best practicesTips for Working as a Part-Time Personal Assistant
How to be the Best Personal Assistant for Private Individuals & Busy Professionals
The Middle places part-time, ongoing positions.
These are not temp jobs or project-based gigs, but rather flexible weekly commitments. Positions through The Middle are best suited for candidates looking for supplemental work, leaving time for their personal pursuits. Candidates who are looking for full time, salaried, benefits-included positions are politely declined.
No Office Jobs Here
Positions through The Middle are working 1:1 with busy individuals. Though you are not reporting to an office daily, in-person support is almost always required (generally 1-3x/wk for a few hours each day). This includes running errands, home organization and other household tasks, often in addition to remote computer-based work like calendar management, research, and other administration.
Entrepreneurial Spirit Encouraged
The Middle works like a personal assistant matchmaker by facilitating introductions between clients and candidates. The Middle is not involved in the employment once offers are accepted so we encourage all candidates in The Middle to treat their work as a personal assistant like their own business. You’ll need to be confident managing your own time, hours, and workflow, sometimes with little direction. Take initiative!
Interview Tips
Interviews will be between you and the client; a member of The Middle’s team will not be present.
Share information on your relevant experience and show confidence that you’ll know how to come in and handle it without needing much management (of course there will be some learning curve). Clients are looking to hire personal assistants to take away from their workload, not add to it.
During an interview, we recommend connecting on expectations around availability and what working together would look like. Often clients don’t have a clear picture, in which case it’s best to offer up your availability and see if that works for them- take initiative to help define the structure of your working relationship.
The Middle seeks to facilitate connections but does not offer employment protections - always use your own judgement and never work without being paid.
Standards for Part-Time Personal Assistants Positions
Here’s what you can expect when working as a part-time personal assistant.
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You are not on-call or expected to be available outside of workweek hours (9am-6pm M-F), unless specified before hire.
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Hours are not guaranteed. There are no set plans so hours can vary each week, but should be within the range the client originally provides.
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Mileage is never reimbursed for your commute. Mileage or travel reimbursement only applies to errands done on the job.
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You are responsibe for keeping track of your hours (down to 15 minute increments) with a description of work completed. We suggest invoicing biweekly.
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Clearly provide advance notice for any upcoming travel plans, as early as during your initial interview.
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Reimbursement for personal phone and computer use is not standard.
How long does it take to get hired?
Clients are not assigned on a first come first served basis. We match clients and candidates based on a variety of factors, including experience, location (for example, we wouldn’t match you with a client in Brooklyn if you live on the Upper West Side, or with a client in Manhattan Beach if you live in West Hollywood), rate, and availability. Finding the right fit can take days, weeks, or months.
Our process is designed to serve not only our clients, but our PAs as well!
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