Whether you want to expand your responsibilities within your office assistant job, or you’re looking to progress into an executive assistant job in NYC, a promotion isn’t something that is just given out. It’s a case of preparation, planning and timing.

As New York is a city full of opportunities for great assistants, we’ve put together an infographic that explains how you can show your boss that you’re ready and able to take the next step!

Tiger Recruitment can help you land your dream personal assistant job in Manhattan, Brooklyn, or the greater NYC area. Have a look at our live job listings to start your search today!

The post Here’s how to secure your personal assistant promotion appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Welcome to From the Tiger’s Mouth! Tiger Recruitment’s podcast series is the number one place for workplace insights, thought leadership and topical issues across the global job market. In each episode, we’ll be inviting an expert guest to share their thoughts and advice within their professional field. Whether you’re looking to reinvent the way you run your business or to hear new opinions and ideas on the state of the market, we’ve got you covered! So, if that sounds like your kind of thing, stay tuned!

Listen to previous episodes on Apple and Spotify.

From the Tiger’s Mouth: Creating Impactful Charity-Corporate Partnerships

In this episode, we spoke to Brendan McGowan, a Senior Consultant at NPC, with 20 years of experience working with the charity sector.

Our host Jess Umasuthan, Senior Consultant and Charity Ambassador at Tiger Recruitment, asks Brendan to share his tips for establishing meaningful corporate charity partnerships and effectively measuring your impact. If you’re looking to improve your charity partnership for both social impact and internal benefits, our latest podcast episode is your go-to resource.

From the Tiger’s Mouth: Maximizing Executive Efficiency – The Evolving Role of Administrative Assistants

Managing Director Rebecca Siciliano speaks to Lucy Brazier OBE, CEO of Marcham Publishing and leading authority on the administrative profession. From PAs to EAs, Rebecca and Lucy explore all the latest trends in administration.

This episode shares frameworks to upskill assistants, opportunities to embrace AI, top tips on delegation, and more.

From the Tiger’s Mouth: Strategies For Aspiring Female Leaders

Happy International Women’s Day! In this empowering podcast episode, we dive into the world of leadership with a focus on strategies tailored for aspiring female leaders. Join us as we bring together a panel of accomplished professionals from Tiger Recruitment, each with a unique perspective on climbing the career ladder, overcoming challenges, and thriving in leadership roles.

Our esteemed host, Katie Hawksley-Blackburn, a senior recruitment consultant at Tiger Recruitment, leads an insightful conversation with a dynamic lineup of guests. From the Managing Director, Rebecca Siciliano, to the Director of the London City office, Angela Lopes, and the Head of the MENA region, Zahra Clark, to the Head of Zurich, Jane Leese, our panel represents a diverse range of leadership experiences and backgrounds.

Tune in to gain valuable insights and practical tips on navigating the corporate landscape as a female leader. Our guests share their personal journeys, discussing the obstacles they faced and the strategies they employed to succeed. Whether you’re just starting your leadership journey or looking for ways to advance your career, this episode provides a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.

Discover how to build resilience, cultivate a supportive network, and leverage your unique strengths as a female leader.  This International Women’s Day, empower yourself with the tools and strategies needed to not only survive but thrive in leadership.

Join us for an engaging and uplifting conversation that celebrates the achievements of women in leadership, while providing actionable advice for those aspiring to make their mark. Don’t miss this special episode!

From the Tiger’s Mouth: Empowering Neurodiversity at Work

HR Consultant, Jamie Power, interviews Dr Samantha Hiew, award-winning professional speaker and Founder of ADHD Girls, which she founded after receiving an ADHD diagnosis at the age of 40.

With neurodivergent individuals making up 15-20% of the global population, this episode addresses steps for businesses to empower neurodivergent workers and reap the rewards of a diverse workforce.

From the Tiger’s Mouth: Bringing Games Into Your HR Strategy

HR Consultant Jamie Power and Andy Yeoman, Strategic Developer at Totem Learning discuss what games can bring to your business. The conversation exhibits key insights into the value of gamification in HR.

This episode looks at how HR teams can use games and gamification to improve  recruitment and onboarding processes, foster positive work environments and improve team dynamics.

From the Tiger’s Mouth: Cultivating success with employee wellness and mental health initiatives

Tiger New York’s Senior Consultant Jessica Krisburg, sat down with Jessalynn Hudgins, founder of Whole Health Wellness, to discuss how HR teams can leverage employee wellness initiatives to improve mental health, workplace morale, and resonate with jobseekers and employees alike.

They also analyze the future trends in employee wellbeing, how HR teams can utilize technology to support wellbeing policies, strategies that companies should take note of, and much more.
Listen to the episode below!

For insights and resources for HR professionals, click here.

The post From the Tiger’s Mouth: podcast for HR professionals appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

If you’re in a personal assistant job, you may have considered moving into a more flexible role. Flexible working has been increasing in popularity for a number of years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the idea of hybrid working to mainstream attention.

It’s not hard to see why the popularity of working from home is on such a sharp rise. Offering additional flexibility, removing the need to commute and higher levels of productivity, it is often a preferred option for many full-time workers. However, just like any endeavor, working virtually presents its own challenges, not least isolation and overworking. Below, we look at the pros and cons of remote working.

Advantages of remote working

An environment to suit you

One of the most commonly noted benefits of remote working is flexibility. It allows you to adapt your working hours based on your schedule and accommodate tasks that require being at home. It also allows you to adapt your working environment to your needs, changing the lighting, temperature, setting and background noise as needed.

More time, more money

Working from home also reduces the need for a commute, saving time and money and increasing morale – after all, who wants to spend hours traveling to and from work? These time savings can also result in a better work/life balance, as you have more time for maintaining your physical and mental health.

Master your to-do list

From a productivity perspective, virtual workers are reported to get more work done, as meetings become more effective and there are less distractions in the form of co-workers. You may also find you take fewer sick days as a remote worker, as you’re less likely to take a day off for a mild illness. Taking less time off makes it easier to stay on top of your workload and deliver outcomes effectively and efficiently.

Build your self-reliance

There are also opportunities for personal and professional development that come from independent working. Being separate from most people within your company and the influence of your colleagues will force you to become more resourceful and solve problems by yourself. For example, you might be able to do a quick Google search to solve a minor IT problem, rather than approaching the IT department as a first port of call. You might even be able to pick up a few additional skills along the way by watching online tutorials, which can help to boost your professional confidence.

Challenges of remote working

Lack of socializing

Working remotely also has its challenges. For starters, working from home is often isolating and can see you not talking to anyone for hours on end. In line with this, maintaining an employee community and connection to your colleagues can prove difficult. With no way to chat over a cup of tea or check in to see how your colleagues are faring, there are fewer opportunities to connect, engage and build a sense of camaraderie. It also reduces your exposure to the overall company mission and values, as you are removed from the office environment.

No more 9 to 5

Virtual working can make switching off difficult, as the boundaries of working hours may become blurred – is it appropriate to be answering emails at 7pm? According to research from Zapier, remote workers are more likely to overwork, as the lack of the office routine makes it harder to disregard tasks outside of business hours.

This is supported by findings from a report from the UN’s International Labor Organisation (ILO), which found that 42% of regular home workers dealt with insomnia, while 41% suffered from stress. This was attributed to the blurring of boundaries between professional and personal lives and the ease of which workers can complete supplemental tasks outside of traditional working hours.

Losing motivation

For some, working from home also introduces the risk of slacking off or getting distracted. Without your team or managers around you to spur you on, it can become harder to stay engaged, or perhaps that quick home task takes longer than expected, or you’re distracted by a visitor. It also restricts performance monitoring and, in some instances, can increase the danger of being overlooked for promotions and career progression.

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The pros and cons of working from home are highly influenced by personality types; some thrive in a quiet, self-motivated setting, while others work best in the buzz of a busy office. Finding the right balance is important for you to excel in your job and career.

If you’re looking for a remote working role or to transition to a virtual job, Tiger can help, register with us today!

The post The benefits and challenges of working from home appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Five key PA duties explained

If you’re considering a move into a personal assistant job, you’ve come to the right place. Tiger has specialized in securing jobseekers their dream PA role for over two decades, so our understanding of the position is second to none.

PA roles and responsibilities have been highly valued across a number of industries for decades. The future of the PA role may always be evolving along with the many changes in technology and work culture but, at its core, the position remains the same: ensuring the Principal you’re assisting has everything they need to perform at their best. So, how does a personal assistant go about achieving that?

The gatekeeper

The amount of incoming calls and emails they receive will depend on the seniority of your Principal but, regardless, answering these will play a significant role in your PA duties. You will be tasked with filtering out unnecessary distractions and prioritizing inquiries for your Principal to respond to. So, you’ll need excellent verbal and written communication, as well as relationship-management skills when in regular contact with clients and other business partners.

The diary manager

Senior-level staff can jump from meeting to meeting, office to office throughout the day, so naturally it can be difficult for them to remember their schedule. They’ll rely on you as a PA to manage their diary: booking meetings, phone calls, lunches and more, but also ensuring that they have enough downtime to travel or attend to personal tasks.

The travel booker

Management and executive-level staff will often be required to travel nationally or internationally for meetings and conferences. As their PA, it will be your responsibility to arrange everything surrounding these trips including visas, taxis, flights, hotels, meeting rooms and restaurants. Writing a well-planned travel itinerary, as well as the ability to respond quickly and effectively to cancellations, schedule changes and other issues, will make you an invaluable assistant.

The expense manager

Hand-in-hand with arranging travel and accommodation is dealing with expenses. You’ll be entrusted to ensure all bills are correct and paid for on time, and keep an up to date log of these and all other business expenses related to your executive. It’s thus crucial that you have a good head for numbers.

The MS Office wizard

Your manager/executive will regularly be moving between meetings covering different subjects. They may even be giving presentations. A personal assistant will help ease the transition by preparing notes, reports, PowerPoints and other documents for their Principal ahead of time. The best PAs are skilled with a variety of software useful to this task, such as Microsoft Office suite. If you lack confidence in these programs, there are many online courses you can take to get up to speed.

There are many more ad-hoc tasks you’ll be required to undertake as a PA and, alongside mastering these daily PA roles and responsibilities, the most important challenge of a personal assistant job is to learn the preferred working style, rhythms, and quirks of your manager. If you can click with them and march to the same beat, you’ll be able to anticipate potential problems and distractions ahead and clear them from the path, keeping everything running smoothly.

If you’re ready to take the next step and apply for PA roles, submit your details today. And be sure to read our tips for PA interviews to prepare yourself!

If you’re looking to hire a personal assistant yourself, we can also help! Get in touch with your requirements today.

The post What does a Personal Assistant do? appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Having an EA job is no walk in the park! As a first step, you must be extremely efficient and be thinking ten steps ahead of your boss. Acting as a second brain for your principals, much of the time you’ll adapt your working style to match theirs. Some may wish you to organize aspects of their personal life, asking you to complete such tasks as paying bills and organizing family vacations, while others may only require professional support.

Be communicative

Communication is absolutely crucial as an EA, but your boss may only like a certain form of communication – email, text, phone call or face-to-face. No matter their preference, ensure that you’re relaying all information back to them. Some bosses like their EAs to attend all meetings with them. If this is the case, it’s crucial to make thorough notes to discuss post-meeting. You’ll then be able to pull them apart and prioritize action points. If it’s a virtual meeting, the advantage is that you’ll be able to record it to refer back to afterwards.

If you do not go to meetings with your boss, suggest sitting down together afterwards to discuss everything that had been touched on. This way, you’ll be constantly in the loop with a good understanding of the situation.

Be resilient

A resilient EA will quickly become an invaluable support to your team. Most of us, at one time or another in our careers, will occasionally be presented with the challenge of dealing with tricky situations and people. These might be clients, managers, time-sensitive projects or make-or-break presentations. EAs, however, see all these regularly – up front and center!

Not taking things personally is a given trait of a great EA, quite simply because they’re so frequently in high-pressure situations and more often than not (rightly or wrongly), on the receiving end of a frustrated individual or team.

Be efficient

It goes without saying that a great EA must be organized! Implement organizational structures into your work and stick to them. By keeping your work life neat and tidy, it will keep your mind clear and ready for all situations. You do not want to get to the point in your day where you urgently need to find documentation and you are struggling to find it in your messy inbox!

Try to organize all of your emails into set folders. Break them down by sender or task and store all correspondence in each folder. Alternatively, there are apps to help automate inbox and diary management, ensuring that all emails are on hand when you need them.

It’s also essential to keep a to-do list. Every time you have a new task come up, think about its priority within your workload, then place it accordingly in your list. This reduces your chances of forgetting something and will help with your time management.

Take on your most difficult and time-consuming tasks at the beginning of the day to minimize stress levels and maximize your standard of work.

Remember, your boss’s efficiency should also be considered. Before asking your boss questions, think about whether you could find the answers another way. By raising unnecessary queries that you could figure out for yourself, you are essentially wasting both yours and your boss’s time. Take a second to think before you speak!

Be proactive

If nothing else, an EA must be proactive. It’s vital that you can stay ahead of your boss, regardless of the situation. On a Monday, review the meetings your boss has this week, ensuring that all requirements, such as notes and rooms, are considered ahead of time. Your first thought should always be ‘what is my boss going to need?’.

There may be a time when they are out of the office or away on vacation, leaving you to manage their affairs. As the first point of contact for clients and contacts, you’ll need to maintain high levels of professionalism to ensure that you are acting exactly as they would do in each situation.

Keep a positive attitude

When recruiting for an executive assistant, we always look for calm and collected individuals who work well under pressure. Not only can the EA role be incredibly stressful at times, but a busy team will look to their EA as a constant. So, a successful EA must be able to approach every situation with a smile, working logically through each problem to find a solution. By keeping calm and staying upbeat, you will be able to complete tasks to a higher standard.

An EA is often required to represent their boss and company either on the telephone, via email or face to face. Therefore, you need to be comfortable engaging in small talk and networking. Whatever the situation, always be polite and courteous! Your boss will expect you to stay positive and have that can-do attitude at all times, as this will also play a huge part in staff morale.

Be self-motivated

When working as an executive assistant, you cannot expect praise every time you complete a task on your to-do list. Self-motivation is key to being able to get on with your workload, so set yourself goals within your working day. Aim to complete a certain number of tasks on your to-do list before you get your next cup of coffee. Working hard may look like it is going unrecognized when your boss is extremely busy, but it is always noticed.

Be discrete

Discretion is one of the all-time top behaviours our clients look for in potential candidates, particularly private PAs. You’ll be exposed to a myriad of personal and professional confidences as an EA, and this unique characteristic will see the best candidates go far in their careers. A gossip might find their credibility is tarnished early on, while those who understand confidentiality will shortly prove themselves to be indispensable.

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The rewards are significant for those EAs who earn their stripes. You’ll strengthen relationships with business leaders, teams and peers whilst simultaneously earning great credibility in professional circles. Our most valued EA candidates, in addition to the financial rewards, will experience great adventures, meet incredible people and even travel the world. While it might take time and experience to reach those milestones, a successful EA will get there.

Looking for an EA job? Tiger Recruitment can help. Submit your details or see our available jobs now.

Looking to hire an EA? Read our guide to hiring an EA, and get in touch with your requirements.

The post The seven traits of a successful executive assistant appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Automation continues to pervade our everyday lives, with Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and a multitude of chatbots now commonplace. As this technology continues to rise in popularity, it’s being adopted in the professional space, with everyone from factory workers to CEOs recognizing its potential.

As a PA, you may be having visions of those chirpy AI assistants taking over your role, but fear not – there are plenty of benefits of automation for personal assistants! Here are five ways to take advantage of the technology and start automating processes at work.

1. Inbox management

There are plenty of tools for PAs out there that can filter through inboxes, categorizing emails into different folders and marking them in terms of importance. If needed, they can also send receipts straight to your nominated accounting software, forward tasks straight to to-do lists and even delete unneeded communications. When handling multiple inboxes, it can make maintaining emails easier than ever. Check out these top services:

• Clean Email
• Mailbird
• Boomerang

2. Multi-tasking

Smart browser extensions can coordinate your many different apps and programs, reducing the need for repetitive tasks, and opening up the workflow from one application to another. For example, you could send an important PowerPoint or Excel document in an email, and the attachment will be automatically saved to Dropbox. Project management apps can also be linked – Evernote can be connected to Trello or a Google calendar, meaning there’s no need to repeat notes. Streamline your workflow with these recommendations:

• Zapier
• If This Then That
• Workato

3. Diary management

There are some things that only a human PA or EA can do when it comes to scheduling, but rote tasks such as organising meetings can be offloaded to an automation app.. These programs can find the next available spot in your Principal’s calendar by CC-ing them into an email. Most of these bots are also programed to learn from each experience, meaning that any pre-sets are carried onto the next interaction. Our favorites are:

• Calendly
• Fantastical
• Google Calendar

4. Travel booking

Forget liaising with a travel agent or spending hours on the multiple airline apps to find a spare business class seat – travel booking tools will do your organizing for you, leaving more time for other human-centric tasks. With the potential for personalized results, automatically generated itineraries and a concierge service, they take care of every element for both personal and business travel. Take the stress out of traveling with these apps:

• TravelPerk
• TripIt
• TripActions

5. Minute-taking

Minute-taking may be one of the regular tasks for PAs and EAs, but if the tech world has anything to do with it, it won’t be for much longer. Several apps now exist to automate the entire process, dialing in like a human participant and using speech-to-text technology to take accurate notes. They can also email a copy after the meeting and highlight any actions discussed, ensuring each meeting is of use. Our top picks are:

• Beenote
• Otter.ai
• Sembly

We know that the true value of PAs and executive assistants stems from their soft skills such as empathy, negotiation, diplomacy and personal touch. Automating repetitive and administrative tasks, as part of your role, will ultimately allow those soft skills to shine so that you can take the next step in your career.

Looking for a new PA job or seeking further training? Tiger can help – register today to start your job search!

The post PAs, are you up to speed on the benefits of automation? appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Keep an eye out for these tell-tale signs of a people-first business

Receiving that ‘Congratulations…’ email after weeks of applications, interviews and stress can be a huge rush. You spring out of bed buzzing with energy, get to the office an hour early and work harder than ever, thrilled to have seized this dream role!

But how many of us know where this story is heading? The 9-5 becomes a 7-11, the ‘cool’ boss is at boiling point, and no one else in the office is smiling…

Just like a whirlwind romance, a new job can quickly sour after the honeymoon period. The pandemic prompted a lot of people to rethink their careers and take bold steps to change them. For some, the choice to leave one company for another has proven to be the right one. Others, however, are finding the grass isn’t always greener. In their haste to leave an unfulfilling job, they’ve overlooked the importance of doing in-depth research on a company that looks like a perfect fit.

So, how can you tell if a job opportunity is right for you? Here are some green flags to look for in a prospective employer.

Positive workplace culture

Take a look at any successful company’s website and social media. Chances are you’ll see photos of the team enjoying away days and after-work drinks like a group of old friends. This is a great indicator of a company striving to regularly bring a team together – the importance of which can be forgotten in the current excitement around hybrid and remote working. You may even wish to reach out to your potential colleagues for their own experiences in the office.

Transparent diversity & inclusion initiatives

Many companies have clearly defined policies around Diversity & Inclusion, often available to view on their website. While this is a good start, it’s worth looking at the reality in their team via social media, and by asking questions in the interview process. Reviews from employees on sites like Glassdoor can also be revealing. If there’s a lack of diversity, an honest answer from the interviewers is still a sign of their awareness of the issue.

Good communication and flexibility during the hiring process

Applying and interviewing for jobs is stressful at the best of times, but not hearing a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for weeks at a time can be unbearable. Regular updates from the recruitment team show there is as much respect for the candidate’s time as there is for the company’s. During this back-and-forth it’s also good practice to pay attention to how accommodating they are with interview dates and times. If a company is understanding of prior commitments in your calendar, such as the school run, it’s a good hint at how flexibly it will treat you as an employee.

Clear career progression opportunities

The classic “Where do you see yourself in five years?” could just as easily be countered with “Where do you see me?” While we certainly don’t advise being quite so forward, the point stands that a company needs to be able to show there are real opportunities for you to learn new skills and climb the career ladder beyond the role in question. Examples from its current workforce are the best proof.

Respect for work-life balance

The importance of a healthy work-life balance has been in the spotlight for a while now, encouraging employers to place much more emphasis on it in their job adverts. But this is an easy area for them to fall short in due to our 24hour connectivity and ability to work remotely. In the interviews, be sure to delve into any benefits offered like holiday, flexible hours/days, personal days, life-coaching, and mental health initiatives.

What connects all these positive indicators is the proof that a company acts on its word. If you can see the employer puts its money where its mouth is, or at the very least is transparent in its shortcomings and efforts to amend them, you can rest easy that this is a company with a human approach to business.

If you’re ready to take the next steps in your career evolution, and would like advice and help finding a role and company that will match your principles, submit your resume today.

The post Five signs a company is a great place to work appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

After searching far and wide, you’ve found the ideal personal assistant job to apply for. You have the traits required of a great PA, and you’ve made sure they’re all listed clearly your resume. But before you hit that apply button, there’s one more area that needs close attention if you want to stand out to the hiring manager: the personal statement.

Writing an effective personal statement on your resume can have a substantial impact on your job hunt and the success of your application. It will sum up why you’re the perfect fit for the role, and encourage the employer to read on and see the proof. But it’s not always easy to write.

To help you in this process, we’ve put together a list of tips to give you clarity and confidence when writing the best possible personal statement on your resume.

What do you write in a resume personal statement?

On your resume, the personal statement provides a brief overview to the hiring managers of your character, your ambitions, and what you can offer.

In the case of a personal assistant role, it should of course highlight your relevant skills, experience, and the sectors you’ve specifically worked in. But you should also pay special attention to the personality traits that are so crucial to this role.

Below, you’ll find some more specific guidelines to make a great first impression with your resume summary.

Keep it concise

Your resume personal statement should be brief and to-the-point — ideally three to four lines long. The hiring manager will be interested in learning more about you, but they won’t have time to read a whole biography. Keep it punchy and relevant, and therefore effective.

Focus on readability

Don’t get too creative with your vocabulary — keep it simple!

In an effort to sound different or knowledgeable by using very sophisticated words, the risk is that your personal statement will be hard to read. The tone should be professional, but when it comes to the choice of words, sometimes less is more.

Don’t forget to dot the i’s and cross the t’s

You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to make grammar mistakes when writing a personal statement on a resume.  When the goal is to keep it concise and simple, you may feel there’s no need for a grammar check, but it’s always best practice to proof-read. It might also be worth using a tool like Grammarly for extra help.

In conclusion

The goal of your personal statement, when applying for a PA role, is to spark the interviewer’s interest in those first few lines. If you can grab their attention early, they will be more likely to read your full resume and offer you an initial interview. Focusing on the above points will go a long towards achieving this.

Are you not registered with us yet? Submit your details here and let us help you find the perfect personal assistant role!

The post How to write a personal assistant resume profile appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Why asking your interviewer questions is important

Interviews can often be a dreaded part of the recruitment process. Regardless of whether they’re a panel interview, video interview or phone interview however, they’re integral to your understanding of the PA job and the prospective employer. And, asking your interviewer well-researched and considered questions presents an opportunity to emphasize your enthusiasm for the open vacancy.

It’s likely that a well-prepped interviewer will set out the agenda for the meeting at the beginning, advising whether they’d welcome questions throughout the interview or at the end (be aware, there may be interviewers who are ill-prepared!). If this isn’t mentioned, however, we generally advise to try and keep the conversation as two-way as possible.

Every question you ask the employer affords you an opportunity to highlight your own skills too! By framing your questions appropriately, you can convey your strengths and examples of previous performance in an interactive and proactive way. For example, when asking about process improvement, you could say, “At my last organization, I set up a committee for all the PAs to meet once a month so that we could share tips and improve processes. Do you have anything similar in place here?”.

How long does a PA interview last?

A typical PA interview will last about an hour and we would normally expect you to have seen a copy of the full job description beforehand.  There will usually be two or three stages to a PA interview process – but we have seen this take a lot longer depending on the company and seniority of the position.

Example questions PAs can ask their employer in interview

1. How many PAs are working in the company at the moment and how do you allocate executives to PAs?

This question will help you to better understand the make-up of the PA team, as well as how the management team view the business support function. Do they recognize its importance or do they, for the most part, try to push senior execs to do the admin for themselves? It might also shed some light on your support network once you’re working for the company (moral and professional!).

2. What are the key goals you’d like to see me achieving in the first three months?

Having a better understanding of the key objectives will give you better clarity around what is important to them. It might be that they want you to focus on getting your head around the different time zones you’ll be working with, in which case you’ll know that that’s the key priority.

3. Can you tell me more about the personalities of the people I’d be assisting?

As you know, personal assistant jobs are so much more than what’s listed in the job description. Having a better understanding of their personalities is likely to give you a better insight into whether or not you’d be comfortable working for them. If the fit doesn’t feel right, you might need to weigh up the pros and cons of the other aspects of the role.

4. What traits do the most successful PAs in the company have?

Having a greater insight into the other PAs’ perceived successes affords you a glimpse of what they deem to be positive. If you’re very lucky, their successes will be things that you already do and know back-to-front!

5. What technology do the PAs and EAs typically use in the company?

This will give you a better understanding of any knowledge gaps you might have, or an opportunity to let them know you have experience in what they’re using! Knowing their use of tech also gives you a sneak peek into how innovative the business is, in that regard.

6. Aside from the people I’m supporting as a PA, who will be my main stakeholders?

Some PAs only spend a few minutes each day with their executives. Knowing who else you spend time with will play an important part in your enjoyment of the position!

7. What do you feel are the main challenges of this PA opportunity?

Having an understanding of the perceived challenges affords you greater insight into the obstacles you might need to overcome. This will hopefully give you an opportunity to get a fuller understanding of the cons as well as the pros.

8. Tell me about your working style and how you like to work with your PA?

This question is obviously directed towards the executive you’d be supporting, rather than an HR representative. Having a sense of their preferred working style gives an awareness of how closely you’ll be working together, how involved you’ll be with their projects and the day-to-day detail of their requirements.

9. Will I have access to your inbox and will I be responding to emails on your behalf?

Email management has the potential to take a significant chunk of time in a personal assistant’s job. Depending on whether this is something you enjoy, it’s always best to know ahead of time if this is something you’ll be doing.

10. Are there any additional areas of responsibility that I can take on, such as committee work or events management, in other areas of the business?

This question should be phrased carefully, to ensure that there are no misconceptions about your enthusiasm for the role at hand. That said, asking about ways you can add value elsewhere in the business will be well-received in the right context.

11. Do you have any initiatives in place to train and develop your PAs?

The question on many PAs’ minds, when interviewing, surrounds career progression and learning and development (L&D) opportunities. Does the company support advancement and how will they support your professional growth? Instead of asking specifically about career progression before you’ve secured the role, knowing how they structure their L&D will give you a glimpse of the ways in which they can support your growth.

12. Do any events or forums exist for PAs within the business in which they can come together and share ideas?

This demonstrates a consideration of bigger-picture continuous improvement and an ability to look outside of your own role. The advantages of collaboration and team building are also significant.

If you’ve not already submitted your resume, you can do so here.

The post Personal assistants, ask the employer these questions in your next interview appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

How to Write a Letter of Resignation

If you’re wondering how to resign from a job, the best first step is to have a verbal conversation with your manager notifying them of your intention to resign, and that you will be sending in your letter. This can be an opportunity to provide any detail that doesn’t belong in your letter if you should so choose.

In addition, if you need to negotiate or discuss anything such as the length of your notice period, this conversation will give you the opportunity to come to an agreement before putting the details in writing.

It can be hard to know how to best go about writing a resignation letter, but doing so correctly is a crucial step to resigning gracefully. From structure and tone to how much detail you should include, here is an outline of how to write a resignation letter.

Resignation and Final Day

The two most important things to include when you write a letter of resignation are your statement of resignation and the date of your final day. Your statement of resignation can simply say that you are formally notifying your line manager of your resignation from your role at the company.

Secondly, it’s important to avoid any confusion around when your last day is. Check your employment contract for your notice period, count forwards to identify the correct date for your last day, and clearly state this date.

It’s possible that your notice period may end up being shorter or longer than that listed in your contract. This could be for many reasons, such as the starting date in your next role, or agreeing
to a request from your employer to stay longer and assist with the transition. If your notice period is adjusted from your contractual length, ensure to put it in writing, either in your letter or in a follow-up email. This will avoid any possibility of confusion about when you will be finishing up.

A Thank You

It is courteous to include a comment of thanks to your employer. Thank them for the opportunities and support provided during your time at the organization. If there is something in particular you would like to thank your manager for, then briefly do so. You are not required to include a statement of thanks, but it is a recommended thing to include as part of a graceful resignation.

Handover

We suggest that you add a sentence offering to assist in the handover of your tasks to your replacement. You don’t need to go into detail here, as this is something that you will most likely discuss with your manager in person. This is an optional part of a resignation letter, but it is a great way to show your manager that you intend to leave on good terms. Remember, you may need your manager for a reference in the future.

Conclusion

Finish by signing off your letter with your full name. As this is a formal letter, it can be a good idea to include your contact details in the footer (or header) of your letter.

The above are the most common points to include in a letter of resignation. Depending on the nature of your work, you may be required to include additional information. Have a thorough read of your employment contract before writing your letter and ensure that you have identified any additional points that need adding.

Things To Avoid In Your Resignation Letter

There are some things that shouldn’t be said in a resignation letter. These topics may either be better suited to a face-to-face discussion, your exit interview, or even just for conversations at home. When considering how to write a resignation letter, keep these in mind.

Why You Are Leaving

You are not required by law to give a reason for your resignation, and it is usually a good idea to avoid this topic altogether in your letter. If you have found a new role, this is something that you can choose to verbally disclose in conversation with your manager.

Your New Employer

If you have found a new role, do not disclose the details of this in your resignation letter. You can choose to let your manager know about your new role in person, but this isn’t something that you should be including in your letter.

Complaints

It’s important to leave a job on good terms where possible, and your resignation letter is not the place to be airing grievances. If you have constructive feedback to provide your employer with, this is something that can be discussed in your exit interview. If you have frustrations that you feel need venting, avoid doing so in the workplace. Letting out your emotions is what friends and family are for!

Example Resignation Letter

As a starting point, we’ve outlined an example resignation letter below. Most resignation letters these days are handed in digitally. If you are handing your resignation letter in physically, it is a good idea to sign the bottom of the letter.

Date

Dear [manager’s name],

I am writing this letter to formally notify you of my resignation as [role title] at [company name], effective [date of sending]. In accordance with my employment contract, my last day of work will be [date of last day].

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the support and opportunities provided to me in my time at [company name].

Please let me know how I can help ensure a smooth transition over the next [notice period length].

Kind Regards,
Your full name
Your contact details

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Are you looking for a job? Register with Tiger today to get started on finding the job of your dreams.

The post How To Write A Resignation Letter appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

When it comes to hiring for a private household, a private chef can be an invaluable addition. However, hiring a private chef in the US or internationally can be a complex process with a number of elements to consider. From figuring out the correct salary and hours, to catering to your family’s dietary requirements, finding the right fit is essential.

We work with a wide range of private chefs who are available for one-off events, weekends or seasons in a permanent, full-time capacity. With varying responsibilities and experience, it’s vital to understand what you’re looking for, what to expect of your chef and the level of culinary prowess your family expects on a day-to-day basis.

What is a Personal Chef?

A personal chef is a qualified chef that you can hire on a temporary or permanent basis to cook bespoke meals for you and your family, or for an event, holiday or other special occasion. The main benefits of hiring a private chef are:

1. You remove the need to cook, saving valuable time that can be allocated elsewhere
2. A personal chef uses their expertise to source, prepare and serve restaurant-quality meals in the comfort of your own home or chosen location
3. Personal chefs can come up with balanced, nutritional meal plans in accordance with your preferences or dietary requirements, ensuring that you’re looking after your health, and eating tasty meals

Private Domestic Chef

Private domestic chefs work for one client or several, on a part-time or full-time basis. If they’re working for one client full-time, they will often also live on the Principal’s estate. Hiring a private domestic chef allows for a truly customized meal plan, and completely removes the stress and time taken from preparing multiple meals a day.

Restaurant Chef

A restaurant chef works in a professional kitchen and is trained to prepare meals to a high standard. Private chefs usually have several years of experience working in demanding restaurant environments, often in fine dining. This means that private chefs are extremely capable of working to tight deadlines and above-and-beyond requests.

Why hire a private chef?

A private chef is becoming an increasingly popular option for busy UHNWI and families. Hiring a private chef for the night for a dinner party can take the stress out of catering, while hiring a private chef for a weekend – perhaps during the ski season – means your family can focus on more important activities!

A private chef can also assist when catering to complex dietary requirements or eating behaviors. If your Principal or a family member has allergies, eats a restricted diet or simply prefers one cuisine over another, having a private chef can make a huge difference – they can design menus, source ingredients and prepare meals with your Principal’s needs in mind.

How to Hire a Personal Chef for a Week?

Hiring a personal chef for a week can be the perfect way to elevate a busy or special time for you and your family. Simply call or our team on +(917) 970 0670 to brief us on your requirements. The longer the lead time the better, as it will mean we can perfectly cater to your needs, however it’s not uncommon for us to be able to source someone at a moment’s notice! Regardless of whether you need someone in the US or internationally, we can help.

Once a professional has been selected, we will handle all the paperwork on both sides. The candidate will submit a timesheet at the end of the week which is sent to your email for approval. Once approved, we will pay the candidate directly and send you an invoice.

Tiger’s chefs are highly experienced, capable and are available to be hired on a temporary basis. To turn a holiday or special occasion into an unforgettable experience, consider hiring a personal chef for a week.

Read more about temporary private hiring

Hire a Personal Chef for a Week

Whether you’re pressed for time, have a taste for exquisite food, or just want to kick back and relax whilst an experienced professional cooks a meal for you and your family, either in the comfort of your own home, on holiday, or for a special event – there are many good reasons to hire a personal chef for a week.

We have a wide range of chefs available immediately for temporary placements and permanent positions and can provide advice on how to hire a private chef.

 Email Tiger Private

Looking for a temporary chef job?

If you’re an experienced private chef and looking for your next temporary opportunity, Tiger Private can help you. Find your next chef role here or submit your details. 

The post Hiring a private chef: what you need to know appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Career development is the ongoing process of learning new skills and improving your current ones in order to reach the next step in your career and achieve your long-term goals.

Career development books are packed with valuable information and advice and can help you advance in your role, sharpen your skills, and stand out from the competition.

If you want to level up your career, check out our recommendations below.

Five top books for your career development

• How to Win Friends and Influence People — Dale Carnegie

One of the best-selling and (appropriately) influential books of all time, business writer Carnegie’s book remains hugely relevant to personal and professional growth, despite first being published in 1936.

The book contains many timeless insights into human relations that can be applied in all manner of situations, from team meetings, to sales pitches, client management, and in your private life.

With such a wide view, it’s no wonder it’s become a favorite for people in all walks of life, including incredibly successful business people like Warren Buffett.

• Dare to lead – Brené Brown 

This book speaks primarily to leaders and aspiring leaders, however, there are some useful nuggets of career advice in here for everyone.

American research professor, lecturer and author Brené Brown teaches us the importance of leading mindfully while harnessing the power of accountability and vulnerability.

She claims that successful leaders are courageous, are not afraid of difficult conversations and use empathy to establish connections with those they lead.

The book shares practical strategies to help you become a successful, high-impact leader.

• Designing your work life – Bill Burnett and Dave Evans 

In this inspiring and eye-opening book, authors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans reveal that it’s possible to transform your working life and improve your current situation without changing jobs.

They demonstrate how adopting ‘design thinking’ can enhance the level of satisfaction you derive from your current job and transform how you experience work overall.

This transformation is achieved via the adoption of a designer mindset that includes: curiosity, reframing, radical collaboration, awareness, bias to action, and storytelling.

• What got you here won’t get you there – Marshall Goldsmith 

This thought-provoking book is an excellent choice for those seeking to achieve the next milestone in their career.

The author explains that the habits and behaviors that got you to where you are today may in fact become an obstacle in the next stage of your career.

Adopting the practical methods in this book will help you to achieve greater progress in your professional life by encouraging you to work on your shortcomings.

• Invaluable – Maya Grossman 

In this practical career guide, Maya Grossman teaches you the ten skills you need to skyrocket your career.

She offers advice on becoming an inestimable employee,  developing your career and feeling fulfilled in your job.

Use the career development toolkit to apply the teachings in this book and experience an immediate transformation.

Final thoughts on the best career development books

Working on your career development is a lifelong process which will require discipline and determination, but which will also prove extremely rewarding. Looking for more inspo from the experts? Why not check out this list of seven recommended books to help inspire you personally and professionally.

If you’d like access to some additional resources that will help you reach your full potential, why not explore the New Skills Academy online courses? Our partner, New Skills Academy, offers courses and training opportunities to help you enhance your skills and career prospects.

Are you ready to take the next step in your career? Submit your details today, and one of our consultants will assist you in your job search.

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Moving to a new city for work can be daunting! This is especially true of the city that never sleeps, with its five boroughs, eight million people, and fast-paced lifestyle. We’re new to the Big Apple as well, so we’re feeling a lot of the same feelings! Whether you’re looking for an entry-level assistant job or a senior executive assistant job in NYC, here are four ways to help you find a job in the city.

WAYS TO HELP YOU FIND A ROLE IN NYC

Register with the right job agency

Regardless of the type of role you’re looking for, there will be a job agency in NYC that specializes in that space. When looking for a PA or secretary job, for example, a business support agency will have the right experience to help jobseekers like you. First, decide whether you’re looking for temporary roles or permanent opportunities, and then search a recruitment company’s job pages to see if the roles they’re advertising are suitable. You might also want to look at how they support their jobseekers with online resources, such as blog posts and résumé tips, as this will give you an indication of how far they are willing to go to help you throughout the process.

Spruce up your résumé and cover letter

If you’ve just moved to the city, give your résumé and cover letter a once-over to make sure it’s in line with what’s expected by local employers. Key points to include, when looking for a role in NYC, are your relevant skills, education and experience. Remove personal details such as your full address, and don’t include a headshot. Keep the whole document to one or two pages maximum, as the hiring manager will probably look at hundreds of applications – anything longer will discourage them from reading it. In your cover letter, adapt the skills mentioned on the job description and explain how your achievements relate to the specific role you’re applying for. Mentioning the company values is also a good idea, as it shows that you’ve researched the employer.

Network

If you don’t know anyone in NYC, look for groups online like assistant support pages on Facebook, or connect with potential colleagues on LinkedIn. If you’re looking to meet other personal assistants in person, check out Eventbrite, where companies will put on conferences for support staff around New York. Apps like Meetup can also offer an informal group setting to meet and mingle with fellow assistants.

Refresh your skills

When moving to a new city, it may be worth completing a short course or two to work on any weaknesses, ensuring you’re put forward for the right roles in a competitive market. Skills needed for a personal assistant job in New York City, for example, may include minute taking, time management and an understanding of Microsoft programs. Websites like Coachhorse.com also offer courses on the basics of office software, while Trainup.com host online seminars across a range of business courses.

Tiger Recruitment can help you find your next PA role! Submit your details online or browse our live job listings to start your journey today.

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In today’s market, it can be a tough gig convincing the most talented candidates to choose you over a competitor. While the power of your brand plays an important role, for the vast majority of employers, it’s the job ad that truly attracts applications from prospective candidates.

But how many of us actually get it right? You only have to look at a handful of job adverts online to see there are as many good ones as there are bad. Here are our top nine tips on how to attract the best talent through a fantastic job ad.

How to write an employment ad

1. Spelling and grammar

Correct spelling and grammar is, without a doubt, one of the most important elements of any job ad. Just as you would shake your head upon seeing a typo in a resume, so will a candidate looking for a professional company with which to work. After all, if you can’t get the basics right, what confidence does this give the candidate? Therefore, it’s essential you write it, check it and then ask someone else to check it. Before you publish, check it one final time.

2. Tone of voice

The tone of voice in which you write your job ad will give prospective candidates some insight into the personality of your business and your company culture. Are you a corporate professional services firm looking for polished professional candidates? Make sure you reflect this in your language. Conversely, an advertising and media agency with a more laid-back approach might use informal language to give a more accurate impression of what it might be like to work there.

3. Avoid complex and lengthy headlines

The job headline should be the job title. After all, that’s what people will be looking for! If the job title doesn’t clearly describe the role, or requires further explanation, then use a strapline to do so. As an aside, if you realize you’re writing an ad for a job with an obscure job title that in no way conveys what the role’s purpose is, then consider changing the job title altogether.

If your business is well-known with a good reputation among your targeted candidates, then display the organization or brand name prominently, either as a strapline or contained in the main heading alongside the job title, as well as incorporated in the body of the advert.

4. Keep it simple and clear 

A powerful advert is succinct and to the point. With four in five job seekers using their phones to apply for jobs[1], it’s essential that you keep things short and sharp, making it very easy for candidates to review what the role is, who the successful candidate looks like, and why they should apply.

Therefore, keep sentences and paragraphs short and use bullet points to list key responsibilities or ideal requirements. After writing your first draft, find the commas and ‘and’s, and replace with full-stops.

It’s also worth avoiding jargon, elaborate design or multiple font styles.

5. Be excited

Do you want your candidates to be excited and enthusiastic about your unique opportunity? Ensure this is reflected in the writing of your advert. Take the following two extracts as an example:

a) The role has direct responsibility for all core operational departments, including sales, account management and administrative operations. Candidates will have P&L management experience and should be confident managing senior staff, each of which manage offices and teams.

b) Fully accountable for the operations and finances, we’ll look to you to maximize revenue opportunities, control costs and guarantee safe and healthy surroundings. We want our staff to love coming to work every day, and your role will make sure this is brought to life, through your fantastic interpersonal abilities.

While seemingly similar requirements are highlighted, which of the two would you rather apply for? If you’re needing some inspiration, check out 10 of the most creative job ads.

6. Why you?

Not sure what to include in a job advert? All too often, we see ads that list a whole host of responsibilities and ideal requirements, with absolutely no incentive for the candidate to apply. In this candidate-led market, it’s essential that you demonstrate why a candidate should leave their current position to come work for you. If you can’t sell the pros, one could assume there are none and therefore you don’t really care about your staff.

If you want motivated and ambitious candidates looking to make an investment in you, you should be prepared to do the same and give them some really good reasons as to why you are unique. Beware, however, if your advert is littered with ‘too-good-to-be-true’ empty promises. You may come across as less than credible and walk away with a damaged reputation.

7. What do they want to know?

The structure and content of an advert can of course vary from one business to the next, and from one sector to the other. Generally, you should always include the following pieces of information:

• Overview of the position

• Location

• What differentiates this role from another in the same sector?

• What makes your company so great to work for?

• What experience, skills and qualifications are required?

• How to apply/call to action

This last point would seem a bit of a no-brainer, but a simple instruction of what to do/what not to do is often missed, and obviously, quite important if you want them to get in touch!

8. Which job boards will your candidates be using?

There are a number of general job boards that the majority of job seekers use but there are also many industry-specific ones (for example, within the creative industry), that you may want to consider advertising with. Similarly, your target candidates may not even be looking online, in which case you’ll need to think about the publications they will be most likely to read and when.

9. Let them know what to expect next

Before you post your advert, think about how every applicant will receive a response. It doesn’t have to be personal – though of course that’s always best. An auto-responder that thanks them for applying and says you will get back to them by a certain date if you’re interested in hearing more, is a whole lot better than no response at all.

Keeping prospective candidates engaged in the hiring process will also result in a positive process and increase your chances of winning them over.

Why is this important? Other than basic good manners, you just never know where they might pop up in the future.
–

If you’re looking for more guidance on writing a good job ad, our guide can help.

Are you looking to hire administrative staff? Tiger’s consultants are experts in helping you find outstanding candidates for each role. Get in touch today to see how they can help.

[1] https://wearelanded.com/2019/03/29/four-in-five-use-smartphones-for-job-applications/

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It’s been called ‘The Future of Work’ and ‘The Next Great Disruption’, but does hybrid working make sense for your business?

The pandemic forced us all to adapt to new realities, not the least of which was the swift and sometimes stressful shift to remote working for a huge number of employees. While many of us initially saw this as a short-lived solution, as the lockdowns dragged on, it increasingly became a way of life.

With studies last year indicating more than half of employers expect a surge in flexible work requests from their employees after the pandemic, it’s clear the hybrid option needs to be given serious consideration if a company wants to stay at the forefront of their industry. In fact, even before the pandemic, research found that as many as 87% of us wanted more flexibility in our work structure, so it’s no wonder that it has become the preferred way to live and work for a lot of Tiger’s candidates.

However, not every employer is convinced by the new dynamic, and feel that its merits remain unproven. This cautious approach could prove costly in the long run though, as we’re seeing candidates go so far as to turn down roles that require 5 days a week in the office. So, in what ways can flexible working be shown to provide benefits for both parties?

Focus on what’s achieved, not what’s perceived

As we’ve mentioned in a recent Forbes article, the pandemic had a significant effect on the culture of presenteeism and long-hours working. The happy result of the reduced micromanagement was that both employers and employees could stop measuring their worth on sometimes misleading metrics like number of hours worked, and focus instead on what has actually been achieved. Less clock-watching takes a load off employees’ minds and frees up much-needed mental energy for delivering exceptional work.

Lower costs on office space

Post-lockdown studies have shown that, on average, surveyed companies are reducing their office space by 30%. These companies are shifting to flexible work options like hot desks, with fewer staff on-site on a given day. Of course, this can reduce overheads significantly, and a quieter office has its own perks, as we’ll see in the next point.

Empowering all personalities in your workforce

Naturally, working from home isn’t for everybody, and many employees thrive in a busy, fast-paced office. But we often neglect those who hit peak performance in quieter settings. Flexible working gives these employees more control of their environment, so they can maximize their productivity and work to their natural rhythms.

A less stressful commute

With more employees taking up the option of a hybrid work-week, the once ubiquitous morning sight of packed trains, buses and gridlocked traffic isn’t such a sure bet anymore. With fewer nerve-jangling commutes, employees are arriving to offices still brimming with morning energy and raring to go. Companies can also offer commute-easing incentives to encourage employees into the office more regularly, such as cycle-to-work schemes, hot desks in more nearby offices, and flexible start times.

Stay ahead in a competitive talent market

Increased market confidence has put the ball back in the employees’ and jobseekers’ court, and businesses hoping to attract the top talent would do well to keep flexible working at the forefront of their offers. This type of tailored benefit shows respect for employees’ wellbeing, and could give you the edge over your competitors.

Increased job satisfaction

Another welcome effect of increased employee autonomy is a deeper sense of satisfaction in their role. They feel more valued and trusted by their employers, and a greater ownership over the work they’re doing. They are thus much more likely to remain loyal to their company, and are a great advert for attracting further talent.

It’s more and more apparent that flexible, hybrid working is here to stay, and is becoming a key enticement for talent. At Tiger, we can help you find that talent from a wide range of highly skilled candidates around the world. Please get in touch today to find out how we can help you find your next great hire.

The post Reasons to adopt a flexible working policy appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

In today’s recruitment market it can be pretty tricky to stand out from the crowd on a standard job board. When the listings start to fade into each other, the roles responsibilities all look alike and the benefits can’t be distinguished from one to the next, it can be tricky to get a feel for a company’s company culture. Or even their sense of humor! It’s this personal element that many businesses sometimes miss in their advertising of job roles, so we thought we’d highlight our pick of ten creative job ad examples we found around the internet.

The below ads manage to successfully convey a sense of their business’s identity without disclosing too much at all about the job itself. Most of them rely on intrigue… And it works! Be sure to let us know your favorites!

1. Hungry Designers Wanted – Tonic International

At first glance you’d be forgiven for assuming it’s another clever Apple ad, but it’s Tonic International inviting designers (who use Apple products as standard) to think about how hungry for success they really are. A smart way to simultaneously appeal to a designer’s creativity whilst leveraging from their favorite brand.

2. We’re Looking For Dishwashers – Restaurant Binnen

This Dutch restaurant needed dishwashers – arguably one of the lesser glamorous roles out there. But what better way to appeal to someone’s penchant for cleaning than to distract them with (fake) lipstick marks on their wine and beer glasses? It accompanied the simple phrase ‘we’re looking for dishwashers’. Apparently it took them just one week to hire someone.

3. New Tattoo Artists Wanted – Bergge Tattoo

A very creative ad that encourages immediate engagement from its applicants whilst at the same time tests their technical abilities! In this ad, applicants must carefully fill in the QR code so as to be able to scan and upload the application form. Smart.

4. Problem Solvers Wanted – Microsoft

The ad below shows how Microsoft embraces the inner geeks with their software engineer job adverts. Bold, effective, and a nifty way to test their skills before they even have the chance to apply!

5. Life’s Too Short For The Wrong Job – Jobs In Town

This German job search platform ran a whole series of similar ads to the below to entice more users to use their service. Funny, engaging and visually arresting, we’re sure this one had people uploading their resumes in no time.

6. If You’re A Medical Transcriptionist Who Doesn’t Mishear ‘Prednisone’ – Accolade

It’s not too often job adverts in the healthcare sector are afforded the opportunity to be too creative, so Accolade did well to introduce some humor into this advertising campaign. We can’t imagine this Indian medical transcription company would have had too many problems sourcing new recruits.

7. McMistake – McDonalds 

McDonalds decided to go simple for their ad campaign to hire students and those with little-to-no experience. To do so, they create a series of posters displaying the wrong menu item in their iconic packaging. The tagline was simple, everyone makes mistakes!

8. Big Shoes – Times Ascent

How do you get to fill those big shoes? By buying Times Ascent of course. This employment paper keeps it simple, manages to get a smile out of the reader and employs a subtle aspirational concept well.

9. This Agency Is Not A Sweatshop – Saatchi & Saatchi

It’s no secret that agency life can be challenging and we love how Saatchi and Saatchi play up to their reputation, even managing to crack a joke about it. This clever pun is likely to appeal to creatives in the know.

10. Don’t Mention The M – Burger King

It’s no secret that McDonalds and Burger King are arch rivals, so what better way to earn a giggle from potential applicants and show they know how to laugh at themselves? The concept implies a complicity that is as cheeky as it is entertaining.

If you’re looking for guidance on your hiring process, our interview guide for the best candidate selection will help!

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Even the most well-seasoned of hiring managers and HR specialists will occasionally confuse and use job adverts and descriptions interchangeably. It’s crucially important to differentiate between them though – they serve two very different purposes!

1. A job description describes what the candidate does for you; an advert should focus on what you can do for them

Let’s go back to basics quickly: an advertisement is ‘any public notice […] designed to sell goods’. [1]

It goes without saying then, that an advert should market your business and the position in a positive way; it functions as a sales and employer brand awareness tool. With this in mind, it makes sense that your job ad would be the place to really sell the benefits. Pique candidates’ interest by highlighting all the perks you can muster up: from complimentary gym memberships, subsidized meals and car allowances, to the great team, career progression and flexible working arrangements.

A job description, on the other hand, is generally given to those who have taken an interest in the position already, so you know that they’ve actively taken a second step towards finding out more about the business and the role. Here is where you’ll delve into deeper detail about their responsibilities, essential experience and skillsets required.

2. A job description describes the detail; an advert gives an overview

Because the advert needs to draw people in quickly, essays are not going to be effective here. Write your advert once, then edit, and edit again. It does not need to give much more than an overview of the role itself, along with a promise of the unique benefits afforded to them if they’re successful.

When applicants are at the stage that they want to find out more, they’ll read the job description: now feel free to increase your word count and elaborate on the detail. Outline the day-to-day responsibilities so that they can match their experience and assess their fit.

3. A job description is factual; an ad tells the story

A well-written advert should be drafted with flair and imagination; draw your audience in with an interesting story that they can relate to. An exceptionally effective way of capturing their imagination is via multimedia or a creative idea – if your budget can stretch to video or animation, do it!

A job description, by contrast, can be written with the minimum of ‘fluff’. Its purpose is to list the tasks of the role along with required experience. If you’re so inclined, you may add a list of benefits to the bottom too.

4. The job title and jargon may vary

The actual job title you’re recruiting for might be ‘Director of first impressions’, but when advertising, keep it to a simple ‘Receptionist’. Not only will it make the job ad easier to find when candidates are searching online, it will also receive higher click-throughs. Similarly, avoid any hard-to-understand jargon or acronyms in an advert. You’ll only intimidate readers and dissuade them from applying.

Feel free to include these in your job description, but we’d encourage you to explain them.

5. They’re read by different people, in different ways

An advert will usually be available for everyone to see. Any recruiter or hiring manager will want to maximize the reach of their job advert, sending it to the far corners of social media, job boards and beyond. As candidates are increasingly browsing on the move using their mobiles and tablets, make it easy for them: optimize your advert for all devices and post it in the places they’re likely to see it. Check for key words and searchable terms to ensure you’re maximizing SEO.

A job description, by contrast, will be a longer document sent to engaged candidates, so feel free to distribute as a PDF or hard copy.

Looking for more hiring tips? Our interview guide for the best candidate selection will help!

If you’re looking to hire your next star candidate and need some help, contact Tiger today.

[1] Collins English Dictionary

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We remind our candidates daily, ‘Don’t forget to prepare!’. If they want the job, they need to show that they’ve completed their research by being able to talk intelligently about the role and business. It’s the same advice for you, hiring managers. If you’re looking to hire HR staff, for example, you’ll need to set up the hiring and interview process the right way. Doing so will pay dividends in ensuring a positive brand experience.

If you’re asking yourself ‘how do you prepare to interview someone?’, your interview questions are a great place to start. Craft these ahead of time, according to the key skills required of the role. In doing so, think carefully about both what you’re willing to train for and the skills you need to hire. Try and ask similar questions of all the interviewees so as to be able to compare responses.

If you’re a small business without an HR presence or formalized hiring policy, our tips below may help to guide the right approach.

Assess a candidate’s resume against the job description to better prepare questions

Before even stepping into the room (or onto the video call), it’s essential to look at each candidate’s resume and formulate a few questions that speak directly to their skills and experience. For example, if a candidate has taken on managerial tasks in their previous role, by asking a question about their delegation or leadership skills, their answer may give you critical insight about how they work with a team (even if the role in question isn’t at a senior level).

Make the candidate comfortable

To encourage the best possible candidate experience, try and make sure you’re meeting in as neutral and comfortable environment as possible. Rather than sitting on the other side of the desk or table, try sitting next to the candidate (if space permits!). This move, alongside open body language, will help set the tone of a meeting between equals. You’ll then be able to develop much more of a natural rapport which will give you a significantly more accurate steer on their potential to fit in culturally with the business and team. In a virtual interview, body language is still important – you don’t want to be fidgeting or looking away from the camera – this will unconsciously signal to the candidate that you’re not giving them your full attention.

Have the candidate meet with other staff

It’s important to know if the interviewee was rude to the receptionist. It’s equally important to consider everyone’s opinions to understand their responses to the candidate joining the team. It might well raise advantages or concerns you hadn’t previously considered. While you will want everyone to get on, be wary of hiring candidates with similar backgrounds and interests. Hiring a diverse team, after all, is more likely to produce fresh ideas, innovative approaches and ultimately, improved successes. When you ask yourself, what’s missing in this team, consider the possibilities a prospective employee might bring to the business rather than just filling a slot.

Money matters

Have your budget prepared and approved in advance to avoid wasting time negotiating and risk losing a star candidate. While many hiring managers still argue, “if they like us, they’ll take it for less”, it’s sadly a little unrealistic in today’s market to do so.

Representing the employer brand

Even if the candidate isn’t successful, a positive experience with you will mean that they’re more likely to speak highly of the business. To help this along, try the following:

• Leave your stresses and negativity at the door

• Don’t be late

• Allow enough time in the interview for the candidate to ask all the questions they need to

• Listen (really listen) and don’t interrupt

Check your biases

We all have them, though we might not want to admit it. Consider your biases and be aware of them beforehand. These could include judgments about personal appearance, comparing them to the previous incumbent in the role, or even where they went to school. To avoid this, bring an objective colleague to the meeting and assess their suitability together afterwards.

Can we help you recruit your next permanent or temporary role? Get in touch with one of our specialist consultants today, or read our guide on choosing the right candidate for the job to find out more about best practice hiring.

The post Hiring managers, are you preparing the right way for interviews? appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Diversity is no longer a buzzword. It’s business-critical.

Most of us would agree that diversity and inclusion in the workplace is a positive thing for the economy, however, it goes without saying that for many, it’s still a highly contentious topic. Hiring with diversity in mind is no easy task: among those businesses who have embraced it, hiring managers continue to struggle with meeting the diversity quotas they’ve been set. Ironically, as executive assistant recruitment consultants, we also find ourselves considering fewer candidates when we know there’s a quota to fulfil.

Despite all this, global thought leaders agree that there are great benefits afforded to businesses who adopt diverse hiring practices, and that those benefits far outweigh the challenges faced in the process.

1. Improved employer branding

Recruiting a range of candidates from various backgrounds is still, unfortunately, an unusual practice. However, the advantages of diverse hiring will position you as a market leader who thinks beyond traditional stereotypes.

For example, it’s a fact that emerging generations like millennials are actively seeking more diverse workplaces; understanding this and their motivations will help you in your recruitment communication; using the right tools to engage them will strengthen your employer branding and position you ahead of your competitors too.

2. It makes you a better hiring manager

We are, sadly, influenced by unconscious and conscious bias daily. Embracing diversity when hiring will encourage you to challenge yourself because you’ll be pushed to stretch traditional boundaries and think outside the square. In doing so you’ll also need to seek new and innovative methods of hiring great talent!

3. It makes our job easier

Culturally, organizations that embrace inclusivity and diversity within the workplace are ones that tend to prize respect and collaborative practices. It goes without saying that when we’re speaking to candidates – whatever their ethnicity, sexual orientation, age or background – if we’re able to speak about those values that are intrinsically embedded into the business culture, it will undoubtedly make you a more attractive employer.

And it’s both attraction and retention of talent that promises to be improved. McKinsey’s Diversity Matters report [1] shows there to be a real correlation between stronger diversity and increased employee satisfaction.

Finally, if we’re opening the doors to more candidates from a range of backgrounds, we’re much more likely to win the war for talent and overcome the hurdles to finding suitable candidates.

4. Good for business

McKinsey’s report explains how ‘companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians’. Put bluntly, if you’re making more money, it’s better for you and better for the economy. Embracing diverse hiring practices means you’ll be working more innovatively too which will also contribute to enhanced company performance.

Recruiting diverse talent future-proofs your businesses as you’ll strengthen your long-term management pipeline. To maintain levels of success, your future leaders will need to develop and equip themselves with the tools required to deal with varied ways of thinking.

If you’d like to speak to us about your next recruitment drive, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

[1] http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters

The post Four reasons why diverse hiring is better for us all appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

When hiring HR staff, a personal assistant or other business support position, it is essential to get the interview right. The judgment you make at the end could have dramatic consequences for your team or your business. Therefore, before every meeting with a potential employee, it is worth the hiring manager taking time to prepare for the interview, going through the questions you should ask and working out what you want to get out of the process

The nature of these questions will depend on your business, the role you are conducting interviews for and technical skills required. However, there are key interview questions to ask candidates.

Hiring manager interview questions

Experience

Why did you leave your last position, or why are you looking to leave your current job?

Whilst most candidates will have a perfectly acceptable reason for moving on, there are some whose reasons might not stand up to further questioning. Trust your gut instinct and if you are unhappy with the candidate’s response, then challenge them by asking the following question:

If the reason you left your position had not been an issue after all, would you have stayed?

This seems innocuous enough but you will be amazed how a candidate can open up to this probe. Repeat this question until you get to the real reason for leaving. This will help you form a more accurate opinion of the candidate.

What were the salaries and benefits for your last three roles?

Interviewers often enquire as to a candidate’s salary in their current/last role. However, it is important to find out the last three. This will tell you about a candidate’s progression and, if a candidate has been given a big pay rise in a job, their value as an employee. Find out starting and leaving salary for each job. Context is important here. A lack of any visible salary increase doesn’t necessarily indicate a bad candidate. Market forces and a previous employer’s modus operandi might have prevented an increase. You may like to familiarize yourself with position salaries beforehand so you can benchmark their previous salaries against what you’re offering.

Benefits can also make a huge difference to an offer, so it is worth asking what benefits the candidate was enjoying at their previous company. This ensures full transparency and gives you an opportunity to discuss your own benefit packages.

Please explain the gap in your resume.

Many people have taken time out of their career; maybe to start a family, a sabbatical, or go travelling. However, it is common knowledge that every gap should be explained on a resume so there should be no discrepancies.

If dates don’t line up, it is reasonable to ask the candidate why – this could also trigger a conversation that reveals a little more about their life experiences and personality.

Personality

Many employers want to make sure that a candidate is going to fit in to the culture of the company, regardless of whether or not they have the technical skills to do the job. Here are a few questions that can help you in assessing a candidate’s fit.

Who are your referees and why have you chosen them?

This is a question that candidates don’t necessarily expect and therefore prepare for. The answer often gives a good insight into a candidate’s reasoning and their level of confidence in the opinions of their peers. The split between personal and business references can be particularly interesting.

Discuss your interests and achievements.

This perhaps gives the most accurate assessment as to a candidate’s personality and without delving too deep, you can quickly determine whether there is common ground between the interviewee and the people he/she will be working with. Candidates are advised to take this section of their resume seriously so should be able to talk animatedly about anything listed here.
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There are obviously many questions to ask an interviewee, but the above are ones that can elicit a telling response and help you make the right hiring decisions quickly and efficiently. There are also some questions you definitely shouldn’t ask in interview.

If you’re ready to hire a PA or EA, get in touch today. If you’re looking for guidance on interviewing, read our guide on how to choose the right candidate.

The post Questions to ask every interviewee appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Diversity in the workplace refers to the inclusion of different genders, nationalities and other underrepresented groups in the office. Across many industries the lack of diversity is alarming and problematic, however, when it comes to diversity numbers in tech startups, the numbers are dismal.

For example, our 2019 research revealed, in a survey of 1000 UK workers, that only 1% of female jobseekers want to work in startups, compared to 8% of male jobseekers.

This is reflected in Tech Nation’s Diversity and Inclusion in UK Tech Companies report[1], which states that 77% of tech director roles are made up of men, while just 23% are women. Compared to the national average of 71% for men and 29% for women, there are clearly barriers in place that are  preventing more women from working in startups.

When we look at wider underrepresented groups, the situation remains the same. According to Tech Nation, just 15% of those working in tech are from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.[2] If you think your company lags behind and you’d like to learn how to improve diversity in your startup, find our headline ideas to get started below.

How to increase diversity in tech startup

If you’d like any more advice about how you can diversify your hiring process, please get in touch today.

[1] https://technation.io/insights/diversity-and-inclusion-in-uk-tech-companies/

[2] https://technation.io/news/what-of-people-working-in-tech-are-from-bame-backgrounds/

The post 10 tips to improve diversity in your startup appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

20 years ago, most workers would leave school or university, find themselves a job and work their way up the ladder, staying within the same company for five, 10 or even 20 years. As such, the idea of ‘longevity’ on a resume stuck, as employers looked for employees who could demonstrate their loyalty.

The idea of longevity is now a thing of the past, thanks to a millennial sensibility that’s seen the average jobseeker spend less than two years in each position. This is especially true of PA recruitment in NYC.

So, what does this mean for employers examining resumes now?

The stats

Tiger’s UK Salary and Benefits Review 2021 revealed that 40% of staff were planning on leaving within the next 12 months. Similarly, a survey by Gallup found that half of millennials show less willingness to stay in their current job [1]. The same survey revealed 60% of millennials say they are open to a different job opportunity.

This shift, led by the younger workforce and encouraged by the global recession in 2008, has seen the norm shift from a ‘job to life’ to workers who aren’t afraid to move on, search for new opportunities, a pay rise, better benefits, a sense of purpose or simply reaching the ceiling in their organization. Even despite the financial uncertainty of the pandemic, many are willing to move on due to the way their organization handled the crisis.

What does this mean for hiring managers?

With all of this in mind, the approach to jumpy resumes must now shift. The definition for ‘hoppy’ has now changed – a candidate changing jobs every two years is the new standard, provided that they can validate their reasons for leaving. Therefore, the baseline for loyalty must change – instead of judging on longevity, hiring managers need to examine the scope of work completed by the candidate in their role and the impact they were able to have on the business. Instead of wondering ‘when will this candidate leave?’ or ‘is this candidate career hopping?’, it is up to the hiring manager to harness their ambition and highlight what the business can do to encourage their growth and career progression. At the end of the day, which would you rather – a high-performing candidate that excels over 18 months before moving on, or a candidate that does what they’re meant to and nothing more for five years?

The benefits of job hopping

There are many reasons that a candidate may change jobs more regularly than before, some of which will be outside their control. Post-2008, most support staff roles in the banking and financial services industries, for example, are based on two-year or 20-month contracts.

A candidate with job jumping experience has usually experienced different working styles, personalities and processes, meaning they’ll be able to adapt to new procedures easily. Their depth of knowledge and skillset also tends to be wider, as they have encountered a variety of programs and techniques.

Often, candidates who do move jobs within two years are doing so for progression, or for an opportunity for professional development. This demonstrates a drive for self-improvement and a desire to keep learning, which only bodes well for a business – an employee willing to upskill and develop their knowledge will bring this back into the business.

What to look for instead

When hiring a personal assistant or looking at HR recruitment, it’s important to focus on the experiences they’ve had, rather than how long they’ve had them. An EA that’s worked in a fast-paced private equity firm may have experienced a much steeper learning curve and been exposed to much more than, say, a PA who has stayed in the same role for 18 months.

As above, when hiring private household staff, it’s important to look at the skillset that you know your role needs, rather than the length of time a person has been in each role. It’s also worth looking at references, as this will give you a better indication of their performance in their past roles.

When looking at technology recruitment, it may actually be an advantage to employ someone who has experience working in many different environments, as this should mean they have been exposed to multiple interfaces, systems and programs.

It’s also worth discussing with your recruiter, or the candidate themselves, the reasons for a candidate’s job hopping. Understanding their reason for leaving can go a long way in understanding their career goals and the value they could bring to your business.

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Looking to hire? Tiger works with candidates from a range of industries and backgrounds. Get in touch to see how we can help, or read our interview guide for the best candidate selection.

[1] https://www.gallup.com/workplace/231587/millennials-job-hopping-generation.aspx

The post What should a good resume look like? Re-defining job hopping appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

What is unlimited PTO?

The concept of unlimited paid time off (PTO) may sound too good to be true for many US workers. The idea is that employees can choose when and how often they take their vacation time, without limits imposed by the company. In a world where, according to Forbes, over half of US employees want increased flexible working options^[1], could this be the solution?

Alongside a handful of other companies, tech giant Netflix pioneered the concept back in 2004. Since then, it has moved well beyond Silicon Valley, with many other companies following suit, including Sony Electronics, Hubspot, Dropbox, Workday, Glassdoor, Stitchfix…the list goes on. At Tiger, we’re beginning to see our clients in different sectors considering unlimited PTO. The question is, is it the right policy for your company?

How does unlimited PTO actually work in practice?

While it seems almost too-good-to-be-true on paper, unlimited PTO usually comes with guidelines or expectations in reality. These will vary wildly between companies and rely on mutual trust between employees and employers. Guidelines may specify a minimum number of days an employee must take per year, provide scope around when an employee can take time off, or how many people in a team can be on holidays at once.

When a company implements unlimited PTO, they may also ask employees to give their manager and team a notice period before going on a long vacation. This aids in the management of their workload and any handover needed to ensure the business continues to run smoothly. Companies may also implement training to help others take over work from those on leave.

If these guidelines aren’t in place, an employee could take advantage of an unlimited PTO policy, to an employer’s detriment. For example, they could leave the company in a situation where they’re understaffed and unable to complete the work needed. This may also be the case if holidays overlap within one team, leaving the remaining team members unable to work effectively.

Ideally, there would be a system in place to ensure any abuse of the unlimited PTO system is minimized. Whether through performance management or disciplinary action, this should be clearly outlined in the policy itself.

A policy which recognizes employees are human

An overarching benefit of unlimited PTO is that it allows employees to use their vacation time to suit their lifestyle. Every employee is different, therefore they require a different amount of leave. While one person may only wish to take a two-week vacation once a year, another may care for young children or an elderly relative and need more time off.

In the US, there remains no nation-wide requirement for companies to offer paid sick or carer’s leave.

If an employee works at a company where this type of paid leave isn’t available, they may choose to take their paid time off days to care for themselves or family members. An unlimited PTO policy would allow these workers to have the flexibility they need, without worrying about the consequences of taking too much time off, or having to take unpaid vacation time.

Another aspect of the policy worth mentioning is that it empowers workers to take control of their own PTO, boosting employee morale and instilling a sense of trust in the company culture. If an employee knows their PTO days aren’t being monitored, they feel a sense of responsibility which they may not experience in another company. A positive aspect of this environment can be an improvement to company retention rates, as workers may not want to give this up by moving to a new role.

Is unlimited PTO the answer to burnout and presenteeism?

While they’re slightly different, both burnout and presenteeism are issues plaguing the modern workplace. According to a Gallup poll, 23% of full-time employees report feeling burnt out at work often^[2], while presenteeism costs employers three months per year in lost productivity^[3].If an employee knows they have unlimited PTO days, they may choose to stay at home when they need a break or are sick, knowing they aren’t ‘wasting’ their set paid time off.

On the other hand, critics of unlimited PTO say it actually discourages employees from taking more leave. According to HR company Mammoth, moving to an unlimited PTO system meant the number of vacation days employees took on average remained the same^[4]. This sentiment was echoed by a study by Namely, which found employees with unlimited PTO took an average of 13 vacation days, compared to 15 days for their fixed PTO counterparts^[5].

Therefore, if there are no set guidelines, or the communication around them isn’t clear, employees may feel guilty about taking holidays^[6]. This may be exacerbated if management isn’t seen to also take advantage of the policy. In addition, by not having a set number of vacation days, employees may not know what’s ‘acceptable’ in the workplace. This may result in them taking little to no holidays at all, thereby negating the benefits of PTO entirely.

Benefits of unlimited PTO for employers

Unlimited PTO may be considered by some as the ultimate benefit – which means it can be used by the company to attract the best staff.

If an employee is looking for a role that will allow them to have an increased flexibility, they’re likely to consider a role which lists unlimited PTO over one with limited vacation days.

In addition, as there are no longer set vacation days accrued by employees, employers are often not contractually obligated to pay out PTO days if that employee leaves the company. This can result in employers saving money from implementing the policy.

Will unlimited PTO work for your business?

Considering 41% of US workers don’t take any time off at all^[7], unlimited PTO can be a great policy if it’s implemented and managed properly – but it will only work successfully in a company which recognizes the importance of taking leave and encourages its employees to do so.

In some companies with an unlimited PTO policy, unlimited PTO isn’t available for all employees. This may be because the company wants to use it as an incentive for those striving for higher positions, or they’re unable to implement it across all divisions within the business. If this is the case, it can create resentment and unhappiness within the company, leading to internal conflict.

Unlimited PTO is not a policy that will work in every workplace – but it certainly has its benefits, particularly around talent attraction and employer branding. Contact us today to find out how we can help you attract fantastic staff.

^[1] www.forbes.com/sites/alankohll/2018/07/10/what-employees-really-want-at-work/#57296e5e5ad3

^[2] www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrobinson/2019/06/02/the-burnout-club-now-considered-a-disease-with-a-membership-price-you-dont-want-to-pay-for-success/#2603590037ab

^[3] www.ehstoday.com/safety-leadership/article/21918281/presenteeism-costs-business-10-times-more-than-absenteeism

^[4] www.fastcompany.com/3052926/we-offered-unlimited-vacation-for-one-year-heres-what-we-learned

^[5] library.namely.com/hr-mythbusters-2017

^[6] www.thecut.com/2018/06/why-does-unlimited-vacation-time-make-me-feel-guilty.html

^[7] skift.com/2016/01/18/no-vacation-nation-41-of-americans-didnt-take-a-day-off-in-2015

The post Unlimited paid time off: the reality appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Every year, Tiger Recruitment releases a Salary and Benefits Review. This year, information was extracted from roles placed, rather than candidates interviewed, and is reflective of the impact that COVID-19 has had on our lives.

What’s included in the report?

Within the report, you’ll find guidance on salary ranges and trends for roles within the business support, private, hospitality and HR sectors. Alongside this, we’ve outlined the benefits offered to employees this year and shared how employee priorities have changed following the pandemic. It also includes commentary from our management team.

How the report can benefit your business

A high quality, independent salary survey is a key component in your compensation strategy and will help you stay on target to attract and retain the best talent in your industry.

Having access to a comprehensive data set ensures that your HR team stay abreast of changes in the employment market and has a thorough understanding of pay rates and trends, helping you to maintain your competitive position.

The report provides valuable statistical insights into the markets in which your business competes for talent and serves as a benchmarking tool enabling your business to make informed remuneration decisions.

Referring to credible survey data can also help to increase employee motivation as it will be clear that diligent decisions have been made around compensation.

Highlights of this year’s survey

The results of this year’s survey highlight what employees and jobseekers want and to what extent they feel their expectations are being met. A selection of the major findings in this year’s review include:

• With the US’ restrictions on travel continuing to ease, the talent shortage should ease in kind, as foreign candidates return over the coming 12 months
• With the increased confidence of the second half of 2021, the market has swung back in favor of candidates, creating fierce competition for talent amongst businesses
• The Great Resignation continues unabated, and employers must work on more innovative and effective strategies to retain talent
• While salary remains the most important factor for employees and jobseekers, there’s growing awareness of the need for employers to offer personalized benefits, chief among them being flexible working options
• Many employees are seeking more support from their employers, including provisions for mental health and practical support for remote working.

Request your copy of the Salary and Benefits Review here.

We hope you find the document useful. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

The post Tiger Recruitment’s Salary Survey 2022 has arrived! appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

It is now widely understood that job loyalty is a thing of the past, especially among millennials. Despite the effects of the pandemic, the latest Deloitte Millennial Survey revealed that 31% of millennials envision leaving their jobs within two years[1].

This approach to working represents a serious challenge to businesses’ employment strategies. It’s now widely understood that millennials now make up 50% of the global workforce[2], so it’s absolutely a concern worth addressing. When most young professionals choose to work for organizations that share their personal values, these latest stats present great opportunities for an employer brand to engage with talented existing and prospective employees.

And the good news?

You don’t need a big budget (or ping pong tables) to take a step in improving your employer brand.

Tone of voice

Gone are the days of preachy language, a ceremonial ‘yours sincerely’ and formal communication practices. If you want to attract great talent, start speaking to them in a language they will appreciate and understand. Consider a tone of voice that’s approachable and genuine. Imagine the questions that jobseekers are likely to want to ask, and answer them head-on. Consider asking recent starters for their opinions on how your business communicates compared to others.

Social media

The existence and dominance of social media in our lives mean it’s never been easier to engage and interact with your existing and prospective employees. In a world where two-way conversations have become increasingly important and authenticity is key, social media provides brands a huge opportunity to positively engage with candidates. Depending on your business’s size, you may already have corporate business handles. If you don’t, create them and get communicating.

Your people

When it comes to your employer brand in recruiting new staff, your current employees are your best brand ambassadors. Look after them, treat them well and they’ll tell the world about it. A proud employee who enjoys their work will share your business’s achievements with their friends, families and online. Those testimonials are priceless and are undoubtedly your most powerful marketing tool.

Have clear values

According to Deloitte’s 2020 Millennials at Work survey, just over half of millennials are attracted to employers because of their CSR values, and 56% would consider leaving an employer that didn’t have the values they expected[3].  Review and communicate your business’s carbon footprint, CSR programs, and the ways in which you positively impact the lives of your consumers. These principles could potentially make or break the decision by a person looking to work for you.

What next? What’s the retention strategy?

If you’ve successfully attracted great talent, congrats! Now for the long-term retention. Your employees want to learn, and they’re looking for inspirational leaders. Most would prefer to work with subject matter experts who work as hard as they do. Employ the best, and put in place leadership programs or succession plans to ensure clear progression opportunities.

Be prepared to be flexible. Increasingly, emerging generations value their contribution to their employer not by the hours they put in, but by the quality of their output. Work-life balance has never been more important. Take cues from the likes of Amex, who have put in place a Bluework program that connects different work styles to work places (they’ve also saved millions on real estate).

The perception of your employer brand depends on much more than promotional advertising and bonus packages. Think about how the above points can be dovetailed into a long-term business strategy and you’ll undoubtedly reap the rewards of a talented and loyal workforce for years to come.

Looking to employ someone new? Get in touch today. If you’re looking for more guidance, check out our interview guide for the best candidate selection.

[1] https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html

[2] http://www.marsdd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Insiders-Guide-Finding-Meaningful-Work-Attracting-Talent.pdf

[3] https://www.pwc.com/co/es/publicaciones/assets/millennials-at-work.pdf

The post Employer branding in recruitment: how you can set your business apart appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

The COVID-19 pandemic will have a long-lasting impact on working lives, with many employees having to navigate new ways of working or downshift their careers, as well as adapt to changing circumstances in their personal lives.

As businesses strive to meet the challenges posed by a global pandemic and a serious economic crisis, employee wellness has never been more important to address. If you want to improve retention, lower rates of absenteeism, increase performance and create a collaborative and rewarding working environment, you must prioritize the health and wellbeing of your workforce.

Here are some of the key benefits of cultivating a wellbeing culture:

• Create a happy workplace in which people thrive
• Boost motivation, productivity, and engagement
• Attract and retain the best talent
• Reduce absenteeism
• Reduce work-related stress and enhance wellbeing
• Increase job satisfaction
• Build and sustain high employee morale
• Create sustainable success for your organization

A quality employee wellness program could include:

• Health benefits such as access to wellbeing apps, counseling, gym membership, health insurance and personal well-being days
• Leisure benefits such as travel insurance, access to event season tickets and paid flights
• Financial benefits such as an annual work from home stipend, corporate retail discounts, financial bonuses, and referral schemes
• Flexible working
• Social activities such as team-building events, book clubs and sports

If you are interested in learning more about the innovative benefits organizations are currently offering, order a copy of our 2022 salary and benefits review here.

Click here to view 10 companies who are getting workplace wellbeing right.

How to build an effective employee wellness program

To drive your mental health and wellbeing strategy forward, there are several steps you need to take:

• Seek approval from the executive/management team and ensure they are willing to participate and actively promote the initiative within the organization
• Be clear about the company-wide objectives of implementing the program and communicate these to company leaders and employees
• Set definable goals
• Adapt an employee-centric view of workplace wellness by surveying staff to gain actionable insights and determine which initiatives will be most popular
• Regularly review your wellness policy and adapt it to reflect the evolving needs of your workforce

In building an effective employee wellness program, you are demonstrating your company’s commitment to taking care of its people, and if you take care of your people, your business will thrive. We hope that this post will help you to jump-start your employee wellness initiative and ensure your employees stay healthy, happy, and productive.

If you’re interested in talking to our team about how we could help you develop a winning employee wellness strategy, or how we could help you meet your staffing needs this year, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us here.

The post Why your organization needs to prioritize employee wellness now more than ever appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

If you’re caught in the belief that to get things done correctly, you must do them yourself, you’re not alone. Many busy professionals find themselves trapped in this mindset, leading to an endless to-do list that leaves little time for relaxation or relationships.

You might have heard about executive assistants and wondered, “What can an executive assistant do for me?” Hiring an executive assistant may seem reserved for business owners or the elite, but it’s increasingly becoming a practical solution for anyone overwhelmed by their daily commitments.

In this guide, we’ll explore the many ways an executive assistant can support you, as well as highlight the tasks that may be out of scope.

Roles and Responsibilities of an Executive Assistant

The diverse skills of an executive assistant will make hiring an EA a valuable addition to your professional and executive life. Their main goal is to make your life more organized, streamlined, and efficient, helping to minimize your stress levels and increase your free time. They can handle a wide range of administrative and executive support tasks, all tailored to your unique needs.

Below are some of the typical tasks you can expect an EA to manage for you:

Manage Schedules and Calendars

An EA will keep your schedules and calendars in perfect order. They’ll organize all your appointments, meetings, and deadlines to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. This allows you to focus on more important tasks without worrying about the details of your day-to-day schedule.

Handle Correspondence

In the digital world we live in, keeping up with all your emails, calls, text messages, and social media DMs can feel like a full-time job. Plus, it’s easy to get sidetracked by responding to messages instead of focusing on your main work. Your executive assistant can take this burden off your shoulders by handling a wide range of communication tasks, from organizing your inbox to replying to messages in your tone and style.

Support Administrative Tasks

An executive assistant can handle a variety of administrative tasks. Their support ensures that your professional life is productive, and your daily routines run smoothly.

• Reports and Documents: Preparing, formatting, and editing reports and documents.
• Meeting Minutes and Agendas: Writing up minutes from meetings and preparing agendas for upcoming meetings.
• Scheduling Appointments: Communicating with clients, colleagues, and others to schedule appointments and meetings.
• File Organization: Creating and maintaining a filing system for physical and digital documents to ensure that important papers are easy to find.
• Maintaining Office Supplies: Keeping track of office supplies and placing orders to ensure the workspace is well-stocked.
• Data Entry and Database Management: Entering data into systems, updating records, and maintaining databases to ensure information is organized and easily accessible.

Executive Support

An executive assistant’s role often extends beyond professional tasks. They can assist with executive duties such as shopping, booking restaurants, scheduling executive appointments, and organizing events. This level of support can help reduce stress and improve wellbeing by leading to a better work-life balance.

Travel Arrangements

Whether you’re travelling for business or leisure, an executive assistant can handle all aspects of the travel arrangements. These include booking flights, organizing your accommodation, and planning your itineraries. Their expertise can make your travel experience more enjoyable and less stressful, ensuring that everything is tailored to your preferences.

Project Assistance

Executive assistants can offer crucial support to business owners and professionals involved in multiple projects. They can assist with project research, coordination, and tracking project progress. This can help you to be prepared and stay organized, ensuring you successfully complete the project.

Expense Management

Keeping track of executive and professional expenses can be challenging. An executive assistant can manage your finances by tracking expenses, processing invoices, paying for travel arrangements, and preparing financial reports. This financial management helps save you time while also providing insights into your financial health.

What Can’t an Executive Assistant Do?

An EA is an asset to any business owner or busy family by providing a wide range of professional and executive support. However, there are a few tasks that you shouldn’t ask your EA to do. It’s important to recognize these boundaries to maintain a productive and respectful working relationship.

Specialized Professional Services

EAs can’t provide specialized services or advice that require professional qualifications. While EAs are highly skilled, they cannot replace the expertise of professionals in specialized fields like law, accounting, or healthcare. Your EA can help you by managing your appointments with an accountant or scheduling your medical check-ups, but they won’t be able to prepare your taxes or offer medical opinions.

Unauthorized Financial Transactions

An EA can be helpful with your financial management, but it’s important to establish clear boundaries around financial transactions. Make sure your executive assistant knows they should not make large payments or financial decisions without getting your approval first. While this approach may mean you have a few extra items to check off your list, you are preventing any expensive errors or security issues. These boundaries will safeguard your finances and maintain your working relationship with your EA.

Executive Tasks Outside of Scope

The executive tasks that fall outside of scope will depend on the responsibilities you laid out in the EA job description and their contract. It’s essential to avoid asking your EA to handle any tasks outside of their set duties to avoid discomfort or misunderstandings that could impact your working relationship.

Deep Cleaning your Home

While your EA may assist with quick tidying, it’s not expected that they will scrub the floors or any other labor-intensive cleaning tasks. These tasks should be handled by housekeeping professionals who have the necessary skills and tools.

Cooking for your family

Your EA can assist you with meal planning and grocery shopping, but cooking for you or your family generally falls outside of their scope. Meal preparation and the cleanup take significant time, which could take them away from their core duties.

Childcare Services

It’s not a good idea to depend on your executive assistant for regular childcare. Looking after kids requires constant focus and sometimes special skills, particularly for little ones or children with special requirements.

Looking To Hire an EA?

Now that you know what an executive assistant can do for you, the next step is figuring out how to hire an EA. At Tiger Recruitment, we specialize in matching individuals and working professionals with professional EAs that align with your needs. Whether you’re looking for a permanent or temporary EA, we will provide you with a strong shortlist of candidates.

Reach out today to find your perfect EA match with Tiger Recruitment, and read our ultimate guide to hiring a EA for more in-depth insights.

The post What Can an Executive Assistant Do For Me? appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

2021 was busier than ever and we are expecting to see a surge in hiring activities at the beginning of 2022, reflecting greater business confidence and improvement in the job market. As we start the new year, we’d encourage clients to continue focusing their hiring efforts on retaining and attracting the best possible candidates. The war for talent is still alive and well, so maximize the value of your organization by implementing these tips.

1. Strengthen employer branding

In 2021 we experienced a candidate-driven market and this was felt in conversations we had with clients who really struggled to find the right candidates. We’d encourage businesses to invest in strengthening their employer branding in 2022. By prioritizing this as part of an HR strategy now, companies will reap the rewards later, from both passive and actively-seeking candidate audiences.

2. Encourage referrals

A truly successful employee referral program transforms your entire workforce into recruiters, which in turn paves the way for a speedier onboarding process and lower staff turnover. Beyond the employee referral program itself, you’ll of course secure those referrals in any case by creating a great place to work: Win-win! While employee referrals are a fantastic way to hire, do be aware that they often go hand in hand with reduced diversity.

3. Improve diversity

In 2022, it will be fundamental for businesses to support and encourage a multi-generational workforce, as well as recruit more diverse candidates. Why? It’s now a fact that diverse workforces perform better.

4. Offer additional perks and benefits

An ever-increasing number of businesses are improving staff retention by offering flexible working, perks to improve wellbeing, and valuable training opportunities. Candidates genuinely cherish these benefits and will be more inclined to repay your investment with their loyalty.

5. Reach out on social media

2022 will be the year employers really expand their hiring strategies across social media. Don’t lag behind and miss valuable engagement opportunities with potential candidates on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. But remember, candidates will see straight through blatant recruitment advertising. Embrace two-way conversations and offer value-add with interesting and beneficial content.
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If you’d like to discuss your 2022 permanent or temporary recruitment needs with us, get in touch today.

The post New year, new team? appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

If you’re looking to hire an EA or you have EAs within your employment, it’s helpful to have a full understanding of an executive assistant’s career path. This includes the roles that lead to a EA and the potential positions it can lead to.

Why is it important? By having this overview, hiring managers can zero in on candidates best qualified to step into an EA role, and show prospective talent the opportunities they will have to grow professionally. This will make the role more desirable to exceptional EAs and help foster a sense of loyalty once they are in the job.

What is an Executive Assistant (EA)?

An executive assistant provides administrative support to one or more members of staff at a business, typically those in senior management. EAs can also be hired by private individuals to assist in personal matters, such as diary management and household management.

Key Responsibilities of an Executive Assistant

Executive assistants’ tasks and responsibilities can cover a wide range of requirements which will differ depending on the manager’s preferences. However, there are several tasks that almost all EAs will be expected to carry out. The main responsibilities of an EA generally include:

• Diary management
• Booking meetings
• Booking travel and accommodation
• Budget and expenses management
• Creating reports and presentations
• Minute-taking

Skills and Competencies of Successful Executive Assistants

In order to carry out their varied duties successfully, there are some key skills that executive assistants possess. Some of these may include character traits, while other skills will have been developed in an EA’s early career, for example when they might have been an administration assistant or receptionist. Some of the essential skills and competencies include:

• Written and verbal communication
• Organization
• Timekeeping
• MS office literacy
• Sociability

These skills are invaluable to an executive assistant throughout their career, whether they move on to become an executive assistant, business assistant, or chief of staff. Therefore, it’s crucial to build on these learning and development opportunities so that EAs can continue to hone their abilities and progress.

Career Progression Paths for Executive Assistants

Various junior and entry-level business support roles can progress into executive assistant positions , and the EA role can likewise branch out into an equally varied pool of senior role titles. The breadth of opportunities for EAs is often dependent on the size of a business, with smaller companies naturally having less specialized roles at each stage of the career journey.

EA Career Progression in SMBs

EA Career Progression in medium-sized businesses

EA Career Progression in Large Corporations

Job descriptions

Having a detailed job description template on file for all your administrative positions, from receptionist through to team assistant, EA and business assistant will help to streamline the recruitment process. Significantly, it also helps to demonstrate the career journey and highlight the key competencies required to progress into each role. Having a visual road map will help both the employer and employee to plan an EA’s career progression.

We have compiled general job descriptions, from entry-level assistant roles to more senior positions, ready for you to adapt to your needs.

Receptionist job description

Responsibilities:

• Meeting and greeting clients and visitors
• Answering phone calls, taking messages and relaying to appropriate staff
• Logging, sending and distributing all incoming and outgoing mail, couriers and faxes
• Arranging delivery of outgoing mail
• Booking, preparing and tidying meeting rooms

Requirements:

• Excellent written and verbal communication
• Clear and confident telephone manner
• Computer skills, including Word and Outlook

Office administrator job description

Responsibilities

• Assisting the office manager
• Manage general office maintenance and health & safety
• Arrange desk space and office access for new employees
• Extensive email correspondence, occasionally covering colleagues’ mailboxes
• Invoice and expenses management
• Arrange catering for meeting rooms
• Manage office and kitchen supplies
• Organize and file documents (physical and digital)
• Occasional receptionist duties

Requirements

• Educated to high school or equivalent
• Experience handling confidential and sensitive information
• Computer skills, including Word, Excel and Outlook

Team Assistant / Junior EA job description

Responsibilities

• Manage team diaries
• Book business travel and accommodation
• Organize and host internal team meetings
• Greet guests and clients
• Book and prepare meeting rooms
• Prepare documentation ahead of meetings and presentations
• Take minutes of meetings and prepare reports
• Manage team budget
• Liaison for facilities management and IT supplier
• Team invoice and expenses management

Requirements

• Educated to high school or equivalent
• Computer skills across Microsoft Office Suite
• 2+ years’ prior secretarial or administrative experience

EA job description

Responsibilities

• Manage Principal’s diary
• Manage email inbox and phone calls
• Book business and personal travel and accommodation
• Book and prepare meeting rooms
• Book and prepare meeting rooms
• Take minutes of meetings and prepare reports
• Manage expenses budget
• Ad hoc personal tasks
• CRM database management

Requirements

• Educated to high school standard or equivalent. A degree-level qualification would be advantageous, but is by no means essential
• Experience in a similar role and/or industry
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong computer skills across Microsoft Office Suite and CRM systems
• Flexibility on hours

EA/ Office Manager / Operations job description

Responsibilities

• Oversee office management and operational function of the business
• Manage office social calendar and organize events
• Liaison for facilities management and IT supplier
• Managing staff onboarding and leaving processes
• Supplier contract management

Requirements

• Educated to high school standard or equivalent. A degree-level qualification would be advantageous, but is by no means essential
• Extensive staff management experience
• Demonstrable experience at senior level in a similar role and industry
• Extremely competent with Microsoft Office and CRM systems
• Exceptional time management skills

EA 1:1 job description

Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for senior manager
• Extensive business and personal diary management
• Manage high volumes of emails and phone calls
• Arrange meetings with colleagues and clients, book and prepare meeting rooms
• Book complex travel and accommodation
• Organize and file principal’s documents
• Keep meeting minutes
• Produce reports
• Project management support
• Work closely with other EAs to coordinate diaries
• Overseeing expenses
• CRM database management

Requirements

• Educated to high school standard or equivalent. A degree-level qualification would be advantageous, but is by no means essential
• Prior experience in a PA or EA role
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Extremely competent with Microsoft Office and CRM systems

EA Operations job description

• General EA tasks
• Liaising with office suppliers
• Liaising with landlord and/or building maintenance
• Working with managing director to plan and monitor budget

EA Manager job description

Responsibilities

• General work and personal admin for senior staff
• Act on behalf of executive when necessary
• Manage other executive and personal assistants
• Coordinate EAs’ and PAs’ diaries
• Train and appraise team of EAs and PAs

Requirements

• Educated to high school standard or equivalent. A degree-level qualification would be advantageous, but is by no means essential
• Extensive experience in a PA or EA role
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Extremely competent with Microsoft Office and CRM systems
• Excellent people management skills

Business Assistant job description

Responsibilities

• Acting as first point of contact to the Director
• General EA tasks
• Assist and advise on projects and business decisions of executive team
• Manage relationships with clients and business partners
• Manage other EAs

Requirements

• Educated to degree level
• 5+ years experience in a similar position
• Previous team management experience
• An in-depth knowledge of the industry
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Competent with Microsoft Office packages, particularly Word and Outlook

Business manager / Chief of Staff job description

Responsibilities

• Assisting and advising senior management across finance, HR, and operations
• Devise and manage internal projects
• Oversee all administration across business
• Manage full administrative team
• Act as liaison between CEO, senior management, and staff
• Hire new staff, manage appraisals and promotions

Requirements

• Educated to degree level. A masters-level qualification would be advantageous, but is by no means essential
• 8+ years experience in a similar position
• Excellent people management skills
• Strong business strategy skills

For more insights into finding the perfect executive assistant, read our ultimate guide to hiring an EA.

The post Understanding the Executive Assistant Career Progression appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

For business owner’s, executive assistant recruitment offers numerous benefits. A skilled EA can handle administrative tasks, manage schedules, and support personal errands, freeing up your time to focus on more strategic activities.

Finding the right EA can come with its challenges. The process requires identifying a candidate who not only has the necessary skills but also fits well with your personality and work environment. It’s about striking the right balance between professional competencies and personal dynamics, which can be a time-consuming and difficult task.

We’ve put together our top five tips on how to hire an EA, plus how a professional recruiter can help.

How To Ensure EA Recruitment Success

Recruitment of any kind presents a fantastic opportunity to refresh a team, job function or business culture. That being said, it’s not uncommon to feel some trepidation at the start of your recruitment journey. The process can take time and in a candidate-short market, you may need to shortlist multiple times before securing a suitable candidate. This is where working with an experienced recruiter can help.

Executive assistant recruitment, in particular, is unique as the values alignment plays such a significant role in ensuring a candidate’s success. An executive assistant works so closely with their managers and team that it’s crucial to get the personality mix right. This is crucially relevant to permanent recruitment while hiring a temp EA can generally be recruited quickly to fulfill the short-term functional requirements of the role.

If you’re considering hiring using AI-based software for certain steps, such as resume screening, we would ask you to consider a different approach. While there is a place for this type of technology, especially when it comes to advanced candidate testing such as gamification, the ultimate decision for a candidate’s fit for a business should remain with human recruiters.

With this in mind, we’ve put together our top five tips on how a recruiter can help to ensure you hire an executive assistant who lasts the distance.

1. Personality fit

Personality fit is crucial when hiring an executive assistant. An EA will work closely with you, often during stressful times or in personal spaces. A candidate whose personality complements yours can make the working relationship more enjoyable and productive.

You can ensure the right personality fit during the interview process by asking the right questions. These questions should encourage the candidate to share their values, work ethics, and how they handle stress and conflict. Observing how they interact with you and others during the interview can also provide insights into their personality and how well they might integrate into your personal and professional life.

A professional recruiter can help you source candidates with the right personality fit. They can pre-screen candidates, saving you time and ensuring that you meet only those who have already passed a preliminary fit assessment. For example, if a candidate communicates quietly and seems withdrawn in their body language, a good recruiter will never send them to a workplace where they will be supporting outspoken, straight-to-the-point management styles.

2. Consider Previous Experience

Previous experience is a critical factor in EA recruitment. Their track record can showcase how they will handle the demands of your role and reduce the risk of a mismatch. A candidate with experience in a similar industry or who has supported professionals with comparable responsibilities to yours might adapt more quickly to your requirements.

When interviewing a candidate, you should ask them to tell the story of their career to date, with a particular focus on how long they stayed at each job and why they left. If a candidate has previously jumped around from one role to the next, it generally does mean there’s a higher likelihood they’ll do the same again. Similarly, their reasons for leaving will often paint a more colorful picture of what they’re looking for now.

A recruiter can help you evaluate a candidate’s previous experience. They have the expertise to spot red flags or patterns of excellence that you might overlook. Recruiters also verify references and past employment details, ensuring that the information presented is accurate and relevant to your needs.

3. Trust Your Recruiter

When looking for a PA, it’s essential to secure a robust shortlist to get an accurate overview of the market and available candidates. A recruiter should send you a few strong, but different options, to ensure you have a range of choices. They might even suggest a candidate who seems to lack certain technical skills but has the right personality fit, adhering to the philosophy that specific skills can be learned, whereas the right cultural fit is priceless.

It is essential to trust your recruiter’s recommendations. Recruiters have a deep understanding of the job market and the qualities that make a candidate a good fit for a role. By relying on their recommendations, you can increase your chances of finding the right person for your EA position.

4. Identify Soft Skills

For an executive assistant, essential soft skills include effective communication, adaptability, problem-solving, and time management. An EA will also be savvy to the ways of the city, including the best transport, food, and gifting options: characteristics that are also important when supporting management. You would be surprised by how much these little details make a difference when working with your EA!

You can identify these essential soft skills by asking specific behavioral questions during the interview. For example, you can ask about a time they overcame a challenge or had to adapt quickly to a change. Their responses will give you insight into their problem-solving abilities and flexibility.

An executive assistant’s soft skills may not always be obvious from their resume. A recruiter will be able to gauge an EA’s transferable attributes, such as emotional intelligence, leadership traits, and communication style from an initial face-to-face registration. Recruiters can also interpret subtle cues in candidates’ responses and behaviors, ensuring you meet only the most suitable individuals who possess the soft skills essential for the role.

5. Manage Expectations and Be Responsive

Managing candidate expectations and being responsive is essential during the recruitment process. This includes keeping potential candidates informed about their application status, the recruitment process stages, and expected timelines for your decisions. In our current market, speed is of the essence, especially with recruiting for EAs. We have seen hundreds of employers miss fantastic candidates by being unavailable or inflexible to interview or delaying feedback.

Being unresponsive with your recruiter will be especially detrimental to you finding the best person for the job. Responsiveness enables a smooth and efficient search, allowing recruiters to quickly refine their selection based on your feedback. This collaboration ensures that the candidates presented match your requirements, saving you time and resources.

Expert PA Hiring with Tiger Recruitment

At Tiger Recruitment, we pride ourselves on our expertise in pairing top-tier executive assistants with professionals and business owners. We are committed to understanding your unique needs and preferences, enabling us to find the right candidates for your requirements. With our bespoke approach, you will receive support throughout the recruitment process.

If you are thinking about hiring a new permanent or temporary EA, read our ultimate guide to hiring an EA and, for further information, contact us today.

The post Five PA recruitment tips appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

High-Profile Executive Assistant

Just as the responsibilities of senior business leaders will differ significantly from the junior staff in their organization, executive assistants will face different expectations based on the unique requirements and status of their principal.

A high-profile executive assistant, often called an executive assistant, works with professionals in top-level positions and holds a similarly high-pressure role. Here, we’ll explore what their day-to-day responsibilities include, and the skills and character traits the best executive assistants possess.

Defining the Role of a High-profile Executive Assistant

Chief executives, senior managers, and business leaders of every stripe are under constant demand for their time, expertise, and guidance. It’s the role of an executive assistant or executive assistant to shield their principal from any unnecessary distractions and disruptions.

They will handle time-consuming admin, travel booking, and diary management, and be the gatekeeper for communications. They may also take on tasks relating to their principal’s executive life.

They allow the principal to stay focused on the important tasks and, as a result, help keep the wheels of the business turning.

Qualities of an Exceptional High-profile Executive Assistant

As they work with powerful businesspeople in a high-stakes environment, executive assistants need to have a particular set of qualities for them to thrive in the role. the most valuable of these include:

• Calm temperament – whether it’s answering phone calls from frustrated colleagues, partners, and clients, or dealing with a principal at boiling point, the best EAs need a cool head.
• Discretion – working for c-suite executives and senior management means handling sensitive data and being party to important business discussions. a high-profile executive assistant will need to stay tight-lipped about any information picked up during their working day.
• Organization – senior managers have more meetings, more calls, and more travel, and they need to be able to rely on their assistants to stay on top of this schedule. organization and time-management skills are a must-have.
• Communication – as the point-of-contact for their principal, the best assistants need excellent written and verbal communication, with an understanding of the correct tone to use with each correspondent. They also need to be able to relay information to their principal in a clear and concise manner.

Administrative Duties of a High-profile Executive Assistant

Like their more junior executive assistant counterparts, high-profile executive assistants will take on a lot of the admin tasks relating to their principal. Below, we’ll look at the most common tasks.

Managing Busy Schedules and Appointments

The diaries of senior managers will be handled by their executive assistants. This means the assistant will have a complete understanding of where their principal needs to be at any given time of the day, and what they will be doing. This could be a client meeting, giving a speech at a conference, or even attending their child’s school play.

Travel Arrangements and Itinerary Management

As well as knowing where their principal should be at a given time, a high-profile executive assistant will often be in charge of getting them there. Booking taxis, trains, planes, hotels, and restaurants is all within the assistant’s remit, and they will need to have the quick-thinking to make adjustments to these bookings, should anything go wrong.

Email and Communication Management

Certain senior staff may require their executive assistant to take full responsibility for their email inbox and phone calls. If this is the case, the assistant will need a strong grasp of the language and tone they should use in every interaction.

Document Organization and Filing

A high-profile executive assistant will be in charge of organizing and storing their principal’s physical and digital documents. many of these documents will contain sensitive information, and will likely be needed in the future, so an assistant needs a good organizational head, and an understanding of physical and digital security.

Executive Support and Concierge Services

As well as performing a range of business-related tasks for their principal, high-profile executive assistants will often offer support for executive matters. The extent of this crossover into the executive side will be up to the principal, but typically executive assistants may be expected to handle the following.

Shopping and Gift Procurement

During busy business hours, executive assistants may be asked to run shopping errands. it could be taking a suit to a tailor, picking it up from the dry cleaners, or purchasing a birthday gift for a family member.

Event Planning and Coordination

With their excellent organizational and diary management skills, high-profile executive assistants are a great help when planning executive events. From booking a function room for an anniversary party to finding a day in the diary for a picnic with the family, the responsibility is often passed on to an executive assistant.

Family Support and Household Management

Alongside handling their principal’s diary, executive assistants may be required to oversee a family schedule too. This could include children’s after-school and weekend activities, family holidays and more. Many high-profile executive assistants manage junior executive assistants within the business, and so are a natural choice to help manage their principal’s household staff. They may be expected to handle household staff rotas, payment, and hiring.

Confidentiality and Discretion

Due to the seniority of their principal, high-profile executive assistants will be entrusted with a lot of sensitive information. Whether it’s information in the reports they compile, or private discussions with clients and other senior colleagues, the assistant must treat everything they encounter with complete discretion.

The Importance of Confidentiality

leaked information can have a huge negative impact on every aspect of a business. The company’s public image, consumer confidence, profits, and employee morale can all be affected, so any executive assistant who is a party to confidential information should have a proven track record as a trustworthy employee.

Building Professional Relationships

More than any other assistant, a high-profile executive assistant will have direct relationships with clients, senior management, and even their principal’s family. Therefore, it’s important that they have a naturally sociable and polite manner.

Effective Communication with Employers and Colleagues

in many day-to-day situations, a high-profile executive assistant will be the voice of their principal – answering emails, phone calls, and talking with colleagues in the office. they should be able to communicate clearly to avoid any misunderstandings and diffuse potential issues from both clients and colleagues.

Collaborating with Other Support Staff

Although the high-profile executive assistant role may be very one-to-one, it also requires a knack for teamwork. most businesses will have more than one senior manager and so more than a high-level assistant. Just as the managers must constantly work together to best direct the business, so will their executive assistants need to coordinate on a daily basis.

Read some of our most frequently asked questions on the responsibilities of a high-profile executive assistant below.

If you’re looking to hire a high-profile executive assistant or other support staff, get in touch with your requirements today.

The post Responsibilities of a High-Profile Personal Assistant appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

What is an Executive Assistant?

Understanding the executive assistant role is the first step to answering the question of ‘Why hire an executive assistant?’. An executive assistant (EA) is employed by an individual or business to provide day-to-day support. While this will look different depending on the needs of the employer, some form of administrative support will almost always be involved.

Some of the most common responsibilities of an EA include diary management, travel coordination, inbox and call management, document creation, meeting coordination and event planning.

Private assistants can be employed to support a single individual in an organization such as a CEO, or to support a team within a business. A team EA will generally carry out the same tasks, but for multiple people, often acting as the first point of contact for the team.

If you are considering hiring an executive assistant and looking for guidance, our EA job description template can be a great place to start. Alternatively, you can make a hire request and one of our specialist consultants will reach out to you.

Administrative Duties

Most EA roles will include administrative duties such as answering phones, managing inboxes, coordinating meetings, arranging travel, taking meeting minutes, collating documents, creating presentations, and managing diaries. Other common responsibilities include managing purchase orders, writing contracts, fixing technical issues, coordinating with third-party contractors or agencies, and getting quotes for products and services.

Project Management Duties

The role of executive assistant is industry agnostic, meaning an EA can be hired in any type of business. However, a common responsibility includes project management. In a boutique business, an EA may manage operations projects such as introducing new policies and creating manuals and handbooks. By contrast, an EA in the finance sector could be responsible for introducing and maintaining a new CRM system.

C-Suite EAs

Executive assistants and senior executive assistants support high-level executives such as CEOs or MDs. The key difference at this level is that an executive assistant will start to act more as a business assistant/partner, generally holding a high level of responsibility over multiple projects and teams. This could mean hiring and managing the rest of a company’s business support team or representing their employer’s interests in business negotiations.

Why You Need an Executive Assistant

There is a myriad of reasons why you may need an executive assistant. For entrepreneurs, executives and busy teams, an EA can prove an invaluable team member. Below we have outlined just a few of the biggest advantages of recruiting an exceptional EA. If you have been wondering ‘why hire an executive assistant’, here are just some of the reasons top executives make this decision.

Free Up Your Time

If you’re deciding whether you need an executive assistant, take some time to consider what tasks you complete in a week, and which of these could realistically be done by somebody else. That somebody may need some specialized knowledge or be incredibly trustworthy, but that’s what EAs are for; meeting your highly specific needs.

A reliable EA will free up time in your calendar by taking on tasks, big or small, that allow you to focus on the bigger decisions.

Increase Your Productivity

Administrative tasks can be highly interruptive – ever answered an email or accepted a calendar invite while in a meeting? Research shows that multitasking like this can be costly to productivity. While managing your inbox and calendar provides valuable control and oversight, it’s also taking your attention away from your most important work.

Entrusting an exceptional EA with these types of tasks will allow you to re-focus your mind, improving your productivity and, in turn, the quality of your decisions.

Reduce Stress

It’s incredibly important to take steps to support one’s mental health, particularly for top executives and high-performing teams. Hiring a great EA is an excellent step towards reducing stress in your job.

Utilize Skills and Expertise

Many executive assistants have spent years honing highly specialized skills that can prove invaluable to your business. Those working with high-profile employers may excel in social media management and online branding. An EA who has worked for a long time in the legal sector may excel at preparing legal documents. Whatever the nature of your business needs, we can help you find an EA with aligned expertise.

To get started on recruiting an executive assistant, get in touch with us today. A consultant will reach out to discuss your requirements and get you started on the path to finding a perfect EA.

Maintain an Organized Routine

As an entrepreneur or executive, you probably find that each day feels exceptionally hectic, with information and potential opportunities coming from all directions. There are executive assistants there who have mastered the art of turning chaos into order. These EAs can help you create some routine in your working days and keep your calendar as organized as possible. This not only helps streamline your work processes but can ensure that you’re reliably carving out time for your wellbeing.

Support When You Need It

Executive assistant roles are created to match the needs of employers. This means that if you work unusual hours or travel a lot, you can hire an EA who will match your schedule. This adaptability is one of the main reasons why employers hire an executive assistant.

The hiring of EAs can also be done on an as-needed basis for specific projects or particularly busy times of the year. This is where a strong relationship with temporary EA recruitment agencies can prove invaluable.

Tiger’s temporary business support team specializes in placing EAs in contract or last-minute roles as needed by employers. If your business could benefit from a partnership where all payroll and temporary recruitment admin is taken care of for you, get in touch today.

Ready To Hire an Executive Assistant?

If we’ve answered your questions about why to hire an executive assistant, we’d love to hear from you. Still not sure? Our consultants can provide further guidance on whether hiring an executive assistant is the right decision for your business.

Read our ultimate guide to hiring a PA and get in touch to start the hiring process.

The post Why Hire a Personal Assistant appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

When running a business or managing a busy lifestyle, having the support of an assistant can make a world of difference. If you are looking to hire an assistant, you will need to decide whether a private personal assistant or executive assistant is the right fit for the support you need.

Executive and private assistants are often confused due to their overlapping skill sets. While they share some similarities, there are core responsibilities and areas of expertise that make these types of assistants distinct.

In this blog we explain the differences between a private personal assistant vs executive assistant, helping you to hire the best professional for your needs.

Private Personal Assistant Explained

So, what is a private personal assistant? A private personal assistant (PA) ensures your personal life is organized and efficient, helping to reduce stress and enhance your time management. They do this by handling a wide range of responsibilities, from booking appointments to running personal errands to managing expenses.

What Is an Executive Assistant?

An executive assistant (EA) is a corporate assistant who provides administrative support to high-level executives within a company. The main goal of an executive assistant is to optimize your time, allowing you to focus on more strategic business activities. They do this by handling a wide range of administrative tasks, as well as complex projects that require deep business understanding.

Key Differences Between PA and EA

Both PAs and EAs offer critical support, but their focus and responsibilities vary. Understanding the key differences will help you hire a private personal assistant or recruit an executive assistant with confidence, knowing that you have chosen the right professional for the job.

Core Responsibilities

Private personal assistants have a wide range of duties and responsibilities to make you and / or your team’s day-to-day more organized and manageable. Administrative tasks can include diary management, travel planning, correspondence, and taking minutes in meetings. If the role encompasses personal support, they can help you by scheduling appointments, handling household projects, and planning personal events.

There are also different types of PAs that offer a tailored approach to suit different needs and lifestyles. For example, a family office PA will handle professional and personal tasks for a family, while a private PA will focus on personal tasks for an individual. That means the exact responsibilities of a PA will depend on your unique needs.

Executive assistants usually provide 1:1 support and act as the executive’s right hand, ensuring that all business-related matters are taken care of efficiently. Their responsibilities include managing schedules and calendars, handling correspondence, organizing business travel arrangements, and overseeing expenses. In specific cases, an EA can provide additional personal support.

Who They Support

Private personal assistants are versatile professionals who can support a wide array of individuals or employers with both professional and personal tasks. Whether you are an entrepreneur juggling the demands of your business, a busy individual trying to balance a hectic schedule, or a family in need of organizational help, a PA can be an asset. A PA can support one individual or multiple executives within a business.

Private personal assistants can also offer support high profile and publicly known individuals. These celebrity PAs will provide a wide range of professional and personal support, often working long hours and in a highly pressurized environment.

Executive assistants will provide professional support to one individual in a high-level position, such as a CEO, managing director, or other senior executive in an organization. They may also manage other assistants or administrative staff, offering seamless management of your wider support team.

Professional Background

Personal assistants typically have varied professional backgrounds. Their experience may include roles in administration, customer service, or event planning. This versatility ensures that they can handle a wide range of tasks to keep your professional and personal life running smoothly.

Executive assistants often have a more specialized background in business administration or a related field. They possess strong professional skills, including advanced communication, project management, and strategic planning abilities. Their expertise allows them to handle complex business tasks and support senior executives efficiently.

Qualifications

Personal assistant roles typically don’t require specific qualifications, however many employers do prefer a PA to have a degree. Soft skills, such as adaptability and discretion, are also viewed as more important than qualifications because of the often-personal nature of the role.

Many executive assistants will have a bachelor’s degree, as well as hold additional certifications in executive support. EAs need a robust understanding of the business environment to provide effective support to senior executives.

Decision-making Authority

Personal assistants may have some autonomy in decision-making regarding administrative processes and arrangements. For example, a PA may rearrange your meetings to best suit your schedule or change an accommodation booking to better match your preferences. Trusting your PA to make calls on your behalf is essential as it allows you to focus on your priorities while they streamline your day-to-day.

Executive assistants have significant decision-making authority in the business context. They often make judgment calls on scheduling, communications, and project priorities, acting in the best interest of the executive and the company. All decisions that the EA makes will need to be reported back to the senior executive.

Salary

A private assistant salary will depend on various factors, such as their level of experience, the scope of responsibilities, and your industry. In general, you can expect a PA salary to be upwards of $80,000.

Like a PA, an executive assistant salary will also depend on several factors. In general, you can expect an EA salary to be $60,000 or more, depending on their experience, the scope of the role, and the location of your business.

Ready To Hire an EA?

At Tiger Recruitment, we understand the importance of finding the right support for your business or lifestyle needs. Whether you’re looking to streamline your personal life or enhance your business operations, knowing how to hire an EA is the first step towards greater efficiency and peace of mind. Our team of experts is ready to guide you through the EA recruitment process, ensuring you find the perfect match.

The post Executive Assistant vs Private Assistant: Key Differences appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Choosing to hire an executive assistant is a smart move. An executive assistant (EA) can take a load off your shoulders, handling everything from managing your diary to running your daily errands. Their expert assistance can help boost your daily efficiency, increase your productivity, and reduce your stress levels.

To really benefit from hiring an executive assistant, you must pick the right one. That means finding someone who not only has the skills and experience but will also match your lifestyle and the way you work. Asking the right questions during the interview process will give you the insights you need to make the best decision.

To ensure your hiring success, we’ve created a guide on the best executive assistant interview questions to ask. We also highlight what to look for in their responses, helping to streamline the interview process.

General Questions for EA Interview

General executive assistant interview questions help you understand the candidate’s background, personality, and communication skills. Asking these questions at the start of the interview will help make candidates feel comfortable to share more freely and give you valuable insights from the get-go.

Here are the top five questions we recommend asking all your EA candidates:

Tell me about yourself.

This is the best question to start an interview with as it allows the candidate to explain their professional journey and interests right away. This helps you get a sense of their personality and see if they would be a good fit for your team or in your household.

Their answer should succinctly cover their career choices, proudest achievements, and personal motivations. Their enthusiasm, clarity, and the way they present their story can also give you clues about their communication skills and confidence level. Please note that modern interview best practice does not allow for deeper questioning around an interviewee’s personal life. For more information on this, read our Interview and Selection Guide, which dives into more detail on DEI considerations for interviews.

Why should we hire you as an executive assistant?

This question tests both their understanding of the role and their ability to sell themselves. The candidate should be able to highlight their specific skills, experiences, or personal attributes that make them your ideal choice for the EA position.

In their answers, look for clarity, confidence, and specificity. Candidates should be able to pinpoint exactly what sets them apart, such as particular competencies that match your role requirements.

What is your greatest strength and weakness?

Asking about strengths and weaknesses gives candidates a chance to show how well they can critically evaluate themselves. It can also show how willing they are to open up about the areas that they need to work on.

When candidates talk about their strengths, you want to hear them mention things like being really organized, able to communicate well, flexible, and good at being discrete. They should also share specific stories or examples that concretely demonstrate these strengths.

When discussing weaknesses, the candidate must highlight an area for improvement that is relevant to your role. The candidate should follow up with the steps they have taken or plan to take to address this weakness, showing their commitment to growth.

How do you prioritize tasks and manage your time effectively?

Time management and task prioritization are essential skills for an EA. This question allows the candidate to explain how they approach planning, decision-making, and efficiency, showcasing how they could potentially manage the demands of your role.

Look for answers that include specific strategies the candidate uses for managing their time and prioritizing tasks. These could include categorizing tasks by urgency, using tools to track project status, or an example of how they adapt when priorities change.

Why do you want to work here?

Find out what motivated the candidate to apply to your role by asking this question. It’s a great way to measure their genuine interest in the role and how well they might align with your personal and professional principles.

Look for signs that the candidate is not just looking for a job opportunity. This can be shown with great research into your business or personal brand or highlighting how the specific duties in the job description align with their interests or values.

Experience-related interview questions

The experience-related executive assistant interview questions you ask will depend on the type of executive assistant you are hiring. Alongside our recommended questions, include a few specific virtual assistant, corporate EA, or private PA interview questions.

Can you tell me about your previous position?

Learn about the kind of responsibilities the candidate has held by asking this question. It’s a straightforward way to start understanding their professional background and how it aligns with what you’re looking for.

In their answer, you want to hear about the specific tasks they handled and any achievements they’re proud of. Listen for details that show they have the skills and experience relevant to the EA role you’re offering.

What do you think are important skills for an executive assistant?

This question helps you understand how well a candidate knows the executive assistant role and what they believe is crucial to succeed in it. It gives you insight into their priorities and if they align with the skills and qualities you think are essential.

Look for a mix of hard and soft skills in their response, such as organization, communication, or time management. They should also explain why they think the skills they mention are important. For example, if the candidate says that time management is essential, they should follow up by saying how this skill helps keep your day-to-day on track and efficient.

What is the biggest mistake you have made at work?

Asking about a candidate’s biggest mistake at work gives you a window into their ability to handle setbacks and learn from them. It’s another way to test their honesty and self-awareness, which are crucial traits for anyone you’re considering bringing into your team or household.

In their response, you should look for a genuine mistake, followed by how they fixed the situation. It’s a positive sign if they can share what they learned from the experience and how it has influenced their professional approach since then, showing growth.

Can you provide an example of when you went above and beyond your duties as an executive assistant?

Test a candidate’s willingness to take initiative with this question. It helps you see if they are the type to go beyond their role. It will also show what they interpret as exceeding the expectations of their role.

You want to hear a specific story that showcases their proactive attitude and commitment to their job. Look for examples that demonstrate creativity, problem-solving, or exceptional service.

Can you provide an example of a challenging situation you encountered as an executive assistant and how you resolved it?

Challenging situations can shed light on a candidate’s problem-solving abilities, which is a critical skill for an EA. It can also provide further insights into their experience or abilities to maintain a working relationship with their employer.

They should explain a specific challenge, what caused the challenge, and the steps they took to overcome it. Whether it was with their employer or an aspect of their role, they should be able to reflect on what they learnt from the experience.

Business or personal-related interview questions

Wrap up your interview with a few questions about the duties of your EA role. These should questions focus on specific tasks and scenarios an EA might face in the role. You can ask a mixture of professional and personal task questions to test their skill set.

Here are just a few examples of the types of questions you can ask:

Have you ever been responsible for managing travel arrangements?

Imagine arriving at the airport, excited for a family holiday in the Caribbean, only to find your tickets are taking you to the Maldives. If you regularly travel for work or go on frequent vacations, having an EA you can trust to make accurate travel arrangements is essential.

The candidate should outline their experience with booking flights and accommodation, as well as how they handle the paperwork and invoices for these bookings. Check if they talk about planning travel itineraries, showcasing their commitment to streamlining every aspect of your travels.

How do you handle working with confidential information?

From where you live to your financial information, your EA may have access to sensitive details about your personal and professional life. You need to ensure that you can trust that your EA will maintain the privacy and security of this information.

In their response, look for clear examples of how they’ve managed confidential information in the past. They should be able to describe specific measures or protocols they follow to protect privacy and confidentiality. It’s also important they demonstrate an understanding of the consequences of mishandling such information, showing they take this responsibility seriously.

Have you organized an event or function?

This question is recommended if event coordination forms part of the EA job description. From birthdays to team-building events, your EA should be ready to assist you with all aspects of event planning. This question helps you understand the types of events that they have previously planned and whether these match your needs. It can also showcase certain key skills, such as creativity, project management, and multitasking.

If they have previously planned an event, they should explain the type, size, and what went into the event’s success to showcase their experience. Listen to how they handled logistics, vendor relationships, and any challenges that arose.

What household or personal errands have you managed?

This question is especially important if you’re planning to hire a private PA but can also be relevant if your role includes a few personal duties. It’s a great way to find out what tasks the candidate has experience in handling.

Look for examples that demonstrate a broad range of capabilities, from everyday errands to more complex personal projects. This will help you know what you can and cannot get assistance with should you choose this candidate.

Is there any part of this job role that concerns you?

Find out if there are any aspects of the role that the candidate is unfamiliar or uncomfortable with. This will allow you to either address their concerns or determine whether they are a deal-breaker, ensuring a good fit for both parties.

The candidate should be honest and specific about their concerns. For example, if you need 24/7 assistance but they have family responsibilities, they should air this with you. It allows you to either come up with a solution or inform them that this is a key aspect of the role.

Remember to ask candidates for their questions

When planning your interview, make sure to allocate enough time at the end for the candidate to ask questions. This will show that you value their input and can make them feel confident in choosing to work for you should you make an offer.

The more important reason to ask candidates for their questions is that it offers a final opportunity to evaluate them. The questions they ask will reveal their priorities, what they value in a workplace, and their level of interest in the role. A candidate asking detailed, thoughtful questions is often one who is genuinely interested in the position and is considering how they can fit and grow within it.

Hire an EA With Tiger Recruitment

Interviews are just one part of the process of how to hire an EA. You first need to source a strong list of candidates to interview. At Tiger Recruitment, we specialize in matching your unique requirements with skilled professionals. We’ll provide you with a list of tested, reference-checked candidates, ensuring that you’ll find the best EA during your interview process.

Ready to find your ideal EA? Contact us today, and let’s start sourcing a list of top candidates for you. For more detailed insights, read our ultimate guide to hiring an EA.

The post Executive Assistant Interview Questions and What To Look For appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Executive assistants may be known for their resourcefulness and can-do attitude, but even the best rely on a little help from smart tech to boost their productivity. These online services are becoming more and more vital with the rise of remote-working PAs and EAs.

In this list, we’ve highlighted the top software and apps designed to complement the most common executive assistant duties, including:

• Diary management
• Project management
• Travel & accommodation
• Expenses
• Comms

All the executive assistant resources listed below have desktop and smartphone versions, can be integrated with other apps and, best of all, have a free tier! So, what are the best EA and virtual assistant tools?

Diary management: Calendly

A big part of the executive assistant role is keeping on top of the manager’s diary. With new client appointments, team meetings and event invitations coming in from multiple platforms every day, a coordinating tool like Calendly is indispensable. It can integrate all online calendars into one place, and allow contacts to view a manager’s availability and book in a meeting – all without the long emails back and forth.

• Top tip: Include a link to Calendly in your email signature to make it even easier for contacts to secure a free slot.

Tidying up the to do list: Trello

Trello is hugely popular across industries and professions, and for good reason. It’s a customizable, easy-to-use, shareable task manager that helps teams work seamlessly together. EAs can organize theirs and their manager’s day-to-day tasks in a simple, visual style that will help to prioritize work, separate different projects, and set deadlines.

• Top tip: Are you currently using spreadsheets to create project plans and to do lists? Trello lets you convert these into its card-based system simply by copying and pasting it in.

Travel itinerary: TravelPerk

Booking and managing travel and accommodation can be a messy business. Shopping around for the best airline and hotel deals often means you end up juggling emails from different travel companies for every leg of a business trip. Enter TravelPerk: a one-stop shop for plane, train and hotel bookings! Executive assistants can view all tickets, amendments, and cancellations on their desktop or mobile, making one of the most stressful aspects of the role manageable.

• Top tip: For B Corp certified companies like Tiger, sustainable travel is a must. Use GreenPerk to not only offset your carbon footprint, but make meaningful contributions to environmental projects around the world.

Balancing the books: Expensify

With Expensify, EAs can create automatic expense reports, input physical receipts via photos, and even sync with apps like TravelPerk to import digital receipts. Cutting out tricky manual inputting makes this a real time-saver.

• Top tip: The optional Expensify Card can be used as a replacement for company credit cards, with customizable spending limits and smart fraud protection.

Flawless writing: Grammarly

Corresponding with clients and other senior partners on behalf of their manager is a significant responsibility for an EA. They will need excellent writing skills and an understanding of tone of voice. Grammarly is the perfect tool to help with this. Not only does it catch any grammatical errors that could reflect badly on the manager, but it will also suggest revisions to the writing to make it clearer, more concise, and appropriate to different audiences.

• Top tip: Use the ‘tone detector’ to choose between formal, neutral, and informal tones of voice – because we all let our emotions slip into our writing sometimes!

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With these tools in their arsenal, an EA will free up hours of time spent on admin, and in turn help their manager be more productive.

If you’re an EA starting to use these tools, don’t forget to add them to your CV! Refer to our executive assistant resume template for extra tips on getting ahead of the pack.

If you are looking to hire an executive assistant, read our guide to hiring a EA and get in touch with your requirements.

The post Five Essential Executive Assistant Tools appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

When it comes to understanding how to be a good EA, it’s one thing learning about the tasks of an executive assistant, but it you want to thrive in the role, you’ll need a firm grasp of the top EA skills that support those tasks.

These range from administrative to time-management and interpersonal skills. Assessing yourself against these most desired abilities will help you build an honest picture of your prospects, and pinpoint where you can improve to boost your chances of securing your dream EA job.

So, what makes a good EA? The best personal assistants possess a balance of hard and soft skills that allow them to handle the admin side of the job and, as the name suggests, the personal side. Let’s look at what these personal assistant skills are.

Organization and timekeeping

The first skill that will see you sink or swim as a EA is your ability to multitask. Staying on top of your workload is a must for any job, but because the daily duties of a EA are so varied and often at the mercy of other people’s schedules, you’ll need to have a knack for organizing, prioritizing, and sticking to deadlines. We recommend getting to know the many useful apps and tools for EAs that will help you manage multiple projects and calendars.

Clear communication

A personal assistant must filter out the barrage of noise coming their manager’s way, and pick out only the most pertinent points to feed through to them. The manager will want quick and concise updates that they can then make a decision on, so learning to ‘cut to the chase’ when speaking or writing should be a priority for an EA.

Attention to detail

Having a good eye and memory for small but important details is a superpower of personal assistants. Working at a fast pace on a mix of tasks means crucial information is always at risk of being lost, be it data for a report, flight times, or a top client’s email address, so as an EA you’ll need to stay vigilant at all times. Honing this skill takes time and focus, but it pays dividends.

Tech-savvy

While an EA won’t need to be a tech guru to do their job effectively, general computer and software fluency is essential. Programs like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint will be a permanent fixture on your desktop for tasks like expenses, comms and presentations, while businesses will also expect you to be able to pick up their internal systems quickly.

Be a people person

The number one soft skill for the role of EA is your sociability. Not everyone has the people skills needed to succeed as a personal assistant, but we’re betting part of the reason you were drawn to the position is because you love helping and working with others! As the first point of contact for your manager, you’ll occasionally deal with frustrated or angry colleagues and clients, not to mention the manager themselves. So, the best EAs have a thick skin, calm temperament, and the ability to connect with all sorts of personalities, ensuring even the trickiest situations can be resolved.

If you’re planning to apply for an EA job, being able to demonstrate these skills will greatly improve your desirability to a hiring manager, so don’t forget to include them on your assistant resume. When you’re ready, head over to our live jobs page to find your perfect role!

If you are looking to hire an executive assistant, read our guide to hiring an EA for a comprehensive rundown of every aspect of the recruitment process.

The post Five executive assistant skills you need to succeed appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Do you have an ever-growing list of tasks that leaves you with little time for anything else? The demands of a bustling work life alongside personal commitments can leave you feeling stretched too thin. If you’re in this situation, hiring an executive assistant can help you regain control and balance.

In this guide, we explain what an executive assistant is by exploring the different types of EAs, the common duties, and the advantages that come with hiring an EA.

What Is an Executive Assistant?

An executive assistant (EA) is an individual who supports a business owner, executive, individual, or family with their professional tasks and personal management. This support can range from managing schedules and handling correspondence to organizing events and running personal errands. An EA’s role is versatile and tailored to your specific needs, making them essential to the smooth running of your personal and professional life.

Different Types of EAs

When you hire an executive assistant, there are various role types to consider and choose from. Each type of EA has its own set of skills and expertise to cater to various aspects of your professional and personal needs. Whether you need help managing your calendar, sorting through your emails, or running errands, there’s an executive assistant out there for you.

Here’s a brief overview of the various types of executive assistants:

Corporate EA:

A corporate EA provides administrative support to senior managers and/or C-suite executives in a corporate environment. This type of EA will assist with a wide range of daily tasks, including managing schedules, organizing meetings, preparing reports, and handling correspondence.

Team Assistant:

Team assistants provide administrative support to a group rather than an individual in a business setting. Their duties can include scheduling meetings, coordinating project documents, and assisting with the team’s communication.

Family Office EA:

A family office EA, or PA, works in a family office and helps management with their personal and/or work lives. They will likely complete similar tasks to a corporate EA, such as diary management, project management, and inbox management. Additionally, they may have some personal responsibilities, such as running personal errands, booking holidays, and organizing the family’s schedule to ensure that everything runs smoothly at home. It might also sometimes include estate management.

Personal Assistant:

A PA provides dedicated support to HNWI or families, often working within the employer’s home or private office. This role includes personal and household management that is tailored to your specific requirements. Typical duties include managing personal schedules, organizing travel plans, and overseeing the smooth running of household tasks.

Virtual Assistant:

Virtual assistants provide administrative assistance from a remote location, typically from their home. They offer flexible, remote support across various tasks by using technology to maintain efficiency without being physically present. Key duties include managing emails, scheduling appointments, handling social media accounts, and performing other tasks that can be done online.

Business Assistant:

A business assistant is often the most senior assistant within a business. They provide crucial support to business owners, chairmen and entrepreneurs by managing budgets, running projects, and ensuring operations/administrative staff are working cohesively.

Duties and Responsibilities of an Executive Assistant

Knowing what an executive assistant can do for you is essential to hiring with confidence. The duties of an executive assistant can vary widely depending on your specific needs. However, there are a few common responsibilities they perform to streamline your daily routine both inside and outside of work.

Administrative Support

Administrative support is the core of an executive assistant’s role. A great EA will ensure that your day-to-day responsibilities are organized and efficient, allowing you to focus your attention on more important tasks.

These are some of the administrative tasks an EA can help you with:

• Managing calendars and scheduling meetings
• Handling correspondence, including answering phone calls and emails
• Taking meeting minutes and distributing them
• Preparing reports and presentations
• Organizing and maintaining files and records
• Making travel arrangements, including flights, accommodations, and itineraries
• Managing expense reports and processing invoices
• Planning events, including venue selection, and catering arrangements
• Liaising with clients, suppliers, and other staff
• Overseeing the maintenance of office equipment and supplies

Personal Support

The role of an executive assistant can sometimes go beyond traditional office duties to also include personal support. This comprehensive approach ensures that every aspect of your life is managed with the same level of professionalism and care.

Typical personal support tasks include:

• Running personal errands such as shopping or picking up dry cleaning
• Managing personal appointments and schedules
• Planning family events, birthdays, and special occasions
• Handling household management tasks, including liaising with contractors and service providers
• Organizing personal travel, such as family holidays.
• Managing personal finances, including bill payments and budgeting
• Assisting with personal correspondence
• Overseeing pet care, including vet appointments and grooming
• Managing personal projects and hobbies
• Handling charitable contributions and managing philanthropic activities

While an executive assistant can significantly ease your to-do list, there are limitations to their support. They cannot provide professional medical, legal, or financial advice unless they hold specific qualifications in these areas.

Who Can Hire an EA?

You can hire an executive assistant if you’re feeling overwhelmed with the administrative side of your business, struggling to keep on top of your personal commitments, or just looking to free up more of your time. Whether you’re a business owner, executive, celebrity, or someone who needs an extra pair of hands around the house, an executive assistant can make a huge difference. Hiring an EA means you can delegate time-consuming tasks that take you away from focusing on what’s truly important to you, both professionally and personally.

You can also choose to hire either a permanent or a temporary EA. A permanent EA will become a steadfast part of your daily life, learning your preferences and adapting their support to best suit your needs. A temporary EA can provide support during particularly busy periods or for specific projects, offering a flexible solution without the commitment of a permanent hire.

Advantages of Hiring an EA

Hiring an executive assistant offers numerous benefits that can enhance both your professional and personal life.

Personalized Support

One of the main reasons why you should hire an executive assistant is for the personalized support. An executive assistant will get to know your specific preferences, working style, and needs intimately. This deep understanding allows them to tailor their assistance to make your life easier and more efficient.

Consider a scenario where your week is packed with meetings, travel, and personal commitments. Your executive assistant, knowing all your preferences, has scheduled your meetings at your ideal times and locations, arranged the travel plans with your favorite airline, and bought the gift for your friend’s housewarming. They then went a step above and coordinated your family’s schedule to ensure you have quality time together. This level of personalized support ensures that your days run smoothly, allowing you to focus on your work and personal well-being without the stress of managing every little detail yourself.

Enhanced Productivity

Your EA will handle all your routine administrative tasks, leaving you more time and energy to focus on high-value activities. An executive assistant can also handle tasks in your personal life, enabling a comprehensive approach to enhancing your productivity.

Here are just a few of the ways that an EA can help boost your productivity:

• Minimize Distractions: An EA can manage communications and handle questions, allowing you to concentrate on your work with fewer distractions.
• Prepare for Meetings: Your EA can gather materials, conduct research, and prepare briefs for upcoming meetings, ensuring you’re well-prepared and can engage more effectively.
• Complete Tasks Faster: With an EA handling your administrative tasks, you can complete your projects faster and meet deadlines more consistently.
• Maintain a Productive Environment: By organizing your workspace, managing files, and ensuring you have the necessary supplies, an EA helps create a productive work environment.

Increased Organization

One of the essential skills of any type of EA is organization. They will help bring order and structure to every aspect of your professional and personal life, from your appointment schedule to your office files. This enhanced organization makes your daily life more manageable.

Better Time Management

An EA will streamline your schedule to help you manage your time more effectively. This leads to less time wasted on low-priority activities and more free time for you to enjoy.

Improved Wellbeing

Hiring an executive assistant has been shown to reduce stress and improve wellbeing. This stems from the ability to delegate administrative and personal tasks to your EA, freeing up more time for relaxation, quality family time, or hobbies. By enhancing your work-life balance, you can reap benefits beyond just improving your productivity or time management.

Costs of Hiring an Executive Assistant

The costs of hiring an executive assistant in the US can depend on their experience, the scope of their responsibilities, the location of their work, and whether they are full-time or part-time.

An executive assistant salary is also heavily dependent on the industry of your business or the type of EA you have hired. For example, EAs starting out in their careers can expect a salary between $60,000 and $80,000, while a senior EA can expect a salary between $80,000 and $250,000.

While their salary will be your largest expense, there are other costs to consider when hiring an executive assistant. These include any employment taxes, expense reimbursements, travel-related expenses, and the costs of any benefits you offer.

Ready To Hire an EA?

Tiger Recruitment is here to assist. We specialize in matching individuals and businesses with the perfect EA to meet your unique needs. Our team is here to guide you through the process, ensuring you find the right fit for your lifestyle and business. Read our ultimate guide to hiring an EA and get in touch to start the hiring process.

The post What Is an Executive Assistant (EA)? appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

An Executive Assistant (EA) is a versatile professional who can enhance your productivity, reduce your stress, and improve your work-life balance. Whether you are looking to streamline your professional life, manage your personal affairs more efficiently, or provide support to your business team, there is a type of assistant for you.

This guide explores the different types of assistants available, helping you hire the best professional for your needs.

Six Types of Assistants Explained

Before you start looking into how to hire an EA, you need to first decide what support you need. From corporate settings to private households, the scope of an EA’s responsibilities can vary widely. For the latest salary data, please request a copy of our latest Salary and Benefits Review.

Executive Assistant (EA)

EAs provide administrative support to senior managers within a business. These EAs will typically support a team or a manager with highly demanding roles. Their main goal is to ensure their time is used efficiently. Their work environment is typically an office setting where they have access to the tools and technology needed to perform their duties.

A few of their key responsibilities include:

• Managing calendars and scheduling meetings
• Handling correspondence and emails
• Preparing reports and presentations
• Organizing travel arrangements
• Acting as a liaison between senior managers and staff or clients

To perform successfully in their role, executive assistants need strong organizational and communication skills. These skills ensure they can adequately support you in a fast-paced corporate environment.

The executive assistant salary you will pay will depend heavily on your industry.

Team Assistants

Team assistants support entire teams or departments within an organization, rather than individual managers. Usually considered one step down from an EA, they handle a wide range of administrative tasks, allowing their team to focus on essential business activities or strategic projects. Team assistants will ensure the team has a collaborative and efficient working environment.

Key responsibilities of team assistants include:

• Coordinating meetings and managing schedules for the entire team
• Handling incoming calls and managing team correspondence
• Maintaining and organizing digital and physical files for easy access
• Assisting in the preparation of reports and presentations for team projects
• Organizing team-building activities and managing logistics for team events

To excel in their position, team assistants need to possess excellent time management and interpersonal skills. Their role requires them to be adept at multitasking, have strong organizational abilities, and be capable of communicating effectively with team members and other stakeholders.

The salary for team assistants can vary widely depending on the industry, the size of the company, and the location.

Private PAs

A private PA manages the personal lives of one individual or family, helping to ensure your day-to-day runs smoothly and efficiently. They usually work from the family home or a private office to assist with personal tasks.

The main duties and responsibilities of a private PA include:

• Organizing personal schedules and appointments
• Managing household staff and liaising with contractors
• Handling personal finances, including bill payments and budgeting
• Planning travel arrangements
• Planning and managing events

Alongside the typical assistant skills, a private PA must be discrete due to the personal and confidential nature of the position. They should also have great multitasking skills and problem-solving capabilities to succeed in a sometimes-unpredictable working role.

Private PAs can earn more than other types of assistants, depending on your specific needs. For example, if you need them to accompany you on extensive travel trips or be available 24/7, they will require a higher salary.

Family Office EAs

Family office EAs provide professional support and, in some cases, private support, for HNWI and family office senior executives. They will often work in both the family’s private offices and from your home to ensure all financial, administrative, and personal tasks are covered. They differ from private EAs in that they have a wider scope of corporate administrative responsibilities.

A family office EA will typically handle:

• Coordinate financial management tasks with accountants and financial advisors
• Manage property portfolios and oversee household staff across various locations
• Organize family meetings and events
• Handle confidential documents and communications related to investments and estate planning
• Handle family travel arrangements

Family office EAs should be discrete and trustworthy, based on the sensitive information that they handle. It is also essential that they have a firm understanding of financial matters to offer sufficient support.

The cost of hiring a family office EA will depend on the size of your family office, the complexity of the role, and whether you need permanent or temporary assistance.

Business Assistants

Business assistants are like EAs but will usually hold a more senior position. This means they often support the business owner with a wide range of administrative tasks to help drive the business forward.

Some of the main responsibilities of a business assistant are:

• Managing business correspondence and communications
• Assisting with marketing and sales efforts
• Organizing business meetings and events
• Handling bookkeeping and financial administration
• Supporting project management and strategic planning

Hiring a business assistant can be a great decision as they will enhance the organization and efficiency of your day-to-day, allowing you to focus on the growth of your business.

Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants (VAs) provide remote administrative support to businesses, entrepreneurs, and professionals. They will work from their home or a co-working space and manage all their duties online. They often work for multiple individuals, depending on the workload and your agreement.

VAs hold these key duties:

• Managing emails and scheduling appointments
• Providing customer support and managing online inquiries
• Handling social media management and content creation
• Performing basic bookkeeping and managing online files
• Conducting research and preparing reports

The virtual assistant you choose for the position should have strong communication and time-management skills. They should have experience working remotely to prove that they can work independently. Due to the remote nature of the role, they should also be confident using various online tools and platforms.

Difference Between a PA and an EA

Understanding the difference between a personal assistant vs. executive assistant is essential when making a hiring decision. PAs will manage the personal matters of an individual or family, such as social media management, event coordination, property management or lifestyle coordination.

EAs only provide administrative support for executives in a business setting. EAs often have a deeper involvement in the company’s strategy, handling more complex tasks and having greater responsibility for decision-making processes. They may also manage additional team members, ensuring the senior executive is fully supported.

How To Choose the Right EA

Finding the right EA means looking for someone whose skills, experience, and personality match the requirements of your role and your work style. This kind of match will ensure you get the support you need to be more productive and achieve your personal and professional goals.

Here are the key steps to take to ensure the best EA hire:

Define the Scope of Work

Start by clearly defining the tasks and responsibilities you expect the EA to handle. Understanding the specific type of support, you need will help you identify the right kind of EA for your situation, whether it is for personal, professional, or a mix of tasks.

Assess Experience and Expertise

Determine the level of experience and specific expertise a candidate must have for your needs. This is especially important if the role includes specialized tasks or if you operate within a niche industry where insider knowledge is essential.

Choose Between In-House and Virtual Support

Decide if your lifestyle or business support tasks need someone who can be physically present. If not, a virtual assistant would be more suitable.

Ready To Hire an EA?

Get the support you need when you hire an assistant with Tiger Recruitment. Our team will guide you through the process, helping identify the exact type of EA you need. We will provide you with a strong list of candidates that are perfectly matched to your requirements. Read our ultimate guide to hiring an EA and get in touch to start the hiring process.

The post Different Types of Assistants Explained appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

As the leading EA recruitment agency in New York and beyond, we’ve worked with thousands of individuals in EA jobs. From start-ups to global corporations, finance to creative industries, we’ve seen the whole range of job specs, giving us unrivaled insights into salaries across the market. So, whatever the job may look like, we can give you the best advice on what to expect of an executive assistant’s salary.

What is an executive assistant?

Executive assistants can be found in every industry, performing a highly valued role. Whether they’re working with a business manager or an UHNWI in a private capacity, EAs are vital for making their principal’s working lives smooth and efficient.

Of course, the day-to-day life of an EA in the creative sector may look quite different to one in investment banking, but the core duties of a personal assistant remain the same:

• Work and personal diary management
• Being the point of contact on phone and email
• Travel and accommodation booking
• Booking meetings
• Preparing presentations and meeting materials
• Taking minutes of meetings

These time-sensitive and pressure-filled tasks favor assistants with a particular set of personality traits, such as clear communication, initiative, discretion and timekeeping. The best EAs have these traits in abundance and thrive in this fast-paced position. But that doesn’t mean they should be happy to do it for an uncompetitive salary!

How much do executive assistants make?

When it comes to the salary of an executive assistant, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Rather, the salary will depend on the industry, the level of seniority, whether the role is remote or office-based, and whether it’s a corporate role or a private PA job.

Below you will find some guidelines on the most up-to-date executive assistant salaries in New York.

Executive assistant salary based on industry

Financial services and tech companies are known to be paying the highest salaries to EAs in the market. The salaries in these industries can typically range from $60,000-$90,000 per year.

In addition, these industries usually provide great benefits and bonuses for their employees.

The executive assistant salaries in the creative industry can range between $50,000-$80,000 per year, whilst the non-profit/charity, and education sectors pay between $50,000-$70,000 per year.

Private personal assistant salary

If being a private PA is your goal, expect to see quite a different range of salaries for this role. That’s because the pay will be affected by several factors, based on the principal’s requirements.

Some of these factors might be:

• If the role involves a lot of traveling
• If it requires 24/7 availability
• If it’s a traditional family office PA role

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but these requirements affect the salary bracket, meaning salaries for private PA roles can range from $80,000 to $300,000 per year.

A few more considerations…

It’s important to note that the executive assistant salary in New York will also be impacted by a few more factors:

• If the role is remote and you work for a New York-based company but live somewhere else in the US, the salary might be slightly lower than the average
• The salary can vary if the role requires five days in the office, as opposed to hybrid working
• If regular travel is expected in the role, the salary may not be increased, however, travel expenses will be paid for

If you’d like more information on EA salaries in London, you can request a copy of our Salary and Benefits Review.

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If you’re looking to hire a PA, read our ultimate guide to PA recruitment.

The post What does an EA earn? Here’s everything you need to know appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

There is no single starting point on an executive assistant career path, and successful EAs can find their way into the role in very diverse ways. However, for those people with a clear desire to pursue an EA career, there are several organizations that offer learning and development opportunities tailored to the profession.

Employers should take note of these higher education institutes, both as a marker of experience and initiative in an EA candidate, and as potential partners for their internal learning and development programs.

In this blog we’ll look at some of the best executive assistant courses, covering the spectrum from online executive assistant qualifications to full-time diplomas. If you’re an aspiring executive assistant you may well be nervous about being underqualified for the job. We’re here to put your mind at ease, and show you exactly what actions you can take to secure your dream EA job. For employers, this is designed to give you an idea of what to look for on candidate resumes, and what to offer in your employee benefits.

Do you need a degree to be an executive assistant?

Before we delve into some fantastic options for EA education, let’s first address a common question: do you need a degree to be an executive assistant?

The short answer is no – many EA roles will require education up to high school only. The long answer is: it depends on the particular EA job. In more formal and high-pressure workplaces such as corporate finance, private equity, or family offices, an undergraduate degree may be a prerequisite, while the more interesting and higher-paid EA positions will of course be more suitable to a candidate with a degree.

However, there are alternatives to a degree that can be just as powerful when it comes to EA jobs. This is why we advise you to consider the below executive assistant courses: someone with these under their belt is more likely to be successful and see long-term career progression.

American Society of Administrative Professionals

One of the most accessible and effective courses is ASAP’s Professional Administrative Certification of Excellence (PACE). This online course can be taken year-round at a date of the student’s choosing, and includes modules covering communication, project management, and computer and technology skills.

Institute of Executive Assistant & Administrators

The IEAA run executive assistant training programs featuring accredited tutors, both online and in-person. Their courses run from junior level to more senior EA training, with the opportunity to gain a certificate or diploma.

International Association of Administrative Professionals

The IAAP offer a Certified Administrative Professional (CAP) credential, as well as the Certified Administrative Professional in progress (CAP ip) for more junior administrative assistants. This qualification is a clear marker that an EA has up-to-date skills and knowledge to take on whatever is thrown at them in the modern EA role.

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Looking to become an EA?

Executive assistant courses should be a consideration at any point in the career of a EA, due to the ever-changing nature of the role. However, at the outset of the EA journey, jobseekers should draw on any qualifications you have when aiming to impress a hiring manager. Read our guides to executive assistant resumes, EA personal statements and EA cover letters for insider tips on how to make your experience shine.

When you’re ready to apply for your next EA job, head to our job search page.

Looking to hire an EA?

If you are looking for the best way to hire an executive assistant, read our ultimate guide to hiring an EA. When you are ready to start the hiring process, get in touch with your requirements.

The post What are the best executive assistant courses? appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

For an executive assistant, settling into a new job is not as simple as learning a company’s systems and processes, names and faces. An EA must also learn the working style and daily rhythms of their manager, and adapt to them.

Experienced EAs will understand this and be attentive from Day One, but a manager should also do what they can to aid the onboarding process, regardless of whether it’s a junior EA or a veteran. The quicker an EA can get in sync with their manager and feel like a valued part of the team, the better for the business and their working relationship.

How can a manager help to effectively onboard a new executive assistant? Our list of what should be included in employee onboarding for an EA will give you a solid foundation to work from.

Be clear about expectations

While the general tasks of an executive assistant will be explained in the EA job description, each EA/manager team is unique in how they work. It’s important from the off for managers and their executive assistants to both have an agreed understanding of what is and isn’t expected of the relationship. On the first day, managers should be explicit about the remit of the EA role, including:

• What are the regular work hours? (9am-5pm, 8am-4pm, 10am-6pm etc)
• What are the in-office days? (every day, three days a week etc)
• Is the EA expected to be contactable out-of-hours?
• Can the EA contact their manager out-of-hours?
• What is the manager’s preferred method of communication?
• To what extent can the EA speak on their manager’s behalf if the manager is unavailable?

The widespread use of flexible working arrangements makes these questions all the more important. Without the shared space of an office defining working hours, work and personal time can become blurred, leading to potential burnout.

By clarifying these aspects of the relationship, a manager will help avoid misunderstandings, and set boundaries for both parties.

Have a schedule ready

It’s crucial that an executive assistant and manager have regular opportunities to catch up and coordinate. Rather than leaving this to chance, a manager should have a schedule ready from the first day.

This catch up will be different for each team – some managers may want to start every day off with a 9am one-to-one, while others will prefer or a weekly catch-up on a Friday to plan for the week ahead. Whichever option works for you, be sure to get it in the calendar immediately. This leads us to our next point.

Use the latest technology

Keeping on top of shared calendars has never been easier. Most phones, tablets and laptops now come with numerous built-in apps that can help coordinate schedules, so it’s best practice to supply a new executive assistant with their own work smartphone and laptop.

While you can get by with the built-in scheduling apps on these devices, there are dozens more online apps and software designed specifically to coordinate work teams. Using these multi-functional programs, managers can set up shared calendars, project schedules, budget spreadsheets, and more within the same online space.

Some of the most effective apps and tools for assistants include:

• Clickup
• Trello
• Asana
• Google Teams
• Monday

Set KPIs

As well as agreeing what is within and without the remit of the executive assistant’s role, the first days of the role are a good chance to set key performance indicators (KPIs). These will give the EA a benchmark to keep in mind when doing their job and show them clear opportunities for career progression.

Some KPIs for executive assistants could be:

• Response times (for example, responding to emails within 24 hours)
• Travel and accommodation bookings arranged at least 48 hours in advance, where possible
• Monthly reports produced on time
• Budget kept in check

Partner your EA with a mentor

Due to the close working relationship between a manager and executive assistant, there’s a risk that an EA can feel isolated from the wider company. To avoid this, it’s useful for EAs to have a mentor or buddy.

A mentor can introduce a new EA  to aspects of office life beyond their manager. This could include the company’s values, office dynamics, social events and employee benefits. By introducing a new EA to these aspects from their first day, you will immediately deepen their relationship with the company and their colleagues, fostering job satisfaction and loyalty.

Set up a support base

As well as providing them with a mentor, by introducing a new EA to other assistants within the company, you can give them a feeling of security and belonging. These other EAs will understand the challenges of the job, and be able to offer support and advice in the first days and beyond.

If there isn’t already, help set up a group chat on WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Slack, or other communication app. This will allow for regular chat between peers, and will help newcomers get to know their fellow EAs and TAs.

Conclusion

If you follow best practice during the selection and recruitment process, you can secure a candidate with all the potential to be a fantastic executive assistant. But, the real work of building a rapport and a highly effective business relationship is only just beginning on the day they step into the office.

By putting the same attention and effort into onboarding a EA, you can set up a long-lasting, mutually satisfying partnership between manager and assistant.

For more information on how to hire a EA, read our guide to EA recruitment.

The post How to onboard an executive assistant appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Recruiting is no walk in the park. Most hiring managers will know that a bad appointment could potentially cost their business threefold: the cost of searching, the cost of hiring, and the cost of training. So it’s all the more important to get it right first time. Having a structured hiring policy will play an important role in getting the best person for the job. Preparing properly, setting a timeline and applying a uniform approach for interviewing candidates will provide clarity in the decision-making process and ensure everyone is being considered on fair grounds.

That said, we also firmly believe in the importance of rapport-building in an interview, which will probably involve some small talk. This is especially true when hiring technology staff, however in doing so you may find yourself in uncharted territory. If this happens, steer the conversation back to your prepared interview questions and continue. In the meantime, avoid the below interview topics too:

1. Any subject relating to religion, gender, age, race, marital status, sexual orientation, gender expression and disabilities

That list might appear to be overwhelming, but essentially the premise is the same. Simply avoid asking too many questions that could be interpreted to be bordering on too personal. For example, asking someone what they did on the weekend and receiving a response along the lines of: “I went to a picnic organized by the synagogue with my husband and children,” takes you way off course. Bring the conversation back to your set questions immediately, so as to avoid legal risk both to yourself and the business you’re hiring for.

2. Social media access

Asking for candidates’ social media account information is a no-go area as well. If you want to have a little hunt around to see how the candidate represents themselves publicly online, by all means do that. But if you can’t find them or believe they may have pseudonyms, don’t probe for more info.

3. Leading questions

Asking a question such as, “Your boss must have been pleased about your decision to organize the travel itinerary, mustn’t he?” leads the interviewee to feel uncomfortable about saying anything other than ‘yes’. Instead, ask open questions to your candidate can give better insight during the interview.

4. Positive reinforcement

Keep the tone of the interview neutral. Expressing to them something along the lines of, “That is exactly the right response and one that we’d expect from someone working here,” gives them an indication of their performance – which is a strict no-no. Maintain a balance between being friendly and neutral in your responses.

5. Textbook questions

Finally, make a bit of an effort with the interview questions. Asking, “What is your biggest weakness?” is a question that the candidate will have probably prepared in advance. Try a couple of unusual questions for a more genuine dialogue.

Looking to hire your next recruit? Get in touch now. If you’re looking for more information on the selection process, read our guide to help you in selecting the best candidate.

The post Hiring managers, know which interview topics to avoid appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Onboarding can make or break an employee’s experience when starting a new role. Research by Gallup found that only 12% of “employees strongly agree their workplace does a great job of onboarding new employees.” [1]

Considering a great onboarding experience can improve employee retention rates by 82%, neglecting these process can be both costly and time consuming in the long run. [2]

This is especially relevant when hiring for graduate jobs in NYC, as they often have little experience in corporate environments. Graduate recruitment in New York is a competitive market, so you don’t want to be losing your new employees just a few days in because of onboarding issues. So, how do you onboard graduates?

Here are four things to consider when welcoming graduates to your team:

1. Preparation is key

No new employee wants to arrive on their first day to no desk and a colleague that’s flustered at their arrival. It’s essential you take the time to get organized a few days before they begin, printing off or filling out paperwork, installing all software and hardware, setting up entry passes and computer logins and anything else that’s required. While notice periods are part and parcel of recruitment, it’s worth moving quickly – leaving too much time between accepting an offer and starting a new role opens you up for potential problems. If onboarding remotely, ensure hardware has been sent to the employee’s house well in advance, and they have been in touch with IT to support them through the setup.

2. Invest in video

Millennials are the video generation, with the average personal watching 1.5 hours of video a day [3]. So, invest in creating an orientation video, covering your company’s history, current structure and culture, as well as office instructions and tips and tricks for their first few weeks – maybe a suggestion of where to grab lunch? This means you won’t have to repeat yourself with every new starter and it ensures the messaging is consistent. It also allows the graduate to take notes in their own time, pausing where needed, and frees you up to focus on other things.

3. Show them the way

According to Statista, 100% of young women in the millennial category choose companies to work for based on the opportunity for professional skill development[4]. Therefore, the onboarding process should also include a clear directive on where graduates can expect to be in three, six and twelve months’ time. Objectives should be clearly established and training avenues should be actively promoted and acted upon in order to encourage growth. This way, those taking on New York City graduate jobs (or elsewhere) can see just how they’ll be using their hard-earned knowledge.

4. Implement a mentoring program

Starting a new role is daunting at the best of times, but for graduates, it can be even more so. Providing a mentor for those first few months during the graduate onboarding process can go a long way in helping new grads settle into the workplace, giving them a person that can answer ‘dumb questions’ that they might not be comfortable asking their direct manager.
Mentorship can also encourage a sense of community, helping to welcome new members to the team. A familiar face can go a long way in making a work environment more comfortable.

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Tiger is one of NYC’s leading graduate recruitment agencies. If you’re looking to hire a graduate or looking at jobs for graduates in New York, we can help! Get in touch today. If you’re looking for more hiring advice, read our interview guide for the best candidate selection.

1.https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238085/state-american-workplace-report-2017.aspx
2. https://b2b-assets.glassdoor.com/the-true-cost-of-a-bad-hire.pdf
3. https://www.rev.com/blog/how-gen-z-and-millennials-consume-video-content-what-that-means-for-production-teams
4. https://whattobecome.com/blog/millennials-in-the-workplace/

The post Four things you should be including in your graduate onboarding process appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

2022 has arrived and it’s time to start thinking about your recruitment strategy for the year ahead.

Why is having an effective recruitment strategy important?

If you want to improve your success in talent acquisition and establish a sustainable hiring process to ensure you attract and retain the best talent next year, developing an effective recruitment strategy is critical.

As you carry out your end of year review, assess what worked well in 2021 and what needs to change for 2022. A new year is a fresh start, so it’s a great time to experiment with new strategies. If you’ve been struggling to attract talent, you need to flex your approach to hiring practices in the new year.

Take some time to consider what will make your organization an attractive employer in 2022. Will you offer competitive remuneration and benefits packages for example? Will you offer excellent career progression opportunities? Is your business environmentally and socially aware? Will you offer a pleasant working environment and encourage a healthy work life balance for your employees?

Why enlist the services of a recruitment agency?

As a savvy employer, you recognize the value of top talent, but you’re also aware that attracting and retaining top tier candidates is a time-consuming and costly process. And in a buoyant jobs market, where employers are competing with one another for the most skilled and experienced staff, this process becomes even more challenging.

Partnering with a professional staffing agency who can help by identifying and attracting the right candidates for your organization can significantly reduce the pressure.

Here are 3 key benefits of using a professional staffing agency:

1. Speed up the hiring process

A well-established and experienced staffing agency can find top tier candidates faster than you can. In no time at all they can tap into a vast talent pool via their existing database, they have a broad network of connections to leverage and utilize powerful sourcing tools that make the process of finding the right job candidates much faster and more productive.

2. Access to the best candidates

Staffing agencies have access to a wide pool of talented jobseekers. Top candidates don’t have time to search job boards. Instead, they turn to a specialist recruiter who they can trust to find them the right role. This includes access to candidates who are actively seeking work as well as talent who are employed elsewhere. Professional recruiters also understand the logistics and marketing value behind each of the top job boards.

3. Market knowledge 

A businesses’ requirements can often be specific and difficult to find, this is where a recruiter’s industry expertise and market knowledge proves valuable. Once a relationship has been built, the agency will be aware of the qualities and attributes required for someone to be a good fit for your company, and all future hires will be easier and faster. Professional recruiters are industry specialists and can provide regular market insight to hiring teams. They can offer advice on attracting the best talent, salary and benefits, skills shortages, hiring complexities and retention strategies.

How can Tiger Recruitment help you meet your staffing needs in 2022?

We are lucky enough to attract the best quality candidates by being the leaders in our market. Established in 2001, our team is highly experienced in filling permanent and temporary positions with exceptional business support staff, in the fastest time possible. We tailor our approach to each individual requirement, ensuring the employers’ values are reflected in each candidate we put forward for a role. This is what makes Tiger Fiercely Distinctive.

A unique approach to recruitment

We take a thorough approach to business support recruitment. All of our candidates are rigorously screened and tested and once we take a detailed briefing from you we will search our database and send you a tailored shortlist of potential candidates we believe will suit the position and your unique requirements. We assess and select candidates based on several criteria. These include skills and professional experience as well as personality and attitude. We also take time to understand a candidate’s values to ensure the perfect alignment with your business.

We really take the time to understand your company, culture and its needs as we believe the right fit is essential. We pride ourselves on our client service to make the process as easy and seamless as possible for you. Our thorough, honest and transparent approach sets us apart from our competitors.

We do the hard work for you

We make hiring easy, it’s that simple. We save you time by carefully screening job applicants to ensure we are identifying the closest applicant-job-description matches. During the shortlisting process, we will consider the professional background of each candidate alongside their values, qualifications, experience, skill set and projected candidate-organization fit. We meet every candidate (either face to face or on Video Call) and interview them thoroughly for each role before submitting them to you.

Specialists in permanent and temporary recruitment

Whether you’re looking for a temporary, contract or permanent member of staff, we can help. Our consultants are on hand to organize a variety of placements, from same-day cover to long-term contract positions. If you’re in need of some help immediately, our team can have an exceptional candidate in your office within a matter of hours.

If you’d like help developing your 2022 recruitment strategy, or if you’d like to discuss how we can help you meet your staffing needs in the new year, get in touch today.

The post Planning to hire in 2022? We can help! appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

A company is only as good as its people. From the person who greets your customers on the reception desk, to the executives sat on the board, every employee represents a facet of your organization to your customers and shareholders.

The consequences of poor recruitment and selection can include dips in employee productivity and morale, problems in workplace culture and impacted customer care. Appointing an ill-suited employee is a time-consuming and costly mistake for businesses and could negatively impact reputation and employer branding.

Hiring the right people, however, will help businesses to build a stellar reputation, drive growth and reduce staff turnover.

To ensure business success, it’s critical that hiring teams know how to identify the right candidates and understand the process of best-practice candidate selection. One of the most effective strategies for doing so is robust reference checking.

Why is reference checking important?

Due diligence in the recruitment process helps to ensure that the candidate in question possesses the qualifications and skills required for the role being filled. Reference checking can be extremely valuable in the hiring process as it helps hiring managers to leverage an opinion about a candidate’s capabilities from someone other than the candidate, which in turn helps them to gain a well-rounded picture of the individual, thus increasing the likelihood of a value alignment between the candidate and employer.

It may be difficult to believe that anyone, let alone a top tier candidate you have expertly sourced, would lie on their resume, but a staggering 85% of US workers have! The majority were dishonest about the duration of previous employment, gaps in employment or about their previous salary.

Using background checks to verify employment history and credentials can help hiring managers to spot dishonest candidates.

How good reference checking helps to improve hiring decisions:

• Gain an unvarnished opinion about a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses
• Learn about the work habits, attitude, capability and skills of a desired candidate by talking to someone who has first-hand experience of working with them
• Form a realistic and objective opinion of the individual
• Verify whether a candidate’s claims about qualifications, experience and previous positions are true
• Understand how the candidate’s aspirations fit with the role in question
• Gain crucial insight into how the candidate performs on the job

Eight tips for conducting effective reference checks

Ensure that checks include the candidate’s most recent work references

It’s important to seek references from the person’s current or former managers and supervisors, and/or educational supervisors. If their current or former manager is not available, other alternatives could be an indirect manager with whom the individual worked, a co-worker or team member.

Consider taking references over the phone

This gives you, as the hiring manager, the opportunity to ask questions on the fly and to check factual evidence about the candidate in question. It can also be very useful for detecting the level of enthusiasm, or lack thereof, in the tone of their voice.

Look up potential candidates on LinkedIn

To ensure they are who they say are, use LinkedIn to help you in the screening process. LinkedIn can be used to verify information on an applicant’s resume at any stage of the application process. Carefully review the applicant’s profile, recommendations and employment history.

Ask the referee open-ended questions

It’s imperative to ask open-ended and behavioral-based questions to obtain objective information about the individual’s work performance and achievements, technical and soft skills, work habits, attitude, strengths and areas of improvement.

Example reference checking questions:

• What is your relationship to the candidate?
• What roles did the candidate perform while at your company?
• For how long did they work with you?
• What were their main responsibilities?
• How did the candidate deal with the most challenging aspects of their role?
• What are the candidate’s professional strengths?
• What skills do you think this individual can develop further?
• Tell me about a time when x had to deliver a project within x timeframe
• What type of management style did this person work best under?
• What type of working environment did this person excel in?
• Describe a specific problem this person encountered in their role, and how they went about resolving it

Whilst not an open-ended question, it’s always a good idea to ask the referee if they would have the candidate work with them again, as well as paying attention to what the referee doesn’t say about the candidate.

Obtain a minimum of two references

It’s best to avoid seeking personal references as it’s unlikely a personal referee would have worked with the candidate. Their opinion is also likely to be biased and the best they would be able to provide is a character reference rather than a work reference.

Map out your reference-checking process carefully

To ensure consistency, it’s important to develop a process for stringent reference checking. Compose a list of carefully thought through questions that you would like to ask the referee, ensuring that these have been approved by the management team.

Take time to evaluate reference checks on completion

This is particularly important if you are seeking reference checks for multiple applicants. Consider if the information provided confirms or contradicts the impression you have of the candidate, and/or if they raise any concerns that need to be addressed. If you don’t feel satisfied with the information received from the referees, consider asking for additional references, or inviting the candidate for a further conversation to clarify anything you are unsure of.

The bottom line is, never make a hire without having first conducted a robust reference check. Even though the task elongates the hiring process, if you end up hiring the wrong person it will cost you more time, money and headaches further down the road.

If you’d like some help with implementing an effective reference checking process to ensure you are achieving candidate-organization fit with every hire, please get in touch today.

If you’re looking for more top tips for hiring, our complete interview and selection guide for employers will help!

The post Tiger Recruitment’s guide to reference checking appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Being organized at work will have an immediate positive impact on your productivity. It can help you produce a better quality of work, make fewer mistakes, and work more efficiently. Prioritizing and getting organized also helps to reduce stress and overwhelm.

Albeit not all of us are naturally gifted with supreme organizational skills, it is possible to improve them by following a few simple tips.

Here are our six top tips to help you stay organized at work and get more done.

Create a master ‘to do’ list

The first step in getting organized is to create a master list that documents all the tasks you need to complete. It can be a daily, weekly, or monthly list.

Depending on your role, a weekly list may work best. Weekly lists will supercharge your organization and productivity and give you the flexibility to make amendments as and when is necessary for your role.

Write down everything that needs to be done in a specific week and assign certain tasks to each day.

Prioritize your tasks

Strategic prioritization is essential for getting everything done. You need to arrange tasks according to their deadline, the amount of time required to complete them, and the focus they will require.

It may be more effective to work on tasks that require high levels of focus when you’re at your most productive and leave tasks that require less energy for another time of the day.

Avoid multitasking

Multitasking is one of the biggest obstacles to productivity. It’s essential to focus on one task at a time to produce a high standard of work and get as much done as possible.

Unless something urgent needs your attention, block out time in your calendar to carry out focused work. Set aside time elsewhere in the day to check your emails and make phone calls.

Organize your workspace

As the saying goes – tidy desk, tidy mind. It can be your physical workspace, such as your desk, and your digital one, such as your laptop, inbox, etcetera.

One of the biggest time-wasters in the workplace is trawling through hundreds of emails, folders, or documents when looking for something, simply because files aren’t organized efficiently on your laptop.

Create SOP’s

Standard Operating Procedures consist of the step-by-step processes that you need to follow to complete specific tasks.

This step is crucial to reduce the likelihood of making mistakes, and it helps to be precise and efficient when managing your workload.

Keeping a folder with all the different SOPs required for your role means you’ll have all the information you need to perform your role successfully to hand, readily and easily accessible.

Master time management by implementing one of these popular techniques
Time-management techniques can help you to manipulate time and get more done.

You may want to try:

– The Pomodoro technique: you select a task you need to focus on, set a timer for 25 minutes and work solely on that task. After 25 minutes, you take a short break (typically 5 minutes), then start again for another 25 minutes.

– The ‘Eat that frog’ technique: Championed by motivational speaker and productivity expert Brian Tracy, the goal of this method is to analyze the items on your list and organize them according to their difficulty. The idea is that you tackle the most challenging tasks first.

– The Kanban technique: this is an effective workflow management method for visual learners. On a board, your notebook, or your laptop, create three sections: to-do, in progress, done. Then write your tasks and move them across the sections based on their progress and completion.

If you’re serious about supercharging your organizational skills, you could also benefit from a time management app such as Todoist or Toggl Track.

Increasing your organizational skills will not only help you to stay on top of your workload, it will also maximize your chances of excelling in your role. If you implement these tips gradually into your workday you’ll start to see a noticeable difference in the quality of your work and in the results you produce.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Feel free to read more on our Insights page.

Are you ready to write the next chapter of your career? Get in touch with us at info@tiger-recruitment.co.uk, and one of our consultants will be happy to help.

The post Six tips to improve your organization and productivity at work appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

We are living in a digital world, with laptops, smartphones, tablets and other devices now an integral part of our daily lives and work.

Businesses around the world have become increasingly digitalized, even traditional brick-and-mortar companies are now opting to market their business online. With all the benefits of digital marketing for businesses, this is no surprise.

Just some of these benefits include:

• Cost effectiveness: Digital marketing methods are less expensive than traditional marketing
• Targeting: Reach niche audiences in a measurable way
• Lack of geographical boundaries: Target audiences anywhere in the world
• ROI: Generate a consistent lead pipeline and higher conversion rates
• Measure: Analyze data to determine if campaigns are yielding the desired results

The future of digital marketing is bright

The digital transformation of business has led to a steep rise in demand for marketing professionals who are well versed in the digital marketing arena. Graduates and those looking for a career change are attracted to this exciting and fast-growing career path because it’s a dynamic field that is constantly evolving.

There are currently over 24000 digital marketing jobs for New York listed on LinkedIn. And recent LinkedIn data shows that the digital marketing sector continues to soar in popularity. Thus, if you are looking for jobs in this field, you can rest assured that there will be plenty of opportunities available to you.

Is digital marketing a dream job?

Whilst digital marketing is an exhilarating and rewarding career, it also comes with a set of challenges that you need to be prepared for if you are seriously considering this route. To successfully navigate the fast-changing digital marketing landscape, you’ll need to equip yourself with a myriad of skills and continue to improve your knowledge on an ongoing basis. Top digital marketers are always learning and upskilling to ensure they remain competitive and keep on top of emerging trends.

Pros of a career in digital marketing:

• You can earn a healthy income
• It’s a fast paced and exciting career route that will keep you on your toes
• It offers unlimited opportunities for personal and professional growth
• You’ll have the opportunity to work with an interesting mix of people and businesses
• Feeling bold? You could take the plunge and set up your own digital marketing agency
• You’ll be free to tap into your potential and use it to drive your success
• As long as you have internet access, you can work from anywhere in the world
• The balance of tasks allows you to be creative in your work as well as review tangible analytical trends
• The broad landscape of digital marketing gives you many different avenues and outlets
• You’ll have the chance to build a thriving career that will last the test of time
• You’ll never be bored!

Cons of a career in digital marketing:

• Continual learning and keeping on top of rapidly changing trends is hard work
• You may not always see the results you were hoping for
• If you find yourself in a niche that isn’t the best fit for you, it may be challenging to pivot
• You’ll spend long days sitting in front of a screen, which could cause tension over time
• Digital marketing is a demanding and multifaceted career that requires discipline and focus
• You may struggle to formulate successful campaigns, generate traffic and drive conversions, even if you think you’re doing all the right things
• Running your own digital marketing business may be harder than you think
• You may work with clients who have unrealistic expectations, creating additional pressure

If you do decide to go down this route, thorough preparation will increase your chances of success. Start by brushing up on or developing some of the key skills that are required to be an accomplished digital marketer.

Just a few of the top skills that will help to skyrocket your career in digital marketing are:

Video marketing

Are you aware that YouTube is the 2nd largest online platform after Google? Businesses who are embracing video marketing are benefiting from more traction, increased brand awareness, more traffic and more sales. Whilst you don’t need to know everything about video production to succeed as a digital marketer, the stronger you are in this area the better.

Social media

As of January 2022, there were 4.62 billion social media users around the world. A social media presence is vital for businesses who want to maximize exposure for their brand, attract and retain the attention of their audience, and generate more business. Social media offers an incredible opportunity to better understand and build relationships with customers anywhere in the world. Most importantly, it’s free! Savvy digital marketers use engaging social media content to attract and convert audiences organically and analyze campaign data to determine what’s working and what’s not.

Copywriting

To succeed as a digital marketer, you’ll need to create content that engages your audience and persuades them to take a specific form of action that ultimately leads to a conversion or sale. With as many as 350,000 tweets going out every minute, catchy, compelling content is vital to stand out in a saturated digital market. And while the amount of content being shared online is increasing, the attention spans of people are shortening. So, you’ll need to compress information into digestible bites while still conveying the right message and without losing the ability to capture their attention.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization is crucial in all aspects of digital marketing, so if you can demonstrate a solid knowledge of the dynamics of SEO, you’ll be ahead of the game. The organization for whom you work may assign the technical side to a specialist SEO team, but if you have expertise in this area you can apply it to ensure you are producing optimized content that will drive successful campaigns.

PPC

PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, helps businesses to expand their reach by showing up in top spots online, and they only pay when a visitor clicks on their ad. Digital marketers drive performance by paying attention to the relevance and quality of the ad, determining which keywords to target, and the best format and channel. This requires a creative flair, polished analytical skills and an in depth understanding of the business, their goals and customer intents.

Analytics and data analysis

If you want to be a successful digital marketer, you’ll need to use data to verify, understand and quantify the degree to which the efforts of your campaigns are paying off. You’ll need to be able to interpret the data into real, actionable insights which can then be used to inform important business decisions and shape core campaign strategies. Data analysis highlights what’s working and makes it clear where efforts need to be focused.

Email marketing

To further elevate your digital career, learn how to harness the power of email marketing to build relationships with customers. A seasoned digital marketer can create campaigns that nurture subscribers and existing leads through newsletters. They create powerful experiences for their audience, tapping into their emotions and inspiring them to take action.

You’ll find countless digital marketing courses on sites such as Udemy, Lynda, Coursera, Edx, Alison and Hubspot. We also recommend taking a look at our partner New Skills Academy, who are offering course discounts of up to 65%.

If you’re interested in discovering how our consultants could help you find your first or next dream role in digital marketing, please contact us here.

The post Are you ready to be a digital marketer? appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Regardless of whether you’re seeking sunshine, or planning to escape to a winter wonderland, it’s time to stop worrying about whether to bring the children on your next vacation. While spending one on one time with the family can create special memories for everyone, traveling with children can also be tiring and time consuming. But why should you limit your plans? Look no further for the key to a stress-free vacation. Hire a travel nanny today and say hello to relaxation.

What is a travel nanny?

A travel nanny is someone who specializes in caring for children on family trips, however long you might be looking to get away for. Travel nannies can adapt to new environments quickly and with ease, and are accustomed to remaining calm under pressure or in challenging situations, such as in the unfortunate event that a child becomes sick whilst you are away.

Is it better to hire a traveling nanny or to bring help from home?

If your family already has an everyday nanny, there is of course the option to bring them along on your trip. However, if you’re also looking to give your regular nanny some time off for themselves, or some of the family are staying at home while you’re on vacation, it can be worth looking for an extra helping hand.

And if you don’t normally have a nanny whilst at home, the added bonus of a traveling nanny means you can be so much more flexible with your vacation, casting aside any worries about finding a resort or hotel with childcare options. Even if your hotel offers a nannying service, hiring your own travel nanny means that you are able to meet them ahead of time in your own environment.

A traveling nanny is also a great option as they may already be familiar with your destination of choice, acting as both a tour guide and providing an extra layer of security for your children, especially if there is a language barrier.

Three benefits of hiring a traveling nanny:

1. Balance for parents

Being a parent is a 24/7, 365-days-a-year job. Traveling with children can be tiring and many parents return from their trips feeling more tired than they were before they left. Hiring a travel nanny means alleviating stress for everyone. With help at your side, everyone is free to make the most of their vacation. The children can have their own adventure while you relax by the pool, or whatever else might take your fancy!

2. Security and safety

Knowing that someone is watching over your children and having that extra level of supervision, especially in crowded settings and locations with water, means that parents are able to properly switch off.

3. Flexibility

Hiring a traveling nanny for your family vacation gives you complete flexibility with plans and scheduling last-minute changes. Travel nannies are experienced with working both day and night and will be there for you when you need them most, working with you to create a schedule (or lack of) that suits your family.

Whether you’re worried about the children getting bored, decide to go for a late night dinner, or simply need some time alone, a travel nanny can make your dream vacation a reality.

Ready to find a nanny to suit your needs? Get in touch with us today.

The post Why you should hire a traveling nanny for your next vacation appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Tiger’s Managing Director, Rebecca Siciliano, shares her insights on how Tiger’s London office has transitioned to remote working. She talks through:

• How remote working has been set up
• Why communication and support for your employees must be your number one priority
• Practical suggestions on connecting to your team while remote working

The post Remote Working in a Changing Landscape appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.

Our Head of the Permanent Division in our London office and Tessa Cooper, Founder of Collaborative Future, talk about ways employers can support their remote teams through this period. With an emphasis on practical tips to encourage collaboration, this webinar is aimed at managers and team leaders who are managing a remote workforce for the first time.

The post LISTEN – Motivating and Managing Remote Teams appeared first on Tiger Recruitment.