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Ideas for better hiring and better working partnerships.

Perspectives on EA and PA recruitment, investment-sector hiring, senior search and career decisions from across the Place Recruitment team.

Articles

4 articles

Guides and Advice

Do You Need a Chief of Staff or an Executive Assistant?

I'm often asked this by a founder or managing partner who's stretched thin and isn't sure what kind of help they need. My first question back is simple: is the problem your diary, or the business? If you're losing your week to meetings, email and travel changes, you need an Executive Assistant. If decisions get made and then nothing moves across the firm, you need a Chief of Staff. It comes down to scope and ownership.

  • Guides and AdviceAmy Ferris

    How to Hire an Executive Assistant in London

    When an EA hire goes wrong, it's usually been decided before the first interview. The brief was vague, the salary was off, or nobody asked whether the executive and the candidate would actually get on. This is the five-step process I'd run if I were hiring an EA for a growing London firm. Before anyone writes a job description, decide who the EA will support and what they'll own. Complex diary and travel management? Board support? Project coordination? Usually it's some mix.

  • Guides and AdviceAmy Ferris

    Hiring a Private PA in London: A Guide for Family Offices

    Most people who ask me to find them a private PA start by saying they need someone organised. That's the easy part. Every candidate I put forward can run a diary. What I'm really looking for is the person your principal still trusts in five years: someone with judgement, who knows when to act and when to say nothing at all. Every household is different, but the job usually draws on this list:

  • Guides and AdviceAmy Ferris

    What Does an Executive Assistant Actually Do?

    Ask ten executives what their assistant does and you will hear ten different answers. That is the point of the role. A good Executive Assistant shapes their work around one person's time, priorities and pressures, which makes the job hard to describe and easy to underestimate. This guide sets out what the role usually covers, how it changes with the executive it supports, and what to settle before you start a search. An Executive Assistant gives a senior leader back their time. They run the diary, prepare the ground for important meetings, manage the flow of communication, organise travel, and make sure that what was agreed actually happens. The best ones do it with judgement and discretion, so the executive can concentrate on the decisions only they can make.

A great assistant changes everything.

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