Assistant: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire an assistant?

An assistant will support someone in their professional role, often providing administrative help. Assistants can help senior associates in companies to work efficiently and effectively.

Contributions of a great assistant:

• Can perform many different administrative tasks
• Has an eye for detail
• Is a great communicator and very personable

What are the different types of assistants?

An assistant can be anyone who assists another person doing their job, meaning there can be many types of assistants. Assistants tend to work in one particular area or industry, learning about the industry and the best way to assist their bosses. The following is a list of examples of different types of assistant positions.

• Administrative assistant: Assistant to an office administrator.
• Executive assistant: Will assist executive with office administration.
• Personal assistant: Will assist an individual with scheduling appointments and running errands.
• Dental assistant: Will assist a dentist with their administrative work.
• Medical assistant: Will assist a doctor or medical office with their administrative duties.

Where to find an assistant

To find the right assistant for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Networking websites: when looking for an assistant, you can always check networking websites for the industry that you are in. These websites allow you to find assistants that will have the experience you are looking for.
• Referrals: asking friends, family and colleagues if they know any assistance looking for a job is a great place to start looking for experienced candidates. That way you know that they are reliable and have experience in being an assistant.
• Professional associations: if you are looking for an assistant, try looking at professional associations within your industry. For example, there are associations for people in the administration role, so you can go here to find qualified candidates if that is the type of assistant you are looking for.

Post your job online: Try posting your assistant job on Indeed to find and attract quality assistant candidates.

Skills to look for in a great assistant

A great assistant candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• Highly organized with an eye for detail
• Efficient at all administrative tasks
• Highly effective communicator, both written and oral
• Able to multitask
• Proficient with multiple computer software programs
• Skilled at time-management

Writing an assistant job description

A thoughtful description is important for finding qualified assistant candidates. An assistant job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities, and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your assistant job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on assistant jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Assistant
• Administrative assistant
• Personal assistant
• Executive assistant
• Office assistant

Interviewing assistant candidates

Strong candidates for assistant positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Experience communicating with many different people
• Ability to arrange meetings and appointments
• Experience managing filing system
• Willingness to go on errands for the employer
• Experience answering phone calls and email inquires

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of interview questions for examples (with sample answers).