. However, we find that remote personal assistant work is better done by fractional remote executive assistants, like those at ProAssisting.
And if you really want that personal assistant (without focusing on your business aspects), the benefits happen when they are on-site at your home or travelling with you!
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Personal Assistant?
The cost of hiring a personal assistant ranges from $70,000 to $150,000 or $200,000 a year. Additional expenses may include stipends, vehicle costs (if required), and housing accommodations (if they’ll be living on-site).
The total investment depends largely on the experience level, scope of responsibilities, and whether you need live-in support.
Are Personal Assistants Worth the Investment?
It all depends on whether the family wants that kind of attention and needs that level of support.
For couples where both partners work—having someone to handle family responsibilities and personal needs can be very beneficial.
Personal assistants help run your household, keep track of everyone’s schedules, and take care of personal tasks. This lets busy professionals focus on their work while still keeping family life balanced.
How Long Does It Take to Find the Right Assistant?
Finding the right personal assistant typically takes between 2-8 weeks, depending on your approach and requirements.
Here’s a general timeline:
- Using a Specialized Agency Like ProAssisting: 1-2 weeks, as we’ve already vetted qualified candidates.
- Traditional Hiring Process: 4-8 weeks, including job posting, screening, interviewing, reference checks, and onboarding.
- Finding the Right Fit: The most important factor is compatibility, which you’ll only truly know after working together. Many assistant relationships include a trial period of 2-4 weeks.
When you rush this process, you often make poor choices and have to begin again. The time you invest now will pay off by avoiding problems down the road.
Conclusion
Hiring a personal assistant is a transformative step toward reclaiming your time and focus. The right match becomes an extension of you, handling tasks so you can concentrate on what truly matters.
At ProAssisting, we offer elite fractional executive support without the commitment of a full-time hire. With our three-to-one client ratio, your dedicated ProAssistant provides prompt responses within an hour or less during business hours.
We charge a simple $3,300 monthly retainer with no surprise costs. Our rigorous selection process (accepting less than 5% of applicants) ensures you’re matched with a professional who quickly adapts to your needs.
Ready to save 50-80% compared to hiring in-house? Schedule your free 30-minute consultation today.
