Hiring an EA as a founder can be a daunting task, but an EA can truly change your life and productivity. Here are some questions to ask yourself initially:
Do I currently have tasks on my plate that tend to be more administrative and take up a lot of my time?
Is my calendar overloaded with meetings that do not necessarily need to be on my calendar?
Does back-and-forth scheduling take up too much of my time?
Do I crave more time for creative thinking, goal setting, and future thinking?
Do I want more 1:1 time with my team members?
If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, it is time to hire an EA. Below is a helpful guide on how to think about navigating your first EA search.
Determine your needs: Consider what tasks you need help with and what skills are required for the role. Make a list of the daily, weekly, and monthly responsibilities you want your EA to take on, such as scheduling, email management, travel arrangements, and administrative tasks.
Define the role: Create a job description. Outline the duties and responsibilities, required skills, and qualifications before starting the search. Be clear about the experience level you are looking for.
Determine your budget: Determine your salary budget for an EA while taking into account the level of experience and expertise you’re targeting. More experienced EA’s come at a much higher salary but will require a lot less training and onboarding. Determine what you value most before starting the search and make sure to educate yourself on EA salary bands before starting.
Find the right recruiting agency: Find a recruiting agency that specializes in this type of hire. They will save you a lot of time and energy and provide you with high-quality candidates. They can educate you on salary, experience levels, and the different types of profiles available. Many agencies specialize in administrative recruiting.
Create a hiring process: Develop a clear hiring process. Consider what stakeholders should be involved in the interview process and how many interviews are needed. What questions in the interview process with help you arrive at YES. Be intentional about your process.
Interviews: Once you have a strong pipeline of candidates, start the interview process. Time is of the essence. Ask behavioral-based questions that relate to the duties and responsibilities of the role. Be sure to also assess their communication skills, attention to detail, and ability to multitask. Often a writing assessment can help determine a candidate’s writing and prioritization style.
Check references: Once you have identified your top candidate, check their references to verify they are indeed a strong candidate. The goal is to understand how to best work with this person so ask questions that will help you get to know them better.
Offer the job: If the candidate meets your criteria and passes reference checks, make the offer! This can be somewhat time sensitive so make sure you move quickly, over-communicate on next steps and come in with a strong offer. Your candidate most likely has multiple options so moving with a sense of urgency is important to close the candidate. An agency can be very helpful with this process.
Remember, the best way to onboard a new EA is to set clear expectations for the role and provide training and support as needed to ensure your EA can effectively support you in your role as an executive. This is a long-term partnership and you want to start off on the right foot! Good luck.