There are signs that the economic climate is stabilising, but we’re not there yet. In the meantime, report recruitment consultants Office Angels, employers have never worked harder to ensure that they’re receiving real value for money when it comes to recruiting PAs. ‘Expanding your skill set to include office management, credit control, procurement or recruitment – to name a few examples – demonstrates your versatility and goes some way to making yourself indispensable,’ says operations manager Karen Chapman.
In fact, she says the role of PA has recently been evolving fast to include many new areas and, by adding key skills to your CV, it may be that employers can identify a previously untapped revenue opportunity for their company. ‘Skills you have from a previous experience could spark a recruiter’s interest, pushing your application high up the pile, even if those skills weren’t part of the job description.’
She adds that in an internet-based recruitment market, where databases of candidates are based around key skills, one thing’s for sure – the more skills you have, the better chance you have of coming out top of a recruiter’s search. Indeed, virtually all CVs today are handled online and processed digitally, searching for keywords.
The training menu
There's no time like the present to think about new horizons, but how do you decide which areas to concentrate on, and how do you go about getting that training? Office Angels reports growing numbers of employers looking for PAs who speak a foreign language. ‘A lot of companies now either trade in new hemispheres, or have outsourced some of their daily functions to Europe, or further, to be more cost-effective,’ says Chapman.
Other recruitment agencies agree and point to Russian, German, French, Spanish, Italian and Chinese being particularly sought after.
Chapman adds: ‘Experience in specialist areas such as marketing, event management and HR functions are also hugely beneficial as they allow PAs to multitask and assist in areas which may require additional ad hoc support.’ Office Angels adds credit control and invoicing to the list too, since they show up PAs who are really au fait with the company’s back-office functions. 'Procurement is another area where many companies are currently investing heavily in order to reduce operating costs, so experience here would be seen as a big advantage,’ says Chapman.
When deciding on the skills you want to learn this year, you need to remember that by trying to be shrewd about the skills that are currently in demand, you run the risk of chasing yesterday’s bandwagon, warns Richard Grace, co-managing director of recruitment and training company Gordon Yates.
‘The business world moves quickly and by the time you’ve gained the skill, it may no longer be in such demand. It might be worth thinking about going for a skill that can be broadly applied to a range of different business sectors, such as project management.’
Paul Griseri, a business expert at Middlesex University, agrees that general business skills are key. ‘The executive assistant role is becoming increasingly important and even I was astounded to discover that there are people at the top earning six-figure salaries. But this only happens where the PA is hungry for the skills that they know will make them like gold dust for bosses,’ he says.
Don’t miss out on being a pro at PowerPoint, insists Phil Collins, recruitment specialist at recruitment consultancy Reed. ‘I’ve spoken to PAs that don’t use PowerPoint at all and, in the current climate, it’s a fundamental part of business growth. By having expertise in it at an advanced level, you may be surprised how much you work with the boss rather than for them. It could even be the make or break of landing a job. It’s for this reason that I say to candidates, take a PowerPoint presentation on a dongle to your interview and show them what you can do.’
And, he adds, shorthand is back. ‘It has the added bonus of proving to a potential employer that you’re not a “jobbing” PA, who may only stick it out for a few years, but that being a PA is your career choice.’
Emma Bedford-Patel, a branch manager for recruitment agency Tate, adds staff supervision, managing training budgets, advertising, recruitment and working with suppliers to the list of would-be-great-to-get skills.
Be sure to make a clear assessment of the benefits, financial and otherwise, of any skills you’re considering. ‘Then think carefully about the cost involved, both in terms of money and the amount of personal time and energy that you’ll need to devote to it,’ says Grace. ‘From this analysis, decide whether this is a priority investment that will result in a high return. If it is, you may be able to persuade your employer to see it in the same way. Don’t be deterred by tight budgets – if your employer considers it a worthwhile investment, funding can often be found.’
When making your business case, give particularly careful consideration to what your employer will get out of it, says Chapman. ‘The best PA I have ever worked with takes great pride in maximising her skill base, not only for her own interest and experience, but also for the potential benefit of her employer and any future employers. When questioned as to why she felt the need to complete a SAGE course at evening school even though this was not included in her job description, her reply was, “Simple – it is the system used by our company and I feel that it’s essential that I know how to operate it so I can sympathise with any issues and provide informed solutions where necessary”.’
If your employer cannot be persuaded to pay for you to take a particular course, decide whether you have enough belief and commitment to fund the cost yourself, says Jane Firth, senior manager at Hays PA & Secretarial. ‘PAs are in the best place to know what training will benefit them most,’ she says, adding that they often have the networking skills to forge links with key contacts too.
With many skills – HR and marketing among them – shadowing or even helping out a colleague can teach you as much as a training course. ‘When it comes to HR, help with things like note taking in interviews or during a disciplinary process,’ suggests Rebecca Clake, adviser to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). ‘If there’s a project team looking at a particular issue – staff involvement, for example – think of volunteering. Other areas in which you could volunteer include getting involved in the induction process for new recruits.’
Your boss may have other ideas too, adds Mary Ann Eddleston, manager of the secretarial division of Euro London Appointments. ‘One-to-one coaching and career development workshops are just two examples of how you can gain new skills.’
Once you’ve learnt additional skills, take every opportunity to put them to good use, says Isabella Kasprowicz, senior consultant at Joslin Rowe. If you want to earn a promotion or pay rise, or get a new job in this tough market, you need to prove that you really deserve it over the competition – and that means not just learning your new skill but gaining experience in it too.
Case study
Belen Lopez, 30, is team secretary to the residential, development and investment team at global real esta