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Leadership / organisationLeadership / organisation
Other Personal Assistants and Other Secretaries
As a personal assistant or secretary, you play a pivotal role in ensuring the smooth operation of an executive's day-to-day activities. Your organizational prowess and interpersonal skills not only enhance productivity but also contribute significantly to the success of businesses across the UK and beyond.
No degree needed for many routesEntry routes with no formal quals
AI impact: high££ payDirect entry route
72
AI impact
how much AI is reshaping it
Robin · your guide
Curious about being a other personal assistants and other secretaries? Here's the honest picture - what you'd really do, what you'd earn, and every way in. No need to decide anything yet.
What you'd actually do
In the dynamic world of business, the role of a personal assistant or secretary is often the backbone of an executive's success. These professionals are entrusted with a variety of tasks that require exceptional organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to juggle multiple priorities. Whether you are supporting a high-powered CEO or a mid-level manager, your contributions are invaluable in facilitating effective communication and operational efficiency.
Every day presents new challenges and opportunities. You will be at the heart of the action, coordinating schedules, managing correspondence, and ensuring that your executive is prepared for every meeting and engagement. Your ability to anticipate needs and proactively solve problems will set you apart in this fast-paced environment.
- Calendar Management: Your day will often start with reviewing your executive's calendar, prioritizing tasks, and ensuring that every meeting is strategically scheduled to maximize productivity.
- Communication Hub: You will act as the first point of contact for internal and external stakeholders, managing communications with professionalism and clarity.
- Document Preparation: Crafting reports, presentations, and correspondence will be a significant part of your role, requiring you to be skilled in various software applications and possess a keen eye for detail.
- Travel Coordination: Organizing travel plans, including flights, accommodations, and itineraries, will be crucial, often requiring you to navigate changing schedules and last-minute adjustments.
- Research and Data Management: Conducting research to gather information for meetings or projects will enhance your executive's decision-making capabilities.
- Confidentiality: Handling sensitive information with discretion is paramount, as you will often be privy to confidential company matters and personal details.
- Adaptability: In this role, you must be adaptable, ready to pivot and respond to shifting priorities and urgent requests that may arise throughout the day.
Ultimately, being a personal assistant or secretary is not just about managing tasks; it’s about building relationships, understanding the nuances of business dynamics, and being a trusted partner to your executive. The rewards of this role are immense, as you gain insight into the inner workings of the organization and develop skills that are highly transferable across various sectors. If you thrive in a fast-paced environment and enjoy being at the center of action, this career path could be your perfect fit.
1Manage executive calendars, scheduling meetings and appointments efficiently.
2Prepare and edit correspondence, reports, and presentations with precision.
3Act as a liaison between executives and internal/external stakeholders.
4Organize travel arrangements, including itineraries and accommodations.
5Maintain filing systems and ensure all documents are easily accessible.
6Conduct research and compile data to support decision-making processes.
7Handle confidential information with discretion and integrity.
Career progression & pay
01
Getting in
Junior Personal Assistant
£20,000 - £24,000
A-levels or equivalent; strong organisational skills.
In this entry-level role, you will support senior staff by managing schedules and performing administrative tasks. This is a great opportunity to learn the ropes of office management and develop your skills.
02
Building up
Mid-Level Personal Assistant
£26,000 - £32,000
Relevant experience and possibly a degree in business administration or a related field.
As a mid-level assistant, you will take on more responsibility, including project management and liaising with clients. Your experience will allow you to work more independently and contribute to strategic planning.
03
At the top
Senior Executive Assistant
£38,000+
Extensive experience in administrative roles; strong leadership and project management skills.
In this senior position, you will oversee a team of assistants and manage high-level executive schedules. Your strategic input will be crucial in shaping office operations and enhancing productivity.
Degrees that lead here via Business and Management
Apprenticeships that lead here
Who hires - top UK employers
Deloitte
A leading global provider of audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, and tax services.
PwC
One of the largest professional services networks in the world, providing industry-focused services for public and private clients.
HSBC
A leading international bank with a strong presence in the UK, offering various financial services.
AI & the future of this job
Personal assistants and secretaries sit squarely in the crosshairs of AI disruption because their core tasks, drafting correspondence, managing calendars, organising travel, and maintaining document systems, are exactly what today's AI tools do fastest and cheapest. LLMs like GPT-4 and scheduling agents can already handle 60-70% of the daily workload a junior secretary would have managed five years ago. The roles that survive will be high-trust, senior EA positions wrapped around relationship management and executive judgement, not administrative throughput. Entry-level and general secretary positions are already contracting, and that trend will accelerate sharply by 2027.
Within 5 Years
Significant role contraction
By 2031, AI scheduling assistants, smart inbox tools, and automated document platforms will eliminate most of the routine work that fills a general secretary's day. Businesses will realise they need fewer headcount for administrative throughput and will consolidate support roles. Surviving positions will be senior EA roles tied to C-suite executives where discretion, emotional intelligence, and stakeholder navigation matter. Junior and entry-level hiring will fall noticeably across most sectors.
Within 10 Years
Heavily restructured profession
By 2036, the traditional secretary role as a distinct job title will be rare outside specialist contexts such as legal chambers, medical practices, or high-net-worth personal offices. Most administrative functions will be handled by AI agents supervised by the executive themselves or by a single senior EA managing tools rather than tasks. The professionals who remain will look more like chiefs of staff, combining project coordination, stakeholder management, and strategic support. The volume of people employed in this category will be a fraction of today's figures.
Within 20 Years
Largely obsolete at scale
By 2046, autonomous AI systems will manage calendars, communications, travel, and document workflows end-to-end with minimal human oversight. The handful of remaining human roles will be deeply relational and trust-based, supporting individuals who simply prefer a human presence in their professional lives, primarily ultra-high-net-worth clients or senior political figures. These positions will be scarce, competitive, and require a profile far beyond traditional secretarial skills. The profession as a volume career path will effectively no longer exist.
How to stay ahead
Develop deep sector expertise
Pairing administrative skill with genuine knowledge of a sector, whether law, medicine, finance, or politics, creates a profile that AI cannot replicate. A legal EA who understands case management or a medical secretary fluent in clinical terminology is far harder to automate away. Choose a degree that builds that domain knowledge alongside your organisational instincts.
Move towards chief of staff skills
The roles absorbing displaced EA talent are project coordination, operations management, and chiefs of staff. These positions require budgeting awareness, stakeholder strategy, and the ability to make judgement calls, skills built through business, politics, or management degrees. Treat executive support as a stepping stone and develop the competencies that sit above pure administration.
Master AI tools rather than compete with them
Professionals who become expert operators of AI scheduling, drafting, and CRM platforms will remain valuable as the people who configure and quality-control these systems. Understanding prompt engineering, workflow automation tools like Zapier or Make, and AI writing platforms will distinguish you in a contracting job market. Being the person who manages the tools rather than the tasks buys you significant runway.
Build irreplaceable relationship capital
The parts of this role AI genuinely cannot touch are reading a room, managing difficult personalities, exercising discretion under pressure, and representing an executive's interests in sensitive situations. Actively cultivating these interpersonal skills, through networking, negotiation training, or roles with high stakeholder exposure, makes you the kind of EA a senior leader would never want to give up. Relationship capital does not depreciate the way technical skills can.
How to get in - your routes
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