Being a personal assistant to a celebrity can be a demanding job. Often these individuals are expected to handle grueling tasks for many hours of the day however, the work also comes with a lot of perks. Discounts, free items, the opportunity to work with famous people and a lucrative salary are enticing enough for personal assistants to continue working in their field.
Your best bet is to begin your search with placement agencies. Most good agencies do not charge any registration fee at all. They just go thoroughly over your background keeping in mind whether your personality is similar to that of your prospective boss and if your skills will compliment the position you are filling.
Alternatively, here’s our guide on how to become a virtual assistant.
Where to start? Follow the steps below.
Becoming a PA/celebrity PA is not for everyone. Whether you’re working for a high-powered executive or an A-list celebrity, the PA job description is a pretty open-ended one, and duties can range from day-to-day office tasks to arranging meetings, and remembering partners’ birthdays and anniversaries – and everything in between. Superb memory, organisation skills, and an ability to multi-task and thrive under pressure are absolutely essential. Because, ultimately, if anything goes wrong the buck stops with you.
Don’t stop learning. There will always be something new to learn. There is currently no formal long-term education program to become a celebrity personal assistant, but you can develop many of the necessary skills in related programs, such as computer courses, household management courses (for butlers and household managers) and event planning courses offered by community colleges.
Keep your boss’s private and professional information to yourself. A relationship between a celebrity and his assistant is nothing without trust. Confidentiality and discretion are critical to success in the role, when an average day may involve taking notes at a strategy meeting, managing personal appointments, and editing confidential documents.
One great way to learn the skills of being a celebrity personal assistant is to be a non-celebrity PA first. You may even discover that being a personal assistant to a non-celebrity is more your speed if you really enjoy organizing but don’t like the stress of the celebrity lifestyle.
There are many books and web sites that list addresses and contact information for celebrities. Although you may not speak with the celebrities themselves, you can usually get in touch with their publicist, agent or even their current personal assistant. Even if they aren’t looking for an assistant immediately, they may have an opening in the future or know someone who does.
Let everyone know that you are a Celebrity PA who is looking for work. Think about all of the people you know, family and friends alike. In that vast network, is there anyone who is closer to a celebrity than you are? You can also meet celebrities through volunteering, working as a production assistant on a movie set, and job listings.
By joining a professional celebrity personal assistant organization you will keep up with the latest trends in the field.
