The Difference Between Part-Time and Full-Time Personal Assistants

Why a Part-Time Personal Assistant Might Be the Perfect Fit for Your Needs

Written by Gracie Lane

Personal assistants streamline and organize various routine aspects of an individual's daily life. By taking care of time-consuming tasks, personal assistants serve as critical support for busy professionals, enabling them to better manage their time and achieve their goals. Responsibilities typically include assisting with personal tasks like running errands, home organization, or managing other household affairs. They may also handle administrative tasks such as scheduling appointments, managing paperwork, or coordinating travel arrangements.

Depending on your needs, you may want a part-time or full-time personal assistant. Full-time personal assistants are best for individuals who often have time-sensitive needs and require consistent support throughout their day. Often full-time assistants sit in on meetings, comprehensively manage a large home, or manage a constantly changing schedule that is too time-consuming for the client to manage personally. Part-time personal assistants manage “life admin” and keep on top of smaller routine tasks. They are not on-call and can offer support in an asynchronous or scheduled time frame.

A part-time personal assistant is right for you if you find you have weekly tasks that could be delegated and taken off your plate, but the workload is not extensive enough to justify hiring an assistant for 40 hours per week. You still need support, and we get it! Part-time personal assistants can streamline the overflow in your life, allowing you to maximize efficiency and productivity.

Because You Are Busy

Part-Time vs. Full-Time Personal Assistants

Hours

• Part-Time: 5-25 hours per week, no minimums

• Full-Time: 35-40 hours per week, guaranteed

Schedule

• Part-Time: Flexible; a few hours each day or a few days each week.

• Full-Time: Firm, consistent, daily, typically 9am-6pm

Responsibilities

• Part-Time: Task-based, supportive in nature

• Full-Time: Involved, comprehensive, higher degree of project management

Availability

• Part-Time: Available with advance notice as mutually agreed upon, or as scheduled

• Full-Time: Available on-call for time-sensitive needs throughout the day

Benefits

• Part-Time: Typically not included

• Full-Time: Typically included

Employment Structure

• Part-Time: Generally independent contractors who work on their own time and for multiple clients

• Full-Time: Salaried employees who work within a single company, during set company hours

Mindset

• Part-Time: Often pursuing other personal goals and/or considered supplemental work

• Full-Time: Often seeking growth opportunities within the company

Cost

• Part-Time: Approximately $300/wk ($30/hr at 10 hrs/wk)

• Full-Time: Approximately $1200/wk ($30/hr at 40 hrs/wk)

The Advantages of Working With a Part-Time Personal Assistant

A part-time personal assistant is the perfect solution for busy professionals who need support in their daily lives but don’t need the commitment of a full-time employee. It only takes a few hours a week to feel the positive impact of working with a part-time personal assistant, and often clients find the financial expense is nominal compared to the beneficial support they receive in return. Work-life balance is improved when part-time personal assistants assume the routine responsibilities that often clutter our clients’ lives, and clients appreciate having a flexible schedule week to week to accommodate their varying needs. 

Reviews From Our Clients

Common Concerns About Part-Time Personal Assistants (and why you may be mistaken!)

• Part-time personal assistants have fewer skills

  We find part-time personal assistants actually have more skills due to the nature of helping support every aspect of a client’s life. Our personal assistants have a wide range of skills spanning several industries, and part of our matching process is finding unique experiences that align with the skills our clients are looking for. 

• Part-time personal assistants aren't as committed

  We consistently receive feedback that our PAs would like more of a commitment and would welcome the opportunity for more work. Yes, most have other pursuits, but speaking directly from experience, those pursuits don’t happen overnight and they often take years to gain traction. We screen our assistants for those with appropriate availability and make sure they are not seeking a temporary position or a placeholder between full-time jobs. We make every effort to evaluate that a candidate’s lifestyle aligns with the part-time but long-term nature of these roles.

• Part-time personal assistants are flaky and unprofessional

  Just because a position is part-time, does not mean our candidates do not take them seriously. Part-time clients allow them the flexibility to pursue their outside interests, but also very concretely serve as their main source of income- so it’s in their best interest to maintain these positions. We screen for professionalism in writing and communication and speak to references about responsibility and timeliness to ensure our candidates are equal in quality to full-time assistants, but just on a part-time basis. 

  We also take care to match you with candidates in your area so that they can reliably and conveniently meet with you (for example, if you live in Marina Del Rey and need someone in person 3x/week, we wouldn’t match you up with a candidate who lives in Silverlake.)

• Part-time personal assistants aren't available when you need them

  If you need support that is on-call and available to you at the drop of a hat, a part-time personal assistant isn’t right for you. If you would like a (part-time) set schedule, that is absolutely an option to guarantee that your PA is available when you need, and we will match you with candidates who are able to provide that stable support. However, by asking a candidate to hold hours for you in their schedule, you should be prepared to guarantee pay for those hours. Otherwise, it is generally understood that work is completed in a timely manner and prioritized based on time sensitivity.

We hope this helps you determine if a part-time personal assistant is right for you! We screen for smart, diligent, adaptable problem solvers who naturally fit in support roles. We are proud to have so many satisfied clients and love to see the impactful difference our PAs’ support has made in our clients’ lives. If a part-time personal assistant sounds right for you, we can’t wait to work with you!

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