Overcoming The Challenges Of Finding Your Career Pathway: As An Executive Assistant.

As an Executive Assistant (EA), I've spent years mastering the art of seamless coordination, and understanding, interpreting and responding to the needs of my executives. While the role itself is dynamic and varied, it often comes with challenges related to career progression and professional development. In this blog post, I delve into my personal experiences and reflections on the struggle to work out my career path and the quest to set meaningful career objectives.

The Executive Assistant’s conundrum.

For many, the journey begins with enthusiasm and a commitment to supporting top-tier executives. It’s a steep learning curve that requires patience, determination and dedication. However, once it’s been mastered, there can be moments where motivation dips and you’re tempted to see what else is out there. The feeling of being in a stalemate and not progressing further is common among Executive Assistants, often compounded by the absence of a clear career progression path within the organisation. Your employer offers generic training courses on things like PowerPoint presentations, taking minutes, or improving your time efficiency - all the tasks you will have figured out how to do by the time you take on the title of Executive Assistant in the first place. Without defined steps for advancement, the big question is… What does an Executive Assistant do next?

Objectives for career progression

One of the struggles faced by Executive Assistants is articulating meaningful career objectives. Unlike more conventional roles with predefined career paths, the Executive Assistant position can feel confusing in terms of future growth. Progression for an Executive Assistant is often seen as moving roles, often laterally, or changing organisations once you have reached your potential in your current one. And getting a pay rise seems like an impossible feat as most of what you do isn’t easily explained on paper.

Writing objectives that reflect both personal aspirations and professional development within this context requires strategic thinking and self-awareness but may still not be understood in your organisation. If you have an internal Executive Assistant network then you can share best practice and learn from each other but what if you are the only Executive Assistant? Who can you turn to, and who can you learn from? You can bounce ideas off your boss but they are unlikely to have a shared career history or planned trajectory and may find it difficult to relate.

Find the right training and development.

Executive Assistants often encounter a scarcity of tailored training and development resources or opportunities within their organisation. Your boss might ask you what training you want to do but you are so used to thinking about how to make their days run more efficiently that you aren’t sure what would really benefit you. Project Management seems like the next skill to accomplish, if you haven’t already managed various projects as part of your role, but even with this experience or training it still doesn’t answer the question of ‘what next’?

Online there are a wealth of courses, workshops, and certifications designed specifically for Executive Assistants. Some of these are free and accessible but others require payment and if there are limited budgets for training within your organisation then you might be restricted on your choices. It’s really important to figure out how you prefer to learn too. I don’t know about you, but online webinars no longer appeal as I find it hard to stay concentrating on a screen with limited interaction - I am just as bad with audio books or podcasts and often forget I am supposed to be listening. I get my energy from others around me and prefer in person interactions so now I am looking for those opportunities to learn in person from peers and colleagues.

Start with a network.

The key to overcoming stagnation and seeing progression is in proactive career planning. In my experience, networking within the Executive Assistant community has been invaluable. Use your internal Executive Assistant network to learn from each other - have regular meetings, share best practice, find common areas where you might all need development and seek out a colleague to upskill you at the same time. If the training can only be done externally and requires budget then take the steps to carefully business case the course to show how it adds value to you, your peers and the organisation. Approaching your Executives as a group to show the necessity of this training may sway the result in your favour. If you are finding something difficult, whether it is a task or how to deal with a tricky personality then share this with your fellow Executive Assistants, one of who is bound to have come across a similar situation, and you can learn from each other. Additionally engaging with peers from other organisations provides exposure to diverse career paths and opportunities. Keep in touch with past colleagues, whether that is on Linkedin or socially, and see where their skills have taken them. Get in touch, learn from them, find out what is on the other side.

Seek out new opportunities to grow.

At the start of this year I saw an advert for FemMentored, a three-month programme open to all women who consider themselves to be in or care about the social good space - whether working or volunteering for a charity, foundation, consultancy or corporation with a social purpose. I had been a mentor at a previous job, as well as supported the mentor programme with making matches, so thought maybe it was my turn to be mentored. What I loved (although sometimes loathed at the time) was the accountability to show I had made progress before each call with my mentor. Discussing goals at our first session, I explained how I had been an “Executive Assistant for over 5 years and loved the role but wasn’t sure what I wanted or should do next”? There is an expectation that if you are good at being an Executive Assistant then you could and should move on to do something else to keep progressing your career but what if I love being an Executive Assistant, I just need a little ‘something’ to keep my interest?

After a couple of sessions with my mentor I came to the conclusion (for now) that I love being an Executive Assistant – playing a pivotal role in helping my executive focus on their strategic priorities by managing the administrative tasks efficiently and effectively, and building strong relationships with my executive and their senior team. What I did need though, is to do something for myself, to see what tools are out there for Executive Assistants, to get away from sitting behind the laptop and feel inspired. This led me to searching Linkedin for networks and peers I could relate to.

I’ve never really been one for using LinkedIn. I have tried to limit my time spent looking at my mobile phone and so have slowly taken myself off various social media apps – I didn’t see the importance of being active on LinkedIn but this has now changed. I came across this article on Lily Shippen, A taboo no one talks about in the EA role: Loneliness and it really resonated with me. Not so much the loneliness but where to sit in a hot desk environment (or not getting an invite to a Christmas meal!) as you are not always seen as part of a team and speaking to anyone who comes into the kitchen not just for conversation but to also get my presence out there. This led me to following other Executive Assistant network groups on LinkedIn and noticing that there are opportunities to learn and share with other Executive Assistants, not just online, but events to attend in person.

Since this discovery I now try and take at least 30 minutes each week to look through my LinkedIn and take time to read articles and search out opportunities as this is part of our development and I need to allocate time for this. I have signed myself up to attend my first in person networking event. Thanks to the support from my current boss, I have also signed up to an in person Executive Assistant development summit, with a great line up on the agenda of speakers whose topics really resonated with me and I am looking forward to learning, connecting and being inspired.

Lastly, it is important to make sure you get appropriate recognition and support for Executive Assistants within your organisation. By fostering a culture that values professional growth and invests in comprehensive development programs, organisations can empower Executive Assistants to thrive in their roles and beyond.

So what next?

My journey as an Executive Assistant has been characterised by resilience and continuous self-discovery. While the road to career advancement may appear daunting at times, the possibilities for growth and fulfilment are boundless and I’m enjoying learning and developing myself while enjoying being an Executive Assistant. By sharing my experiences and insights, I hope to inspire fellow Executive Assistants to embrace their potential and navigate their professional journeys with confidence.

With over 15 years’ experience in providing high level Executive and Administrative support with internationally reputed corporate and non-profit organisations, I am currently working as Executive Assistant to the Engineering Director at Royal National Lifeboat Institution based in Poole, UK, and truly believe that together, as a network of Executive Assistants supporting each other, we can redefine the trajectory of the Executive Assistant role, influencing the profession now and in the future.