Are you a busy executive stuck in the downward spiral of juggling your personal life with work? Do you wake up on Mondays wishing you could just fast forward to the weekend? Work was never meant to be synonymous with drudgery. If you’re drowning under the pressure of your work life, it’s time to hire a remote executive assistant.
What is a Remote Executive Assistant?
Consider Rebekah, a Marketing Manager at PQR Corporation who’s finding it challenging to keep track of how her portfolio is performing in the market. Nevertheless, she’s trying her best to manage it all by burning the candle at both ends and knocking her work-life off balance. But it’s taking a toll on her personal life, especially on her relationship with her one-year-old daughter. If only she could get some assistance with monitoring the market, expense submissions, research and creating PowerPoint presentations, it’d take a lot off her plate.
Here’s where remote executive assistant enters the picture. Also known as REAs, they help busy executives become more productive and enjoy better work-life balance. They’re highly proficient professionals who are tech-savvy, fast learners, great at multi-tasking and have valuable training and experience in assisting executives across industries and functions.
Fast forward just a month from hiring a remote executive assistant. Rebekah stays on top of what’s happening in the market because her REA, Monique, signs up for subscriptions to newsletters, sets up Google alerts for relevant keywords, submits all her expenses for reimbursement, and helps her create excellent PowerPoint presentations.
What Can a Remote Executive Assistant do?
There are a variety of tasks that a remote executive assistant can manage.
1. Calendar management and scheduling meetings
There’s nothing more important for a C-suite executive than to stay on time and manage their schedule effectively. But with so many clients to tackle, meetings to attend, and daily operations to oversee, it is not uncommon to lose track of it all and end up in a complete mess. None of this will be a worry anymore if you hire a remote executive assistant who will manage and organize your calendar and ensure that you’re on time for every meeting.
2. Answer phone calls
With the number of phone calls you receive on a daily basis, you could simply be answering calls round-the-clock! Your REA can take up calls on your behalf, sort out the ones that are unimportant and redirect the important ones to you in case the need arises. So, hire a remote executive assistant today!
3. Create PowerPoint presentations
In your daily work life, you frequently come across situations where you need to communicate your ideas, product and services via presentations. Since the presentations are the first vehicle to this crucial communication, you need to ensure that they’re precisely detailed and captivating to the audience. But don’t waste time creating presentations when you can instead focus on higher value tasks. Hire a remote executive assistant who will create rich and detailed presentations for you.
4. Make travel arrangements
Every business executive is required to make frequent business-related trips for which travel and accommodation reservations must be made. Here’s where you can hire a remote executive assistant who will make all of your travel arrangements so you can enjoy a hassle-free trip.
5. Basic bookkeeping tasks
As a business executive, messing up your numbers is something you cannot afford to do. Hire a remote executive assistant, who will take care of your accounts by preparing bills and invoices, setting up payrolls, following procedural checks, updating salaries, and even taking care of tax calculations.
6. Administer surveys
For C-suite executives, conducting regular surveys to get an insight into customers’ minds is an important part of the job. In fact, this is precious knowledge for executives to make better business decisions. Hire a remote executive assistant who will administer surveys and give you the insights you need to help your organization grow.
Steps to Hire a Remote Executive Assistant
1. Look for the right platforms
There are numerous companies such as Premier Veba, Wishup, Brickwork India, and Prialto who will give you highly trained, skilled and experienced REAs. Look through the reviews, do your research and then connect with the ones that you feel will be best suited to your needs.
2. Define expectations
Prepare a list of tasks and responsibilities that your REA will be expected to carry out on a daily basis. Give candidates a clear idea of what you expect. This will allow you to hire a remote executive assistant who meets your needs perfectly.
3. Scrutinize available options
Do a thorough analysis of all your available options. Compare them on pricing, quality of services rendered, and task specialization before you make the final choice. Read customer testimonials and reviews. Consulting people who have already availed such services in the past will also help you make the right decision.
4. Strike a conversation
Once you have found someone you’re interested in working with, strike a conversation and discuss roles and responsibilities. This will give you a clear idea regarding that particular REA’s competence. If you’re satisfied, you can hire them or continue your search until you find the right person.
5. Discuss workflow
By this step, you’ve already found your REA and are looking forward to working with them. Now, all you need to do is plan out the workflow and brief them on what they’re expected to do on an everyday basis. Laying down a clear task list and expected quality of output will help you extract the best from your REA.
Remote Executive Assistant Job Description Samples
Here are two job description samples that you can refer to if you wish to hire a remote executive assistant.
Job Description Sample 1
Job summary
We are looking for a remote executive assistant who will work remotely with our HR team and take on everyday business tasks. We picture our ideal candidate as one who is a quick learner, an efficient interpersonal communicator, well organized, pays attention to details and is capable of multi-tasking. Having previous job experience is not a necessity but we do expect enthusiasm and the willingness to work hard.
Roles and responsibilities
- Writing detailed job descriptions
- Posting lists of vacant positions
- Creating and administering pre-employment screening tests
- Reviewing all the job applicants’ resumes
- Performing background checks on shortlisted candidates
- Sending emails to hired candidates regarding their responsibilities
- Managing employee payment and invoice
- Setting up tracking systems to keep track of employees’ attendance and time offs
- Preparing training materials for new virtual employees
- Acting as a liaison between the company and its employees
- Assisting with any other daily HR operations
Job requirements
- Graduation in Labor and Industrial Relations, though an MBA in Human Resources is preferred
- Some prior training and knowledge on how an HR Department works
- Prior job experience preferred but not a mandate
- Must be well-versed with MS Office
- Good communication skills via phone, email and chat
- Ability to multi-task and work under pressure
Job Description Sample 2
Job summary
We are in search of a Remote Executive Assistant who can work closely in assisting our team with business-related and personal tasks. Efficient problem solving and ability to meet deadlines are must in our ideal candidate. Two to three years of experience as a remote assistant is also a requirement.
Roles and responsibilities
- Preparing financial reports, memos, invoices and other documents
- Answering routine calls, directing calls and replying to messages
- Filing and retrieving corporate records and reports
- Basic bookkeeping
- Researching data to prepare reports to be reviewed by Board of Directors
- Making travel arrangements
- Creating presentations
- Managing inbox
- Preparing research for executive needs
Job requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration or a related field
- At least two years of prior experience in mid to senior level business management or administration
- Proficiency in MS Office suite
- Excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills
- Adept in written and verbal communication
Cost of Hiring a Remote Executive Assistant
A remote executive assistant’s hourly rates will vary depending upon the specific tasks for which they are hired and also the geographical location.
| Country | Cost |
|---|---|
| USA | $30-40/hour |
| UK | $30-40/hour |
| Australia | $10-20/hour |
| India | $10-20/hour |
| Philippines | $10-15/hour |
Benefits of Hiring a Remote Executive Assistant
1. Save time
Time is one thing executives are always running short of. Hire a remote executive assistant and stop constantly scurrying for more time. By hiring an REA you can focus on more important tasks while having recurring chores also working in the background. Secondly, an REA from a different time zone will bestow upon you the blessing of utilizing even your sleep hours! This ensures that every single minute of the day is utilized in meaningful work.
2. Save money
The economic benefits of hiring a remote executive assistant are self-explanatory. Unlike hiring a full-time employee, you are not required to pay a fixed salary every month, no operational costs are levied (cost of setting up an office with the necessary equipment) and what’s more, you need not worry about providing additional benefits such as a pension, health insurance, among others.
3. Supercharge productivity
When a good portion of your day is spent doing tasks you either do not enjoy or should not be wasting your time on, productivity suffers. The best that’s in you can only be brought out when you have another pair of highly qualified hands to assist you with repetitive and low-value tasks. Hire a remote executive assistant today to improve efficiency and productivity.
4. Work-life balance
While you may be ready to take the world by storm and think you’re better off without help, reality will soon tell you otherwise. Balancing work and personal life is the biggest of all challenges. Hiring a remote executive assistant is the help that you need in striking that balance.
5. Time for self-care
Taking care of one’s self is not selfish but essential. But lush bath bombs and a day at the spa are not necessarily the definition of proper self-care. Enjoying a meaningful book, taking time to exercise, reconnecting with nature, even sitting half an hour a day in solitary contemplation is more than enough to recharge you for the rest of the day. You can enjoy a whole lot of quality alone time if you hire a remote executive assistant to help you with work every day.
Lose no time in hiring a remote executive assistant. Supercharge your productivity and do more with your day!