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What is the Difference between Executive Secretary and Personal Assistant?

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Question added by Rana Saadeddine , Office Manager to EVP , Dubai Airports
Date Posted: 2013/05/15
Ahmed Ibrahem
by Ahmed Ibrahem , Training Coordinator , Maersk Drilling

it all depends on the company that you work for.
both could be very similar in role but there are a few distinctive differences A personal assistant works for one person, whereas a secretary could work for several people.
A personal assistant travels a lot with the manager, whereas an executive secretary would stay in the office to manage the daily operations.
A Personal assistant works closely with their manager.
an Executive Secretary not as much an executive secretary supports the entire office and its daily operations A personal assistant more of a right hand man or woman for the manager In theory (but not always in practice), a personal assistant is more senior to a secretary, and expected to have more initiative and take more responsibility.
(i'm sure others would argue differently) some companies use either title loosely to describe the same position.
so it all depends on your job description.
i'm currently working as an OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR for MAERSK DRILLING.
and my job description is very similar to this of an executive secretary.
the natural progression for me would be to become a personal assistant for our rig manager or our financial director.
because we are big multinational company with many branches worldwide, I've had the opportunity to meet and talk with a lot of high ranking managers from our headquarters in Denmark.
Such as "Mr.
Claus Bachmann" the vice president of Maersk Drilling.
most of those high ranking managers always have a personal assistant with them.
in fact the PA arrives a day or two earlier to talk with everybody first and set up for the visit.
also the PA gives a briefing to the manager about everyone who he is going to meet and talk to.
so the position of a Personal Assistant is a big and important position (when it is in a big multinational company) and could be considered higher than an Executive secretary.
in a nutshell: don't get too caught up in titles just focus on what you actually do.
deciding which is a more senior position depends on the company and its own structure.
hope i was helpful, don't hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions.

Suzy M Amer
by Suzy M Amer , Recruitment Manager , Al Saied Group

Executive Secretary is of a much less responsibilities, and work experiences than the Personal Assistant / Office Manager.
All the Managerial levels usually have their own Executive Secretary, but only the CEO's / Chairs / MD's has their own Personal Assistant / Office Manager that manage all these administrative staff & coordinate between Her manager (CEO / MD / Chair) and all other Department's managers.
She the one who follows up the CEO's instructions / requisitions generated in a some meetings / written instructions / company' rolls and regulations with the other departments.
Executive Secretary is only responsible for her manager requisitions and their own team of the department.
This is in brief

Maha Omer
by Maha Omer , Administrator and veterinary assistant pharmacist , Veterinary Center y

The reason you're confused is because the business world is also confused on this topic.
Junior executive would take a girl right out of high school and call her an Executive At....while at the same company the CEO's Assistant is called an Executive Secretary...and they got two different salaries (of course).
So to be honest with you, the higher income (whether it be an ES or a PA) goes with working for the person with the higher executive's title.
PA in some contries also means they do personal work for the executive as well as the normal work.like taking care of taxes, etc so Generaly both of them are being considered the same or different depending on the key responsibility area.

عامر مناع ناصر عسيري
by عامر مناع ناصر عسيري , مشرف إسكان وضيافة , مستشفى قوى الامن - مكة

administrative assistance could be a secretary , personel in charge , human resources auditor and so on

Shivani Sharma
by Shivani Sharma , Manager , none

Hi - Executive secretary on someone who assists the executive board, his/her job is to assist all memers involved where as personal secretary is someone who assist a particular person employeed in an organisation.....

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