Career outlook for personal assistant
Figures and forecasts for roles at the same level, which require similar skills and qualifications.
Average UK salary
£30,160
Currently employed in Scotland
14,300
Five year job forecast
-1.62%
"LMI for All" supplies our salary and employment status information. "Oxford Economics" supplies job forecasts and employment figures.
What's it like?
You would help a manager make the best use of their time by giving secretarial support and dealing with day-to-day tasks.
You would:
- Screen telephone calls and handle enquiries
- Update your manager’s diary and make appointments
- Deal with letters and emails
- Write letters and produce reports and presentations
- Arrange meetings
- Look after office systems
- Take notes at meetings
- Make travel arrangements
- Look after visitors
Many managers give their personal assistants a high level of responsibility, so in some jobs you may have to:
- Stand in for the manager in their absence
- Manage other administrative staff
- Deal with accounts and budgets
- Take on project work, such as research
You’d have to enjoy a varied day, and be good at doing several different things at once.
Working conditions
Hours
Environment
UK employment status
Full-time
60%
Part-time
27%
Self employed
13%
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Top skills
Here are some of the skills needed for this job. Sign in to see how your skills match up.
- Reliable
- Time management
- Developing a plan
- Sorting
- Attention to detail
- Verbal communication
- Written communication
- Cooperating
- Observation
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Entry requirements for courses can change. Always contact the college, university or training provider to check exactly what you’ll need.
Foundation Apprenticeships
Choosing a Foundation Apprenticeship as one of your subjects in S5 and S6 can help you get a head start with this type of job.
You'll get an SCQF level 6 qualification (the same level as a Higher) plus valuable work placement experience and skills you can't learn in a classroom.
Interested? Find out what's on offer at your school on Apprenticeships.scot.
Qualifications
Qualifications at SCQF level 4-6 are usually asked for and relevant work-based experience is essential. Many applicants have a Higher National Certificate (SCQF level 7), Higher National Diploma (SCQF level 8) or a degree (SCQF level 9/10).
Entry requirements to study an administration National Certificate course or National Qualification course range from no formal qualifications up to three to four subjects at National 4/5 level.
You need one to two Highers for an Higher National Certificate or Higher National Diploma and Nationals and three to five Highers to enter a degree.
Useful subjects
- English (required by most course and employers)
- Maths
- Business
- ICT subjects
- Administrative subjects
Helpful to have
Qualifications that show your organisational, teamworking and ICT skills and any qualifications that involve work-based experience such as Skills for Work courses.
You can work your way up from an administrative job, gaining qualifications while you work such as a Scottish Vocational Qualification in business and administration (SVQ level 2 /3) or a similar.
Ability in a foreign language can be useful for some roles.