So you’re a rocket scientist…that don’t impress me much!

Ok to be clear I was never a rocket scientist, but when it came to ‘…what I wanted to do when I left school?’ I didn’t really have much of an idea apart from the usual schoolboy dream of being a famous Astronaut!

I always had a love affair with all things office. I don’t know whether this was because my mother was a 60s secretary and she made it her job to teach me how to type at the age of 7 on a manual typewriter [I have the finger scars to prove it] or growing up in the 80s the thought of being Sigourney Weaver’s assistant in Working Girl seemed like such a fab job, you can guess that my video copy [early pre-DVD format, ask your parents if you’re unsure] pretty much wore out!

However, when I left school the assistant role was never something I thought of, as in the mid 90s the PA / Assistant role was deemed by society as being a very firm female role. I worked my way through various administration roles including claims handling roles in the insurance sector before becoming a senior complaints advisor with Lloyds Banking Group, I found my niche as sorting out issues and problem solving was something I loved.

Then one day out of the blue I had a phone call from our department director…wow, calling to speak to me? Ok so either I’m being promoted to some huge secret job or it was a personal P45 phone call, but to my surprise he had recently lost his PA and had heard from his team managers that I had very good organisational skills and he wanted to know if I could possibly organise him? So later that week I went off to London to meet him and like Alice in Wonderland I fell down the Assistant rabbit hole.

Over the 10 years I was a corporate PA in Lloyds Banking Group I looked after a number of senior directors and their teams and I loved every minute. Being able to work closely with key industry players gave me so much information and exposed me to a level of the organisation I would never have thought I’d have found myself in. When the CEO of the organisation says hello to you in the lift and actually knows who you are, a pretty simple thing, but something that gives you such inner confidence, you know you love your role.

Looking after many senior people it’s fair to say that they all had very different personas! I think I can say with some authority that they’ve all been different and I’ve done the full stretch of the PA role including looking after some people from the time they get up to the time they go to bed, through to organising their personal lives and dealing with all their unique quirks.

We’ve all seen the film The Devil Wears Prada [it’s actually one of my favourite films as being a PA we can all relate to certain quirks], and if you’ve ever wanted to be an assistant you should never be put off by the film. But you should be forearmed to know that yes there are people out there just like that, I know I’ve looked after a few in my time – when you have to make sure there is no egg products in their meals as it could potentially kill them, you’re asked ‘where is that piece of paper I had in my hand last week’ or you have to book specific seats on a train so that the rising low level winter sun does not bounce off their laptop screen, I’ve got the T shirt!

But after 10 years in the financial services industry I was unfortunately made redundant. This was a pretty big full stop in my career as after 20 years in the corporate sector I found myself back wondering what I wanted to do – and my dreams of flying to space were well and truly out of reach! Nevertheless, the one thing I knew is that I absolutely loved being a PA, the thrill of everyday being different and being able to work closely with a director was something I wanted to continue.

After deciding to take a few months off to dedicate some time for me to think about where I wanted to go next and to use this as an opportunity to do something completely different, and I was very lucky to secure a PA role with Tenovus Cancer Care, Wales largest Cancer charity. Working in the third sector was such a refreshing change and I will always remember the people I met and the time I spent there.

But the corporate world has always run deep in my blood and the calling back was strong…after 15 years as a PA I’ve taken all my drive and experience into the energy sector where you’ll now find me in Scottish & Southern Energy [SSE] as PA to the Director of Home Services & Propositions.

So after all that time what would I pass onto anyone new into the PA role? My number one tip is be a sponge, absorb everything about the persona of the person you’re looking after, as lets face it, the PA/Director experience is like a marriage, you have to get on very well. But Rome wasn’t built in a day and it will take time to build that relationship, as it’s not all about them as they need to get used to you too. Make sure you find out who all the other PAs are and network, in this role it’s not what you know, it’s who you know – and being able to find the right person who can get the information you need is key.

Above all else, be yourself…being a PA/EA/VA Assistant whatever you might be called, individuality is what makes you stand out from all the rest and being a male in the industry is something I’m very passionate about.

I’m lucky to be a Fellow of the Executive Personal Assistant Association [EPAA] and have been part of their #NotJustAGirlsJob https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1M8FnPbpKI&feature=youtu.be campaign. Being able to network with other males in the industry and promote our fantastic profession is something I’m keen to champion. So if you’re a male reading this and deep down you want to be an assistant…then I’d say 100% go for it.

And in signature Devil style…‘that’s all!’