Why is it so hard to find an assistant?

[Anonymous]

Are people allergic to work these days? I need an assistant. The job is to assist me in an efficient manner. Do I have to go abroad to find someone who can work without wasting time, without a bad attitude, and without thinking that typing a document is beneath them?

[Anonymous]

To hire a really good administrative assistant, you need to pay them well and treat them like the valuable employees they are.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Just judging from your little post, I'm going to guess your failure to find an adequate assistant says more about you than it does about the candidates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just judging from your little post, I'm going to guess your failure to find an adequate assistant says more about you than it does about the candidates.

I agree. OP sounds demanding and micromanagerial...the very traits most people avoid.

[Anonymous]

I know exactly how you feel, Imelda.

[Anonymous]

American kids have been overpraised, dumbed down, and spoon fed too much.

[Anonymous]

OP, ignore the haters. If you are qualified to be their boss, they won't mind working for you. Given that, it is difficult to find competent and professional people that aren't slackers. Many people in the D.C. area are all about the title without the qualifications - they think others are as stupid as they are! Funny.

Try an agency. Maybe a temp agency, so you can make sure you like each other before committing to full time permanent.

[Anonymous]

You get what you pay for.

[Anonymous]

I second the recommendation to find a temp agency. We had a string of bad administrative help and finally started going the temp to hire route. It's made a huge difference!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are people allergic to work these days? I need an assistant. The job is to assist me in an efficient manner. Do I have to go abroad to find someone who can work without wasting time, without a bad attitude, and without thinking that typing a document is beneath them?

It is obvious why you will never find an assistant.

[Anonymous]

What are the duties, OP? Is this a personal assistant or an assistant in a professional setting? What salary and benefits are you offering?

[Anonymous]

My husband went through 3 Executive Assistants before he found the one he has retained. He wanted such things like--show up for work on time, finish the work assigned to you, no internet surfing (this is clearly specified during the interview), no headphones, answer the phone politely, be able to demonstrate the skills your resume specifies ie if you say you can use Word, you better be able to.

In exchange, he pays her very well. She is given bonuses from his personal bank account when she does thing above and beyond her job--like when she helped me buy our house and I worked with her daily to pull together all of the necessary paperwork that he had filed in his office. She is given a lot of flexibility to take time off for her personal needs. In short, he treats her like a professional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, ignore the haters. If you are qualified to be their boss, they won't mind working for you. Given that, it is difficult to find competent and professional people that aren't slackers. Many people in the D.C. area are all about the title without the qualifications - they think others are as stupid as they are! Funny.

Try an agency. Maybe a temp agency, so you can make sure you like each other before committing to full time permanent.

If your boss has been promoted above their competence, they will take it out on you by giving you tasks with unclear directions and expectations, micromanaging it, and making sure you know your place, as well as how lazy and incompetent you are. Given that, expect that no matter how bright and hard working you are, you will be assumed to be barely capable of wiping your own fanny. God help you if you want to move to a job with more responsibilities and thinking required - don't you know? Your boss thinks you can barely manage being an assistant, a job so coveted that you must surely be bragging everywhere to everyone about your amazing job title as "Assistant to the Vice Director of Nothing Consequential."

[Anonymous]

I need a job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband went through 3 Executive Assistants before he found the one he has retained. He wanted such things like--show up for work on time, finish the work assigned to you, no internet surfing (this is clearly specified during the interview), no headphones, answer the phone politely, be able to demonstrate the skills your resume specifies ie if you say you can use Word, you better be able to.

In exchange, he pays her very well. She is given bonuses from his personal bank account when she does thing above and beyond her job--like when she helped me buy our house and I worked with her daily to pull together all of the necessary paperwork that he had filed in his office. She is given a lot of flexibility to take time off for her personal needs. In short, he treats her like a professional.

But does she 'take care' of the boss too? J/k. Sounds like a keeper.