How to Sell Yourself as an Assistant | Online Executive and Admin Assistant Training

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Reader Question: Asked & Answered

Submitted by Ethan on March 30, 2009 at 06:53 PM

In the comments on another post, I told a reader that if she had any specific questions that she would like to bounce off of us to feel free. Well, she took us up on the offer and below you’ll find her questions and hopefully a satisfactory answer. If you have any questions you’d like answered, leave a comment or email us and we’ll get to it.

Cheryl B:

Sure, Ethan! I’ve got a big one for ya (or maybe not so big…but it’s big in my head). How do you sell yourself as an assistant to a company that currently has no assistant positions? Or simply sell the idea of an assistant to a company that is starting to expand and might not have a full grasp of how crazy things might get for them in the near future?

Thanks for the question, Cheryl. Having worked as an assistant in a 25 person company and the only assistant in the organization, this type of situation is unique in that as the sole assistant, you have to wear many different hats.

In my situation, I was the assistant to the CEO and by default, I also handled HR administration, office management, payroll/accounting, office tech & party planner in addition to all of the regular assisting duties for the CEO. So to answer your question, you could explain to this company that being an assistant in a start-up or small company can mean much much more and thus take various tasks off of other people’s plates to encourage growth and promote efficiency. If you are not afraid to get your hands dirty and explain to them other skills that you have that fall outside the normal definition of being an “assistant” (like knowing Quickbooks, etc.), they could more than justify making the hire and adding the position.

Lastly, I would also suggest that you “sell” the idea more as an office manager/assistant role instead of just a straight assistant role to more than justify the added expense of adding a new employee. Does that make sense? Thanks again for asking the question.

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Comments

#1. Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on July 14, 2009

Answered beautifully!

I especially like the idea of the “office manager/assistant.” It makes it sound like they’re really getting something awesome (I’m assuming that the company I have in mind might not realize just how awesome an “assistant” might be).

Thank you so much for the answer, and keep up the wonderful work on this site!