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.
The five steps at a glance
Step
What to do
1. Define the brief
Agree responsibilities, reporting line and what success looks like
2. Benchmark the salary
Pay for the job, using current London data
3. Choose permanent or temporary
Match the hire to how long and how big the need is
4. Shortlist for judgement and chemistry
Look past job titles and CV keywords
5. Run a fast, respectful process
Clear stages, clear timelines, prompt feedback
Step 1: How do you define the role and scope?
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. Then write down:
The executive's working style
What the EA can decide without asking
Reporting line, office pattern, hours and travel
What success looks like after six months
That last point is the most useful line in any brief. 'Bring order to the CEO's diary and make sure every meeting starts prepared' tells a candidate far more than a list of duties.
A precise brief also stops the title, the expectations and the pay drifting apart. That's where our Executive Assistant recruitment work starts.
Six months from now, what should have changed? That line does more than any list of duties.
Step 2: What salary should you budget for an EA in London?
Pay for the job, not the title. An EA to a founder or senior investment professional is doing a different job from an EA coordinating a team, and the number should reflect that.
Our 2026 London EA & PA Salary Survey puts permanent EA salaries at £42,000 to £110,000+. Temporary EAs and PAs are £22 to £35 per hour.
Settle benefits, working pattern and out-of-hours expectations at the same time. Then advertise a salary range. Good candidates rarely apply without one, and a clear range filters out people who were never going to accept.
Step 3: Should you hire a permanent or temporary EA?
Permanent makes sense when you're building long-term support or a close partnership with one leader. Temporary makes sense for planned leave, a busy patch, a transition or an urgent gap.
Ask yourself three things: how long is the need, how big is the job, and how much context will they need before they're useful? If you go temporary, prepare a proper handover covering key contacts, diary priorities, systems and anything time-sensitive. A good temp with a poor handover still loses their first week.
If the need is urgent but the long-term shape of the role isn't clear yet, temp-to-perm gives you both. Find out more about our temporary recruitment.
Step 4: How should you shortlist EA candidates?
A CV tells you where someone has worked. It doesn't tell you how they prioritise when three people want the same hour, or how they behave when plans fall apart. So ask them.
Use the same questions for every candidate. What did you do when two senior people wanted the same slot? What happened the last time a trip fell apart the night before? A short scenario based on the real job works well too, as long as it's proportionate.
Chemistry matters, because an EA and their executive work closely all day. But chemistry isn't gut feel. Get the evidence of capability first. Then talk honestly about communication style, pace and expectations.
A CV tells you where someone has worked. The questions tell you how they think.
Step 5: How do you keep the interview process effective?
Good EAs don't stay on the market for long, and a slow process loses them.
Before interviews start, agree who meets candidates, what each stage tests and when feedback goes out. Then stick to it.
In the interview, be clear about the responsibilities, reporting line and working arrangements. Leave time for their questions, especially about what the executive expects and how success will be judged. If there's more than one stage, give each a different purpose. Candidates notice when the second interview repeats the first.
Once you've found the right person, move quickly. Make the offer, stay in touch until they start, and plan a proper handover. In a growing firm the role will change, and a good start makes that easier.
Where can you find specialist EA recruitment support in London?
I've spent more than 15 years recruiting in the finance sector. In every EA search, I'm looking past the skills to the same three things: judgement, discretion and chemistry with the executive.
We recruit across Mayfair, the City, Canary Wharf, the West End, King's Cross, Waterloo and Shoreditch. To talk through a permanent or temporary EA search, get in touch, call me on 020 7112 8489 or email [email protected].
In a growing firm the role will change, and a good start makes that easier.
Frequently asked questions
How do you start an Executive Assistant search?
Define the responsibilities, reporting line, location, working pattern and salary range. Then agree the essential experience and the interview stages before you speak to anyone.
What salary range should a London firm use for an Executive Assistant?
Our 2026 London EA & PA Salary Survey puts permanent Executive Assistant salaries at £42,000 to £110,000+. Where a role sits in that range depends on who the EA supports and what they own.
When should a firm use a temporary EA?
For planned leave, an unexpected gap, a busy period, or a transition where you need cover straight away.
What should an EA interview assess?
Relevant experience, prioritisation, discretion, communication, judgement, and how well their working style fits the executive's.
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.
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:
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.
Start a thoughtful conversation with Place Recruitment, whether you’re hiring, exploring senior search or planning your next career move.
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