Agency vs. Private Hire: How to Find the Best PA in New York
Our Tips for Finding the Best Personal Assistant in New York
We get it: if you need help managing your life, you also probably need help finding that help. Finding and hiring a trustworthy assistant isn’t as simple as looking up Wirecutter’s top pick or checking the verified photo reviews on Amazon. Instead, you feel like you’re left with two choices: hire an agency— and cough up that cost– or sift through hundreds of unverified resumes on Craigslist– and trade in hours of your time while simply hoping for the best.
Option 1: The Traditional Staffing Agency
Let’s break it down. For a traditional staffing agency, you’ll pay a hefty retainer and a placement fee, typically adding up to 15-20% of your assistant’s salary. This can be well worth it in certain scenarios, like for full time executive assistants or estate managers, as you’ll receive high-end vetting and white glove services. But for those just looking for a part-time, freelance assistant in NYC? Well, you’re probably on a budget– and in NYC, a standard agency fee can be $10-20k on top of the salary you’ll pay. And that’s even if an agency will consider you, if you only need 10-15 hours a week for errands or admin.
Option 2: Private Hire
So it seems your other option is posting on job boards: Indeed, LinkedIn, Craigslist, neighborhood community groups. The pros? No placement fees! The cons? You’re in the wild west of private hire. You’ll have to read ten, twenty, hundreds of resumes, where half won’t be qualified, and another quarter won’t show up for the interview. Do you know what to screen for, what to ask in interviews? Can you discern tangible, but often hidden, soft skills from a resume? You better!
Ready to organize candidates, follow up, schedule interviews, take notes, understand experiences, and make decisions with no sounding board? You’ll need to be!
Comparing the Costs: Agency vs. Private vs. Hybrid
Agency: $$$$ (High fees, high salary expectations, moderate “time cost”)
Private: $ (Low fees, variable salary expectations, high time cost)
Hybrid: $$ (Flat fee, moderate hourly rates, minimal time cost)
New York: Why Location Matters
Remember: New York City demands its own unique needs for an assistant. A personal assistant hire in Tribeca will have different needs than a personal assistant hire in Greenpoint (subway access, anyone?) and certainly different needs than a personal assistant hire in Westchester (hello, licensed driver!). Regardless, any assistant in NYC will need to be “boots on the ground.” A virtual assistant just won’t cut it. You need someone who can physically run over to Happier Grocery, drop off a return at Bergdorfs (leaving with a credit receipt in hand!), or manage a contractor at your brownstone. We all know the heart of NYC is the people who live there– and that includes your personal assistant.
Is There a Middle Ground? (Yes, Hello!)
Are your only options hiring outsized help through an agency or forgoing all help by searching on your own? What about something in between? You need a middle ground… so we created The Middle.
We vet and place ongoing, part-time support, offering personalized matching between client and candidates for a one-time flat fee. You’ll still hire and pay the assistant directly, but without all the trouble of finding them. We swiftly vet and match (like an agency), have clear, transparent pricing (like a job posting), and work professionally and personally (like you would!). We use over a decade of experience to find and match candidates. No algorithm. Just compatibility, and hundreds of hours saved.
You don’t have to choose between draining your bank account with an agency or tempting burnout by handling it all yourself. Flexibility, affordability, and the New-York-Know are why you’re looking for a part-time NYC personal assistant in the first place. If you’re ready to find your perfect NYC Personal Assistant, start your search with The Middle today and let us help you find help – quickly, easily, without the headache, and, always, with a New York state of mind.
