Not All Executive Assistants are Good

Practice your story

My son is 10 and wants to be an actor and takes regular acting classes every week.

Yesterday, during one of his classes where part of the homework was to turn in a self-tape by 5pm PT the Friday prior, the coach asked everyone in class “if we have 10 people in this class, how many people do you think submitted their self-tape?”

The answer was 5.

She went on to say that if there is an audition available and 100 actors choose to audition, only 50% of them will actually submit the tape on time. Of the 50%, 99% of the folks who send something in will either have unprofessional tapes due to technical, noise, or background issues or they will submit something that looks and sounds like everyone else’s.

Only 1-2% of the submitted tapes will actually be worthy of considering for the role because they are different, not distracting, special, and stand out.

The point of this was to let the kids know that though acting and auditions are competitive and overwhelming, it’s not AS super competitive as we all think it is.

This is probably true of all industries, but it’s also very true for the Executive Assistant world.

Not all Executive Assistants are good.

If I interview 100 EAs for a role, only 5-10 will really stand out as being amazing, 70-75 will be fine and the same as everyone else in that group, and 20-25 will be a strong no.

So the competition, though it exists and is intimidating, is not as bad as we think it is. You just have to stand out in some way. I’m not talking about dressing outlandishly or being overly enthusiastic or physically standing out.

I’m talking about things like bringing your authentic self in your answers. Showing the interviewers what you’re capable of through stories and examples. Talking about your mindset and how you think about the role. Matching the energy of the interviewer. Talking about what you’re looking for and what you want in your next role. Practicing your story over and over again. Overcoming your nerves (I know, this is a tough one).

For example, if an interviewer says “tell me about yourself”, how would you answer that?

Do you talk about the type of EA you are, the characteristics and attributes you have, your work history? Or do you talk about YOU (in relation to the role), who you are as a person, what you enjoy doing, why you like being an EA?

You can certainly talk about your relevant experience, skills, and education, and why you’d be a good fit for the role. But if you can’t do it in a way that makes you memorable and stand out from everyone else who is also answering in the same way, then it might be time to spruce your answer up a bit.

Bring humor into your answer. Bring some vulnerability, honesty, humility. Tell a short story of why you became an EA or why what you do everyday makes you such a great EA. Make your answers unique but relevant to the EA role. Be you, be genuine, be authentic.

Honestly, I’d hire a likable, memorable EA with a few years of experience who seems like they value work ethic and will be able to learn quickly and adjust to situations and people, over an EA with 5-10 years of experience who name drops, isn’t humble, and answers the questions like everyone else.

I look for people who genuinely enjoy being an EA. When someone likes what they do, you can see it in their eyes and you can hear it in their answers. And sometimes, when you’re looking to hire an EA for a CEO, you need to hire someone who actually likes their line of work, not someone who is just looking for a paycheck, even if they could probably do the job. The long term results of the latter (ie. the Exec/EA relationship) never end up working out well.

Anyway, all this to say, it’s competitive out there. But not AS competitive as we might think it is. Interviewing is a numbers game. The more you do it, the better you get at it. Rejection is hard, but the right role will come when it’s the right time, so keep at it.

In the meantime, practice your story.