Congratulations! If you've made it to this level, you're no ordinary temp. You see, this is different from the other jobs mentioned in the Jobs section, mainly because the Executive Assistant doesn't answer to an entire department. Instead, you work for just one person. You don't have to cover the front desk while the receptionist is at lunch, or make sure everyone in the office has signed Sylvia's birthday card, or answer the Marketing Department's phones while they're at their weekly team-building/Satan-worshipping retreat. You've climbed the ladder beyond such menial tasks, now you only have to work for one person. Just one. One single, solitary, impatient, overblown, egomaniacal, small-minded, self-important jerk.
Again, congratulations!
Getting People on the Phone
It doesn't sound like much, but this task can be particularly annoying.
When you're an "important" person, you don't call people yourself. It just doesn't seem important enough. So, your boss will refuse to dial his own phone, instead having you do it, while he sits in his office doing nothing. Once you have reached the person he is trying to reach, you tell this person who you are, and then tell them your boss would like to speak to them. Then, you put them on hold, call your boss, tell him you have the person on the line, then connect them.
Not a big deal, really, but it can get more complicated when the person your boss is having you call is also an "important" person, or at least deems himself such. When you call, another executive assistant will answer the phone, then put you on hold while she calls in to her boss... and then the trouble starts.
Boss A (your boss) wants to assure himself that he is more important than Boss B (the guy you are calling). Therefore, when Boss B comes on the line, Boss A would like him to hear the voice of Assistant A (you), and then have Boss B wait on hold while you transfer the call. However, Boss B would like it very much if Boss A comes on the line while Assistant B (Boss B's assistant) is on the line, because that will prove that he (Boss B) is more important.
Depending on how rabid this rivalry is, and how loyal Assistant A and Assistant B are to Boss A and Boss B, respectively, what follows is a stand-off between the two assistants. Neither will want to transfer each other in to their bosses. Neither will get off the line. It can take hours for the actual call to go through.
How is this avoided? Simple.
You're a temp. Who gives a shit about what your boss thinks? Just transfer the assistant in without announcing the call, and get back to today's Brunching.
Being Called A Secretary
Particularly
if your boss is on the older side, you may find yourself being introduced as his
"secretary" quite a bit. I don't really know how other people
feel about this, but it makes me feel a little funny. When I think of the
word "secretary", I think of typewriters, and intercoms, and most of
all, Jane Hathaway, Mr. Drysdale's assistant on The Beverly Hillbillies.
Please. No young, hip, happening guy wants to have that image associated
with him, and neither do I.
Not that Miss Hathaway wasn't attractive, or anything. Hell, she was downright sensual. But it's the whole "I'm really the one who runs things" sort of idea that I cringe from. When I was an Executive Assistant, I didn't run anything. Hell, I didn't even do anything.
And I certainly didn't know anything.
Knowing Everything
This is severely annoying. When you're just a garden-variety Office Assistant, no one really expects you to keep track of everyone you work for. HA HA HA!! Of course they do. But people are certainly more understanding if you can't keep tabs on everyone and everything. HA HA HA! Oh, man, that's another good one.
But this is a whole new level of knowing everything. If your boss is not around, people will expect you to know where he is. If you don't know where he is, they will expect you to know when he'll be back. And if you don't know when he'll be back, people will expect you to KNOW EVERYTHING HE KNOWS. They will expect you to answer their questions, solve their problems, and alleviate their concerns.
In short, and this is a major responsibility, and you will need to be prepared to speak on your boss's behalf.
Have fun. Wreak havoc. Destroy lives.
And please, let me know what happens.
Taking Dictation
I can actually provide an example of this one, with something I posted a long time ago. Check this out.
(It isn't live, it isn't Memorex, but it CAN HARM YOU. BEWARE. You will need to have your speakers on, and it's kind of a large sound file (.wav), so it may take some time to load. If you'd like to see the page it was originally posted it on, you can click here.)
