Execute. Assist.

Being an executive assistant has high expectations – you can’t make mistakes, you can’t turn up mediocre work, and you can’t possibly be startled by any glitch or miscommunication along the way. In other words, you always have to put your best foot forward; otherwise, don’t put anything on the line at all. It’s a high-profile, high-pressure, high-standards and well, relatively high-paying job.

You have to be flexible;

You have to be mindful;

You have to think on your feet;

You have to remember stuff (or at least figure out a way to not forget stuff);

You have to adapt;

You have to always have the answer to any possible question;

You have to be resourceful, creative, and witty all at the same time;

You have to be one step ahead of everybody, and that particular step should be your best foot forward – always.

You can’t afford to panic at any situation;

You can’t make mistakes;

You can’t be unprepared;

You can’t ask too many questions or too many directions;

You can’t stick your nose on stuff;

You can’t make it about yourself – it’s never personal;

Basically, you can’t screw things up because your job is to make their life easier and not make it any worse than it already is.

But I knew that! I knew that it would be stressful and high-pressure and high expectations. I was scared to take on this job. I rarely use that term, but it was the truth. It was the fear of the unknown – venturing into a new horizon that deals with the top executives, arriving at a particular place that has a different set of language and culture, and being the rookie with close to none in terms of experience.

What do I have to loose anyway? I have little to no experience, I was unemployed for the past six or so months before this, and I really don’t have much going for me. So I grabbed it – despite the hesitations, the uncertainties, and the phobia of high expectations – I accepted the job. There are always two ways to look at any situation: positive and negative. And when you weigh in how many positives there are compared to the negatives, and you find out that there are more negatives than there are positives, you go ahead anyway.