10 Tips and Tricks for Keeping Your inbox Organised

You know the feeling of frustration when your inbox gets cluttered and you can´t find a thing. If you receive hundreds of e-mails each week, you know how easy your inbox can get messy and how difficult it can be to make it organised again.   Here are 10 steps on how to keep your inbox clean and organised:   Delete. Delete. Whenever you see an e-mail from an unknown sender, look at the Subject line. If you see unknown and funny characters with no sense at all, the e-mail is spam and you should delete it immediately.   Use ...

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Top 10 Soft Skills

When it comes to applying for a new job, the main focus tends to be on the qualifications and technical requirements if the position. And as much as these are necessary in order to get your CV and submission noticed by the relevant hiring managers, it’s the addition of soft skills – these being the cluster of personality traits, social graces, communication, and the sort that round you off a professional – that may just land you the job, and indeed serve you well in truly proving yourself and progressing with your career. Make sure that you highlight your soft ...

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Following Up During Your Job Hunt

The job hunt is a gruelling and arduous time in any professional’s life – we’ve all been there and can attest to as much. However, it’s precisely because it’s such a pain that you need to get smart about how you approach it, and following up throughout the process can often be one of the most useful, yet regularly overlooked, tools at your disposal. But if you’re hesitant about how to go about it, or indeed when to make that extra, seemingly unnecessary bit of contact, then see below for our guide on following up during the job hunting process. ...

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Moving Up On The Assistant Career Ladder

Even in the world of personal and executive assistants there exists that all important professional ladder that we’re all constantly told to keep climbing. Despite the fact that many of us will work in environments where we’re surrounded by people who are all but consumed by the desire to ascend, ascend, ascend, it’s also important to remember that there’s nothing wrong in wanting to further yourself in your chosen career.   If you’re looking for some advice on how to move up in your own career ladder to a more senior PA role, here’s some advice on how to get ...

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Skills You Need to Succeed At Work

There are certain skills and attributes that are universally sought by employers. Most likely you possess one or more of these attributes which is certainly good news!   Identify a key set of skills you should focus if you want to achieve success when starting a new job.    Knowing how and when to show empathy Having the ability to place yourself in someone else’s shoes is a key people skill.    Leadership The ability to take control of a situation and to lead by empowering others into an effective team. Inspiring and energizing others to carry out tasks and ...

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PA of The Month: Helen Rees

  Helen Rees is the PA to the Chief Executive at Marwell Wildlife Zoo. She is an avid supporter of the zoo and an animal lover. Sometimes she has unusual zoo’ tasks, like holding a press call to their famous Humboldt penguin Ralph.    1. How did you arrive at your position? I have held a variety of PA and admin roles in various organisations, from Southern Arts (the former arts funding body for the south of England) and local authority arts venues, to the regional office of the Audit Commission. I also ran a community youth music project for a couple of ...

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PA of The Month: Sonia Polacci

Sonia Polacci is PA to the Owner and Fashion Stylist at a Cashmere company, which is developing new business projects in UK. She has worked across a range of industries which include Travel, Hospitality, and now Public Relations.    How did you arrive at your position? Before reaching my current position, I worked as a PA in Tourism environment for more than fifteen years, first for a Tour Operator and then for a Travel Agency both with worldwide destinations. Even if this kind of job was a continuous challenge with unexpected events always on the agenda, I wanted to enhance ...

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PA PRIVE NETWORK EVENING |TUESDAY 29TH JULY | LONDON

PA privé is delighted to invite you to an exclusive second networking evening. The event will be held at the Exclusive 5* Montcalm at The Brewery London City Hotel  on Tuesday 29th July 2014 at 18.30hs  REGISTER HERE  Our evening’s line-up includes We are delighted to welcome trainer and international conference speaker Mark Perl*, who will give a talk on the importance of perfecting your Linkedin profile and how to achieve it. C.V. Surgery area for career, CV and job advice hosted by Tate, specialists in the recruitment of office professionals. The Montcalm London City will have a goody bag ready for all PAs that ...

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How to Organise a Perfect Meeting

Organising and leading a meeting is an art in itself. It requires the right skills, a thorough preparation and a clear vision of the objectives you want to achieve. Meetings are vital for management and communication. Properly run meetings save time, increase motivation, productivity, and solve problems. Meetings create new ideas and initiatives.     Meetings are better than telephone conferences because only 38% of the meaning and feeling is carried in the way that things are said. The other 55% of the meaning and feeling is carried in facial expression and non-verbal signals. That’s why meetings are so useful.   ...

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How to Plan a Successful Business Travel Itinerary for Your Boss

A well-planned itinerary enables a traveler to make the best possible use of time abroad. Although travel time is expensive, care must be taken not to overload the schedule. Two or three definite appointments, confirmed well in advance and spaced comfortably throughout one day, are more productive and enjoyable than a crowded agenda that forces the business person to rush from one meeting to the next before business is really concluded. See here for more on booking a Top Hotel or a table at one of the Top Restaurants. The itinerary always goes on top with the information listed below, followed by ...

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